Kamal Aldin Niknami is Professor of Methodology of Archaeology at the University of Tehran. His research interests are focused on the Iranian landscape, economy and society during early and late antiquity, and involve field work in the north and northwestern provinces of the country. His main interests have always been in seals and clay sealings from sites throughout the Iranian great empires and the transition from the Achaemenids to Parthians and Sasanians. Sona Naderi is a doctoral student in archaeology of ancient Iran at the University of Tehran, Iran. She specialises in the visual cultures of the Sasanian Empire, with a strong emphasis on political iconography. She is interested in all aspects of Iranian medieval archaeology, both theoretical and practical. Her PhD thesis on the Sasanian administrative system is now in progress.