The first four seasons of excavation at Qalatga Darband

John MacGinnis – British Museum

DOI: 10.31972/ISCAHKRD19.010

The Darband-i Rania Archaeological Project is one of two new British Museum field projects in Iraq initiated in order to provide a platform for the field training of the Iraq Emergency Heritage Management Training Scheme, a programme funded by the government of the United Kingdom and delivered by the British Museum under the direction of Jonathan Tubb. Following a visit to the Kurdish Region of Iraq in January 2016, during which many possible sites were considered, an application was made to the Directorate of Antiquities of Kurdistan for permission to work at a group of three sites – Qalatga Darband, Usu Aska and Murad Rasu – located close together at the Darband-i Rania pass at the northeastern corner of Lake Dokan (Fig. 1). A major factor behind the choice of these sites was that they offered the opportunity to pursue research along avenues little explored in the region. But an important consideration was that all three sites were subject to significant and ongoing degradation, such that there was an imperative to record and explore these sites at the earliest possible moment. The permit was granted in August 2016 and work commenced the following month. We would like to record our profound thanks to Nawroz Mawlud, Minister for Municipalities, to Mala Awat, then General Director of Antiquities of Kurdistan, to Kaifi Mustafa Ali, his successor as General Director of Antiquities of Kurdistan, to Kamal Rasheed Raheem, Head of the Directorate of Antiquities of Sulaimaniya, and to Barzan Baiz Ismail, Head of the Directorate of Antiquities of Raparin, for their help and support.

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The Hungarian excavations at Grd-iTle (Ranya-Plain)

Gábor Kalla – Tamás Dezső

DOI: 10.31972/ISCAHKRD19.009

The Hungarian Archaeological Mission in Kurdistan (Iraq) lead by Tamás Dezső and Gábor Kalla (Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences)conducted excavations since 2016 at Grd-i Tle, in the Ranya Plain of Iraqi Kurdistan.

The site of Grd-iTlestands at a strategic location near Saruchawa village, in the north-western fringe of the Ranya Plain (36°15′16″ N, 44°45′21″ E; fig. 1). Before our program,the only fieldwork on this tell settlement was the brief survey of a Japanese team in2015.

Our five-year planned archaeological program had three basic goals. The main aim was to investigate a local Neo-Assyrian centreat the borderlands of the Empire. The available data suggested such a role for Grd-i Tle. The second aim was to establish a sequence stratigraphy of this settlement and to make a ceramic chronology for the region with it. The third goal was to make a detailed topographic survey for the site.

Preliminary reports about the campaigns 2016 and 2017 are Dezső et al., 2016 and Dezső et al,2017.

Hasegawa–Yamada,2016.

The geophysical survey is planned for the next campaign in September 2019.

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Dezső, T. (2016) The arrowheads from Grd-i Tle (Rania Plain, Iraqi Kurdistan). Dissertationes ArchaeologicaeSer. 3/4, pp. 97-112.

Dezső, T., Kalla, G., Mordovin, M., Masek, Zs. – Nóra Szabó – Barzan Baiz Ismail – Kamal Rasheed – Attila Weisz – Lajos Sándor – Ardalan Khwsnaw – Aram Ali Hama Amin (2016) Grd-i Tle 2016. Preliminary Report of the Hungarian Archaeological Mission of the Eötvös Loránd University to Grd-i Tle (Saruchawa) in Iraqi Kurdistan. Dissertationes ArchaeologicaeSer. 3/ 4, pp. 233-240.

Dezső, T. and Mordovin, M.(2016) The first season of the excavation of Grd-i Tle. The Fortifications of Grd-i Tle (Field 1) Dissertationes ArchaeologicaeSer. 3/4, pp. 241–262.

Dezső, T., Kalla, G., Bödőcs, A., Ismail, B. B., Fülöp K., Szabó, N., Király, A., Khwshnaw, A., Németh, V., Németh, F. and Amin, A. A. H. (2017), Preliminary Report on the Hungarian Archaeological Mission (Eötvös Loránd University) at Grd-i Tle (Saruchawa) in Iraq.: Second Season (2017). Dissertationes ArchaeologicaeSer. 3/5, pp. 361-392.

Kalla, G. and Szabó, N. (2016) The first season of the excavation of Grd-i Tle. The cemetery of the eastern        plateau (Field 2). Dissertationes ArchaeologicaeSer. 3/ 4, pp. 263-276.

Király, A. (2017) Grd-i Tle knapped and ground stone artefacts, excavation seasons 2016–2017. Dissertationes ArchaeologicaeSer. 3/5, pp. 83-96.

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SINGULAR DEPOSITS IN GIRD LASHKIR (ERBIL, IRAQI KURDISTAN) AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EARLY BRONZE AGE

Gómez-Bach, A.; Breu, A.; Sisa, J.; Mylona, P.; Bradosty, Z.; Zebari, A.; Molist, M.

* SAPPO/GRAMPO-UAB, Dept. Prehistoria. Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Spain)

DOI: 10.31972/ISCAHKRD19.008

Abstract

This paper will address the study of two sets of unique objects (a set of clay figurines and paleometallurgical objects) discovered in habitat stratigraphic contexts in the excavations of Gird Lashkir (Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan). The analysis of the material assemblage, and their stratigraphic location in closed contexts, often called “closed deposits”, allows us to research their origin, formation, and social function. A set of singular materials were recovered from floors and pits which had been intentionally refilled. The presence of these materials in domestic areas, courtyards and negative structures appeared together with pottery, grinding stones, faunal remains and other domestic debris.

To address this topic, this contribution will cover the presence of utilitarian and figurative objects across the stratigraphic sequence at sector 3, which corresponds with an open-air area with artisanal and domestic uses inhabited at the dawn of the first empires. To this end, singular artefacts recovered from the Ninevite V horizon will be fully characterized. Specifically, a mould associated with paleometallurgic activities and a significant set of quadruped figurines (bovid, caprines) were found together. Moreover, a vehicle model and a horse figurine were buried in the same architectonic phase. The characteristics and archaeological contexts of symbolic artefacts from other sites in the region that developed the Ninevite V horizon have been used to better understand the assemblage found in Gird Lashkir.

These singular deposits will help improve the available knowledge about the Early Bronze Age in the Upper Mesopotamia.

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Gómez, A., Bradosty, Z., Zebari, A.M., Ahmed, H., Cruells, W., Sisa, J.; Moya, A., Breu, A. et Molist, M.

2018. Gird Lashkir (Erbil): Preliminary data related to Ninevite V period: 2016 and 2017 fieldwork excavations 2nd International Scientific Conference Archaeology and Heritage of Erbil: 331-345.

Grossman, K.

2014. Ninevite 5 Ceramics. Arcane Interregional I: Ceramics, Chapter: 4. Publisher: Brepols: 83-100.

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2016. The Archaeology of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Adjacent Regions. Oxford Archaeopress.

Molist, M., Gómez, A., Bradosty, Z., Anfruns, J., Cruells, W., Alcàntara, R., Arnaiz, R., Breu, A., Moya, A., Sisa, J., Zebari, A. Ahmed, H.

2018 Proyecto Arqueológico en Gird Lashkir (Erbil, Kurdistan Iraq): resultado de las campañas de excavación 2015- 2016. Informes y Trabajos, Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte.

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2008. Making Images of Humans and Animals. The Clay Figurines from the Royal Palace G at Tell Mardikh-Ebra, Syrie, EB IVA, 2400-2300 BC). Proceedings of the 5th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, vol II, Madrid: 787-805.

Peyronel, L. and Pruß, A.

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Pruß, A.

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The Monument of Paikuli: the Activities of the Italian Archaeological Mission in Iraqi Kurdistan, Past and Present.

Carlo G. Cereti, Luca Colliva, Gianfilippo Terribili, Massimiliano Vassalli

MAIKI – Sapienza University of Rome

DOI: 10.31972/ISCAHKRD19.007

Abstract

Since 2006 a team of Italian archaeologists and epigraphists, led by Prof. Carlo G. Cereti (Sapienza University of Rome) surveyed and studied the commemorative monument erected by the Sasanian king Narseh (293-302 CE) next to a strategic pass of the Qaradagh Range (Sulaimaniyah Province). Through the data collected from the site and the Paikuli Collection held at the Slemani Museum, many innovative results have been achieved in the last decade. More specifically, the study of the bilingual inscription (Middle Persian and Parthian) and the massive sculptures of the king, once adorning the monument, provided significant improvement of the scholarly debate on the early Sasanian kingship. The ongoing activities include the documentation of all the blocks originally constituting the outer coating of the monument and now scattered on the slopes of the hill. The new set of archaeological data will soon shed light on different matters related to the still problematic feature of the monument structure.

Recent Excavations in the Plain of Chamchamal

Régis Vallet, C.N.R.S. – I.F.P.O (Erbil),regis.vallet@mae.cnrs.fr

DOI: 10.31972/ISCAHKRD19.006

Abstract : Since 2015, excavations at Girdi Qala and Logardan in Iraqi Kurdistan, west of the Qara Dagh range in Chamchamal District (Sulaymaniyah Governorate), offers new perspectives on the dynamics of contact between southern and northern Mesopotamia, cultural identities and territorial policies emergence in the longue durée, from Chalcolithic to Islam. The most spectacular and unexpected results are clear evidence for a massive and early Uruk presence with monumental buildings, ramps, gates, residential and craft areas from the very beginning of the 4th millennium BC.

Excavation on the sites of Girdi Qala and Logardan in Iraqi Kurdistan, west of the Qara Dagh range in Sulaymaniah Governorate, started in 2015. The scientific purpose of this new project is to study the formation of complex societies, the appearance of territorial polities and long-term intercultural processes. Indeed, despite recent developments (Kopanias and MacGinnis 2016), Southern Kurdistan remains poorly documented, although it seems an ideal laboratory for investigating these research questions. It is no exaggeration to say that the region is at the very heart of the Near East, a crossroads between Northern and Southern Mesopotamia as well as between Mesopotamia and Iran. The project is more specifically focused on the Chalcolithic period and on the Bronze Age, two periods for which the redefinition of cultures on a regional basis is a major issue.

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Vallet R. (ed.)

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Vallet R. (ed.)

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Vallet R., Baldi J. S., Naccaro H., Rasheed K., Saber S. A. and Hamarasheed S. J.

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