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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