In 2012, the Erbil Plain Archaeological Survey (EPAS) conducted its first season of fieldwork. The project's goal is the complete mapping of the archaeological landscape of Erbil, with an emphasis on the Neo-Assyrian and Hellenistic periods. It will test the hypothesis that the Neo-Assyrian landscape was closely planned. This first report emphasizes the project's field methodology, especially the use of a variety of satellite remote sensing imagery. Our preliminary results suggest that the plain was part of the urbanized world of Mesopotamia, with new cities of the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Sasanian era identified. The 2012 EPAS academic team consisted of project director Jason Ur (Harvard University); associate directors Lidewijde de Jong (Groningen University), Jessica Giraud (IFPO Iraq), and James Osborne (Johns Hopkins University); graduate student Max Price (Harvard University); and Erbil Directorate of Antiquities representatives Khalil Barzanji and Gareb Bawamurad. Our driver, translator, and unfailingly joyful companion was Bapir Rashid Bawel. Iraq LXXV (2013) ANCIENT CITIES AND LANDSCAPES IN THE KURDISTAN REGION OF IRAQ 91throughout the Jazira, on the western edges of the imperial core, but it has yet to be demonstrated in the Assyrian heartland. These three elements (planned cities, engineered hydrology, and rural colonization) combine to suggest a highly structured and planned landscape, and constitute the primary settlement model to be tested by EPAS. The survey will, however, investigate settlement and landscape for all periods of human sedentary occupation, from the Neolithic to the present. For example, the Early Bronze Age (third millennium B.C.) was a time of extensive urbanization in surrounding areas of northern Mesopotamia, stretching in an arc from the Sinjar plain, across the Khabur basin, the Harran plain, Sajur Valley, and into western Syria (Stein 2004, Ur 2010a, Matney 2012. In contrast to the hypothesized planned landscape of the Neo-Assyrian period, the highly structured EBA landscape was largely emergent from the actions of individual households, both large and small (Ur 2009, in press). The Erbil plain is a geographical extension of this urban arc, and also falls on the interface between the northern and southern Mesopotamian worlds; the question of whether it participated in this earlier urban phase is an important one.Another avenue of research, closely related to the Assyrian case, is the nature of the post-Assyrian landscape, and particularly how the Erbil plain fits into the larger Hellenistic and Parthian-Roman world. The establishment of colonies by Alexander and his Seleucid successors and the creation of two new capital centres, at Antioch on the Orontes and Seleucia on the Tigris, represent two major changes in the character of urbanization. Colonization was not restricted to the towns but also spread to the surrounding countryside, where newcomers tilled the land. A contingent of Greek-Macedonian colonists likely settled at Nineveh (Oates 1968), but little else is known ab...
The region of eastern Oman (called Ja'alan) is often compared to the Arabian deserts, which are typically arid and depopulated areas. Today, this geographical definition is correct: the geographic and climatic conditions (low precipitation, pronounced dryness, high evaporation) indicate an arid region, and the area is sparsely populated. Between the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age, the geographic and climatic conditions did not change much, and were slightly more humid than at present. Although the term ''green Ja'alan'' does not describe this area, we observe that the region was occupied by a quite substantial population. Since 1985, surveys and excavations have been carried out and more than 4000 archeological structures are now listed. The spatial distribution of these sites differs for each period, from Neolithic seasonal camps to oasian settlements of the Early Bronze Age. To cite this article: J.
Les prospections menées dans la région d’Ādam (Sultanat d’Oman) lors des quatre premières campagnes (2007 à 2010) ont permis une évaluation de la densité et de la variété des vestiges archéologiques de cette zone située sur les marges du désert du Rub‘ al‑Khālī. Son peuplement remonte au Néolithique et les établissements se succèdent — avec une intensité variée — de la fin de la Préhistoire jusqu’aux époques historiques. Les principaux sites prospectés et/ou sondés sont présentés période par période ; les premières découvertes de terrain et les études préliminaires apportent une lumière nouvelle sur cette région jusqu’alors inexplorée.
This chapter presents new results of the excavations and surveys at Adam, Central Oman. The funerary landscape of the Early Bronze Age (3rd millennium BC) is characterized by collective burials in tower-tombs located on the crests and then large collective multi-compartment graves. From the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age (2nd millennium BC), a complete change is observed: the Wadi Suq graveyards show an important concentration of single burials in new forms of tombs (cists and cairns), all of which are located on the plain. Using the graveyards of Adam as an example, these two practices are compared in order to understand the evolution, continuity, and change of settlement patterns, material culture and society in the "longue durée."
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