Landscape and Settlement in the Eastern Upper Iraqi Tigris and Navkur Plains: The Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project, Seasons 2012–2013

Abstract

This paper presents a preliminary report on the first two seasons of work by The Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project (LoNAP) of Udine University that aims to understand the formation and transformation of the cultural and natural landscape of northern Mesopotamia, (embracing large parts of the governorates of Ninawa and Dohuk) from the Palaeolithic to the Islamic period. Its purpose is to comprehend patterns of settlement, land use and management, based on a regional archaeological surface survey and excavation. These objectives are closely tied to the geoarcheological and bioarchaeological reconstruction of the ancient natural environment and its evolution as a result of global climatic fluctuations and human impact.

Transforming the Upper Mesopotamian Landscape in the Late Neolithic

“…Walter Cruells has usefully brought together the available evidence for the Late Neolithic in the Syrian Euphrates Valley, applying periodizations derived from recent excavations in the region (Cruells, Molist, and Tunca 2004); Tekin (2017) has done similarly helpful work for the Turkish Upper Tigris Valley. A dedicated focus on Late Neolithic settlement patterns continues today in the mountainous Iraqi Kurdistan region (Altaweel et al 2013;Gavagnin, Iamoni, and Palermo 2016;Morandi Bonacossi and Iamoni 2015;Nieuwenhuyse, Akkermans et al 2016;Saber et al 2014;Tsuneki et al 2015;Ur et al 2013).…”

The Marivan Plain Archaeological Project: western Iran and its neighbours in the Chalcolithic period

“…Recent surveys in north-western Iran (Binandeh et al 2012) and in northern parts of the Iraqi foothills of the Zagros Mountains (e.g. Bonacossi & Iamoni 2015) have identified limited evidence of contact with Uruk Mesopotamia. In contrast, substantial evidence of interaction with Uruk Mesopotamia is found on the Rania, Peshdar, Chemchemal Plains and the Bazian Valley in the Zagros foothills of north-eastern Iraq, as well as on the Sharizor Plain in Iraq-which lies approximately 25km west across the mountains from the Marivan Plain (see Skuldbøl & Colantoni 2018).…”

The Archaeological Renaissance in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq

“…There are two new comprehensive sources: a gazetteer of archaeological research (Kopanias, MacGinnis, and Ur 2015) is available online, and a recent volume of conference papers (Kopanias and MacGinnis 2016) also contains reports from nearly every active project and a concise introductory chapter that makes an attempt at synthesis. For survey results, see recent volumes of the journal Iraq, which includes reports on landscape projects in Shahrizor (Altaweel et al 2012), Erbil (Ur et al 2013), and Dohuk (Morandi Bonacossi andIamoni 2015). For cultural heritage initiatives, see Danti 2015 and other papers in volume 78 of Near Eastern Archaeology (2015).…”