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En Ku Ar

Image Title calendar2025-01-17

Halaf and Late Chalcolithic occupations at Shakar Tepe in the Shahrizor Plain, Iraqi Kurdistan: Preliminary report of the 2023 excavations

The Shahrizor Plain is one of the ideal fields for tracking the transition from Neolithic village life in the Fertile Crescent to Urbanisation which occurred in Mesopotamia because of its geographical location connecting the mountainside valleys along the Zagros and the downstream Diyala River that flows into the Tigris. Our field project aims to obtain archaeological materials to unveil this process. Following the first excavations at Shakar Tepe conducted in 2019, we excavated two additional areas at this site in 2023, including one of the three satellite mounds that were newly identified around the main mound. The cultural remains of the Late Halaf settlement uncovered from Operation B at Shakar Tepe II date back to approximately 5600–5400 calBC. On the other hand, Operation C at Shakar Tepe I yielded a thick deposit of the Late Chalcolithic occupations dated to ca. 3800–3600 calBC. The recovered materials fill the time ranges in the late prehistoric chronology of the site and will contribute to our understanding of the historical role of this region in the transition from Neolithisation to Urbanisation.

Image Title calendar2024-01-11

Darband-i Rania Archaeological Project, with an area in excess of 70 ha a special interest in the first millennium BC

Darband-i Rania Archaeological Project the Darband-i Rania Archaeological Project was a project directed by Dr. John MacGinnis of the British Museum, carried out in co-operation with the General Director of Antiquities of Kurdistan, the Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage of Raparin and the Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage of Slemani.

Image Title calendar2024-01-28

The Iraqi Kurdistan Region has discovered a new Sassanid settlement located on Grdi-Kazhaw

Gird-î Kazhaw is located at the eastern perimeter of the large spring near Bestansur. The site consists of two mounds extending across an area of 4 ha. Mound A is only 2–3 m in height and of oval shape while Mound B reaches up to 10 m in height.

The Last Hunters of the Eastern Fertile Crescent Archaeological Project

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Ashkawta Rash(ئەشکەوتە ڕەش)  is a Palaeolithic cave site located. 35 km northwest of the city of Slemani, near the Bazian Gates. Excavations at Ashkawta Rash Cave began in May-June 2023 by a joint team from the University of Liverpool and the Slemani Directorate of Antiquities & Heritage directed by Professor Eleni Asouti, with Professor Douglas Baird as co-director and Mr Amanj Ameen (MA) as the Slemani Directorate representative.

Research at Ashkawta Rash Cave is conducted as part of the Last Hunter-Gatherers of the Eastern Fertile Crescent (LASTHUNTER) project, with a permit issued by the General Directorate of Antiquities & Heritage in Erbil, and are generously supported by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung and the British Institute for the Study of Iraq. The first season of work at Ashkawta Rash Cave revealed late Pleistocene deposits at the cave threshold and in its main chamber dating from the Epipalaeolithic period, based on the lithic industry which displays clear affinities with that of neighbouring Palegawra Cave.

Late Pleistocene sediments were unusually rich in charred plant remains while burnt animal bone (wild caprines, tortoise, etc.) was also abundant. Previous research by the same team at Palegawra Cave (published in 2020) has established a chronology for the Epipalaeolithic period in the Slemani region between 20,000 and 13,000 years ago. The excellent charcoal preservation will enable an extensive programme of radiocarbon dating at Ashkawta Rash Cave, and help determine how it relates to the Epipalaeolithic habitation known from the neighbouring Palegawra Cave. Large scale, intensive sampling of soil and its processing by water flotation has produced approximately 200 bags of charred plant remains from Epi palaeolithic deposits at Ashkawta Rash.

Such scale of charred plant recovery is unique for Palaeolithic sites anywhere in the Zagros, and makes Ashkawta Rash Cave the most important source of new data about Palaeolithic plant uses and late Pleistocene vegetation ecology in the Eastern Fertile Crescent.