2024-03-28

PRELIMINARY REPORT OF THE CHARMO (JARMO) PREHISTORIC INVESTIGATIONS, 2022

The archaeological mission from the University of Tsukuba began to investigate the Neolithic sites in the Iraqi-Kurdistan region in 2014. The purpose of our investigations was to reconsider the issue of Neolithization in Iraqi-Kurdistan, where research began in the 1940s and 50s and was stalled by political issues starting in the 1960s. With the full support of the Directorate General of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture of the Kurdistan Regional Government and the Slemani Department of Cultural Heritage, we first began our research at the Qalat Said Ahmadan site, located in the Pshdar Plain. We were able to identify the cultural deposits of the end of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic period, those of the Hassuna, Samarra, Halaf, Ubaid, and Iron Age, and have clarified the nature of the Neolithic site located at the edge of the fan deposits [Tsuneki et al. 2015, 2016, 2019].

2024-01-28

Shakar Tapa on the Sharazor plain has revealed a new episode of the Neolithic discovery

Shakar Tapa has been known as a conspicuous archaeological site in the south of the Shahrazor Plain since the mid-20th century. It has an oval plan consisting of a low northeastern mound and a high conical southwestern mound with a flat top.

2024-05-26

The publication of archaeological and educational education by the excavation team in Ashkawta Rash

The publication of archaeological and educational education by the excavation team in Ashkawta Rash After about two seasons of work in the black cave (Alla Quli) located on the border of the same village in the town of Bardaqaraman. The team، consisting of the British University of Liverpool and the Sulaymaniyah Directorate of Archaeology and Heritage, represented by the archaeologist Amanj Hama Amin Rahim,

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. The aim of the project was to explore the occupation of the pass through the fortified systems constructed to defend it, with a special interest in the first millennium BC. The permit granted by the General Directorate allowed the investigation of three sites, Qalatga Darband, Usu Aska and Murad Rasu.

Qalatga Darband

Qalatga Darband is the largest of the sites investigated, with an area in excess of 70 ha. Enclosed by fortifications, all dating to the early Parthian period. The two most prominent buildings investigated were (i) a large square fort situated within the wider fortified area, identified through satellite imagery, mapped by geophysical prospection ground-truthed by targeted excavations; and (ii) a monumental manor house measuring 23 m square, with a lower storey built of stone walls with alternating square and circular columns on the outer phase, and an upper storey of mud brick, the building was rooved with Mediterranean-style terracotta roof tiles. The most striking finds in the building are the remains of Hellenistic sculpture, the most notable of which a statue of a naked male are and a statue of a seated female.

Usu Aska

The second site to be investigated was Usu Aska, a fort inside the pass itself, on the southern side, dated to the Neo-Assyrian period. The site consists of massive fortification walls connected to a fortified knoll (now an island when the lake is high) at the northeastern end. The successive jumbles of collapsed masonry, particularly on the inner (mountain) side, show that the fortification were damaged by earthquakes and subsequently rebuilt on multiple occasions.

Murad Rasu

The last site to be investigated was Murad Rasu, a traditional mounded site which has suffered heavy erosion from the waters of Lake Dokan. Murad Rasu has occupations from the Uruk period to the Ottoman period (not necessarily continuous). The most alluring feature is the remains of a palace built of mud brick and tentatively dated to the early second millennium BC. The one room excavated to date was full of massive pithoi storage jars, very likely a magazine for storing of grain controlled a local administrative authority.