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Image Title calendar2024-07-25

Memorandum of Understanding Between Slemani antiquities and heritage Directorate and Kurdistan Geological Society Slemani Branch

Slemani antiquties and heritage Directorate signed a memorandum of understanding between our directorate as a government entity and Kurdistan Geologists Association Slemani Branch to further coordinate and serve these two fields in Kurdistan in general and Sulaimani in particular.

Image Title calendar2024-01-11

Banea 2024 Archaeological Conference at the University of Glasgow

On 3-4-5 January 2024, the University of Glasgow in Scotland hosted the International Archaeological Conference entitled "Archaeological Heritage Practice in Southwest Asia: Towards Equitable Futures".

Image Title calendar2024-03-07

HUMAN OCCUPATION ALONG THE FOOTHILLS OF NORTHWESTERN ZAGROS DURING THE LATE PLEISTOCENE AND THE HOLOCENE IN THE RANIA AND PESHDAR PLAINS

The south-western foothills of the Zagros range, in Iraqi Kurdistan, have long been largely unexplored because it has been impossible for archaeologists to carry out fieldwork research in this area for more than half a century.

Zarzi was used by groups of hunter-gatherers between 18,000 and 14,000 years ago.

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The cave here at Zarzi was used by groups of hunter-gatherers between 18,000 and 14,000 years ago.


Early Communities


The cave here at Zarzi was used by groups of hunter-gatherers between 18,000 and 14,000 years ago. Zarzi Cave was excavated by Dorothy Garrod in 1928 and by Iraqi archaeologist Ghanim Wahida in 1971. 
After the cave was abandoned at the end of the last Ice Age, communities in this valley built stone buildings at Zawi Chemi Razan and used large grinding stones used for preparing food. The site was discovered during a survey in 2013 and excavated from 2022 by the University of Reading in collaboration with Sulaimani Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage. 
The people who sheltered inside Zarzi Cave ate wild sheep, goat, gazelle, tortoise and fish. As today, the valley is rich in plant and animal wildlife, attracted by the abundant fresh water of the Chemi Razan River.
To preserve these rich water supplies, farmlands and wildlife, we need to protect them from climate change, pollution and other threats.