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Image Title calendar2024-01-29

Late Prehistoric Investigations at Shakar Tepe, the Shahrizor Plain, Iraqi Kurdistan: Preliminary Results of the First Season (2019)

Grdi-Shakar Tapa on the Sharazor plain in Iraq's Kurdistan Region 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. The Darband-i Khan Dam Lake is adjacent to the north of the site and its water occasionally reaches the skirt of the mound, causing crucial erosion of the northern edge of the mound. Many archaeological materials were collected on the surface of Shakar Tapa in the past. Although most of them can be dated to the historical ages, such as the Early-to-Middle Bronze Age, the Iron Age, and the Parthian-Sasanian Period, some artefacts were certainly dated to the prehistoric period. In 2019 a Japanese archaeological team (directed by Takahiro Odaka, Kanazawa University) started the excavations of Shakar Tapa to investigate its late prehistoric occupation. The first operation of a step trench was set at the northwestern skirt of the high mound and yielded the Ubaid deposit and the Late Neolithic stratigraphic sequence covering ca. 6400-6000 BC. Virgin soil was reached at the northwestern end of the trench about 5 m below the highest level of this trench. The second season carried out in 2023 revealed the younger Late Chalcolithic deposit at the area near the trench in 2019. In addition, a few low satellite mounds were identified west of the main mound and another late prehistoric deposit was uncovered at one of them.

Image Title calendar2024-01-28

Gird-î Qalrakh: a small mound in the North-eastern Shahrazor Plain

The site of Gird-î Qalrakh is a small but steep settlement place in the North-eastern Shahrazor-Plain. It was excavated in three seasons (2016, 2017 and 2019), the fourth season 2023 has just started. The archaeological discovery will be carried out jointly by the Slemani Archaeological and Heritage Directorates, along with two universities (University of Erlangen and University of Frankfurt), in Gridi-Kazhaw and Qalrgh. It will continue for years.

Image Title calendar2024-01-28

MAGNETIC INVESTIGATIONS IN THE SHAHRIZOR PLAIN, IRAQI KURDISTAN

Archaeological features, such as architecture etc. can be traced by high resolution and large-scale magnetometer prospecting. Moreover, soil magnetic data deliver additional information about the alteration of the ancient landscape. In combination with an archaeological survey, the geophysical results can provide information to reconstruct the spatial organization within these settlements as well as an epoch-spanning analysis of settlements and their role in urbanization processes and within settlement hierarchies.

New exhibition of the archaeological investigations at Gird-i Yasin Tepe

Article Name

Yasin Tepe (Gird-i Yasin Tepe)

The site is one of the largest tell-type sites in the Slemani Governorate and contains rich archaeological remains from the Neolithic to the Islamic periods. Yasin Tepe Archaeological Project led by Chubu University has been conducting the archaeological investigation of the site since 2015 and the excavations continues since 2016. So far, we have identified intensive Iron Age (Assyrian period) occupations in the lower town area containing an elite residence and un-looted brick tomb.

Yasin Tepe is located in the western part of the Shahrizor Plain, ca. 30 km south of Sulaymaniyah. The site is one of the largest tell-type sites in the Sulaymaniyah Governorate. It measures ca. 700 × 600 m (40 ha) with 20 m in height. The consist of acropolis mound and the lower town.

Chubu University (Japan) expedition started the excavation of the site in 2016. Since then, we have identified extensive Iron Age (8th-7th centuries BCE) settlement in the lower town. Yasin Tepe was probably an important military and commercial city when the Assyrian Empire controlled Iraqi Kurdistan. The excavations continue to reveal the Iron Age history of Sulaymaniyah Governorate.

 

 

The Yasin Tepe exhibition was setup in the Slemani Museum in November 2023. It was carried out by Chubu University funded by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan. It is a part of the training program for the enhancement of the Slemani Museum. It is also intended to inform the public people about the importance of cultural heritage in the Slemani Governorate. 

 

The exhibition shows a bathtub coffin which was excavated from the un-looted brick tomb dated to the 8th-7th centuries BCE. The coffin was placed inside a tomb camber built with baked bricks and had a vaulted ceiling.

Next to the bathtub coffin, a showcase contains some selected finds which are stored in the Slemani Museum. Noteworthy is a bronze necklet with cuneiform inscription which was found in a room of the elite residence, southeast of the lower town. It shows the possibility that the temple of Nabû was erected at Yasin Tepe. Other major finds included the bronze lamp, pottery, and stamp seals excavated from the un-looted tomb. These objects inform us that there was a strong Assyrian cultural influence was present during the Iron Age at Yasin Tepe. (Shin Nishiyama: Chubu University, Japan).