Elizabeth C. Stone and Paul Zimansky, "The Second and Third Seasons at Tell Abu Duwari, Iraq, " The Journal of Field Archaeology 21, 1994, 437-455. (original) (raw)
New Perspectives on 'Early Mesopotamia'
JNP is one of the very few scholars who excels both as an excavator and a linguist. He amalgamates the two types of evidence in a powerful combination through which to attempt to understand the past. Others are more qualified than me to detail his contributions to the study of the texts so this article will begin by describing some of the significant results from his archaeological work in Iraq, especially from his excavations at Abu Salabikh. I owe him a huge personal debt as he gave me my first opportunity to dig in Iraq and allowed me to become his first woman site supervisor at Abu Salabikh, something for which I shall always be grateful. A survey of some of the changes in the field which have taken place in the last twenty years will then follow. The work at Abu Salabikh, sadly interrupted by political events, used a wide range of techniques to extract the maximum information for minimum outlay. For example Postgate used the technique of surface scraping, employed previously by the Germans, to work towards a better understanding of the anatomy of a Sumerian town. The scraping can also pinpoint areas where excavation is necessary to solve specific problems and thus allows scarce resources to be used for maximum productivity. The scraping at Salabikh has given us some of the best information we have on the anatomy of a mid third millennium town, demonstrating the shrewdness with which it was used and the value of this technique. It is especially effective in areas where the architectural remains lie close to the surface and where differences in soil colour, caused by the greater retention of moisture in the mudbrick, can be identified. JNP was quick to realise the potential of this method as it fitted well with his research aims and with the wider shift in academic interest towards domestic housing rather than a concentration on public buildings. The information retrieved from the scraping on the Main mound at Salabikh allowed him to identify a town wall, three possible town gates, and to produce detailed plans of a number of houses. He was also able to identify non domestic buildings, such as a potter's workshop, and to add to the plan originally uncovered by the Oriental Institute Chicago of what is possibly a large public building in area A (Postgate 1990). In some cases microstratigraphy, at the time a new technique in Iraq, was used in an attempt to suggest the function of individual rooms. Using the data on the use of space within the town walls he published an important paper on population density in built-up areas (Postgate 1994) based on calculations of the area of non domestic structures and open spaces including streets, which is then subtracted from the total area of the site. Open spaces within the houses, such as courtyards, are also calculated and subtracted from the total. The resulting figure represents the area of the town which was
Proto-Urbanism in the Late 5th Millennium BC: Survey and Excavations at Khirbat al-Fakhar (Hamoukar)
Paléorient, 2011
Excavation and systematic surface collection since 1999 have revealed the outlines of a unique site in northern Mesopotamia. Khirbat al-Fakhar is an extensive settlement of 300 hectares, primarily occupied during the LC 1-2 periods (ca. 4400-3800 cal BC). Systematic surface collection, satellite imagery analysis, and targeted excavation allow a preliminary characterization of its settlement, in particular the abundance of evidence for intensive obsidian manufacture. This unexpectedly large and early settlement presents problems of demography, nature of sedentism, permanence of occupation, and obsidian manufacture and trade. In this article we discuss these issues in light of current narratives on the development of societal complexity and urbanism in the region and argue that the site of Khirbat al-Fakhar presents a unique form of settlement that has characteristics of both villages and cities, qualifying it as proto-urban.
Ancient Middle Eastern Cities (syllabus, 2017)
For more than a century, archaeologists have been working to uncover and resurrect the urban centers of ancient Mesopotamia, where the very idea of the city was first envisioned and put into practice. This seminar offers both a general introduction to urban history and a detailed examination of the archaeological and historical evidence for cities in Mesopotamia – from Uruk and Ur to Babylon and Baghdad. We will explore a range of topics, including urbanization, urban economies, urban landscapes, urban space, urban planning, and the urban experience, as well as the social, political, and cultural dimensions of urbanism. Chronologically, we will begin with the Urban Revolution of the fourth millennium BC and end with the founding of the first Islamic cities during the later part of the first millennium AD. This is a writing-intensive course. Alongside our collective exploration of urban history and the archaeology of urbanism in Mesopotamia, you will be tasked with producing an original research paper of 4,800–6,000 words (approximately 16–20 pages, double-spaced). A significant proportion of your time, both in and out of class, will be devoted to this paper, and the course is designed to guide you through the research and writing process.
Ancient canals, marshes and proximity of the sea heavily characterised the landscape and environment of the ancient State of Lagash in southern Iraq, from the mid-fifth to the second millennium BC: indeed the diachronic changes that can be analysed thanks to geological and archaeological observation and investigation show how this waterscape definitely influenced the shapes of settlement and the organisation of ancient societies from a cultural, economic and biological point of view. Recent excavations at Tell Zurghul in southern Iraq are giving the possibility to test, in the field, the presence of water: ancient cuneiform sources, from the mid-third millennium BC, show the intense programme of the rulers of the State of Lagash in managing water through the construction of canals and the regulation of marshes characterised by marine water due to the proximity of the sea. In this respect, human actions (such as the digging of canals) and natural conditions (such as the reduction in the fifth millennium and the progressive growth in the fourth millennium BC of water level) are recognisable in the field, and they of course explain the morphology of the site in the past and the changes it suffered even in the present: water in fact is doubtless a fundamental resource for suitable conditions of formation and growth of a urban centre, but it also limits the possibility of extending occupation on the entire surface (as, e.g. the exploitation of lands for agricultural purposes).