ENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE FROM THE MINARET OF JAM ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT, AFGHANISTAN1 By DC Thomas,... more ENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE FROM THE MINARET OF JAM ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT, AFGHANISTAN1 By DC Thomas, K. Deckers, MM Hald, M. Holmes, M. Madella and K. White2 Cambridge, La Trobe, Tübingen, Sheffield, Barcelona and Reading ...
High-resolution insight into parasitic infections and diet of past populations in Northern Europe... more High-resolution insight into parasitic infections and diet of past populations in Northern Europe and the Middle East (500 BC- 1700 AD) was obtained by pre-concentration of parasite eggs from ancient latrines and deposits followed by shotgun sequencing of DNA. Complementary profiling of parasite, vertebrate and plant DNA proved highly informative in the study of ancient health, human-animal interactions as well as animal and plant dietary components. Most prominent were finding of soil-borne parasites transmitted directly between humans, but also meat-borne parasites that require consumption of raw or undercooked fish and pork. The detection of parasites for which sheep, horse, dog, pig, and rodents serves as definitive hosts are clear markers of domestic and synanthropic animals living in closer proximity of the respective sites. Finally, the reconstruction of full mitochondrial parasite genomes from whipworm (Ascaris lumbricoides) and roundworm species (Trichuris trichiura and Tri...
Beveled Rim Bowls (BRBs) are the most iconic and well-known vessel type of ancient Southwest Asia... more Beveled Rim Bowls (BRBs) are the most iconic and well-known vessel type of ancient Southwest Asia. Roughly and carelessly produced, these conical bowls are attested in their thousands at 4 th millennium BCE sites from southern Iraq and the Persian Gulf to the highlands of eastern Turkey and Iran. Questions regarding their function and relationship with emergent state institutions have stood at the centre of nearly a century of debates about the nature of early Mesopotamian urbanism and the so-called Uruk Expansion. In this paper we present the results of organic residue analyses of 10 BRBs from the site of Shakhi Kora in the Sirwan/Upper Diyala River Valley in the Kurdistan Region of northeast Iraq. Our analytical results challenge traditional interpretations that see BRBs as containers of cereal-based rations and bread moulds. The presence of meat-and potentially also dairy-based foods in the Shakhi Kora vessels lends support to multipurpose explanations and points to local processes of appropriation of vessel meaning and function.
The 23rd season of excavation at Tell Brak took place from March 13 to May 16, 2000, with David O... more The 23rd season of excavation at Tell Brak took place from March 13 to May 16, 2000, with David Oates as Project Director, Geoff Emberling as Field Director, and Helen McDonald in charge of the house and recording of pottery and objects. The season was co-sponsored by the ...
Anatolica (Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten/Peeters) XLVII, 2021
Controlling access to an important ford of the Upper Euphrates River in southeastern Anatolia, Ti... more Controlling access to an important ford of the Upper Euphrates River in southeastern Anatolia, Titriş Höyük, was one of the many city-state capitals that emerged across Upper Mesopotamia in the Mid to Late Early Bronze Age, roughly dated to the second half of the third millennium BC. Like many other such capitals at the time, Titriş consisted of a central citadel surrounded by an extensive lower city. Millennia of later accumulation made exposures of the city's EBA citadel impracticable. However, much of the lower city was never reoccupied after the end of the Early Bonze Age and broad horizontal exposures and remote sensing surveys of this sector of the city help us understand the nature of urbanism at the site in its Late Early Bronze Age phase, dated to the last quarter of the third millennium BC. In what follows, we place the ebb and flow of the Mid to Late EBA city at Titriş in the context of wider contemporary regional and climatic developments. Additionally, we clarify aspects of the production of commodities at scale in the city during its initial Mid EBA Phase. Finally, we explore several aspects of the nature of the city in its final Late EBA incarnation, including (1) what is known about its physical layout at that time, (2) the diet of its inhabitants, and (3) the distribution of crops, animals, and material wealth within city households outside of its citadel.
Poster presenting the recent work by the Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq (DAEI) at the B... more Poster presenting the recent work by the Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq (DAEI) at the BANEA 2017 conference (Glasgow, 4-6 January).
Geoarchaeological investigations at Borgring, a recently identified Danish Viking Age ring fortre... more Geoarchaeological investigations at Borgring, a recently identified Danish Viking Age ring fortress, reconstructs the original landscape showing how the site was expanded and modified to accommodate a structure of pre-defined size and how this large-scale project demonstrates the willingness to invest significant resources in its precise positioning. The investigations also assess the possibility of navigating along the nearby stream from the coast and show that access by anything larger than a dinghy was impossible, hence navigability was not important for the location and function of the fortress. This has implications for the functional interpretation of all Danish Viking Age ring fortresses.
Excavation at Tell Brak during 2001 and 2002, the twenty-first and twenty-second' seasons of... more Excavation at Tell Brak during 2001 and 2002, the twenty-first and twenty-second' seasons of work at the site, continued research on occupation of the fourth and third millennia BC, periods in which Brak is known to have been particularly important in regional and interregional ...
The 23rd season of excavation at Tell Brak took place from March 13 to May 16, 2000, with David O... more The 23rd season of excavation at Tell Brak took place from March 13 to May 16, 2000, with David Oates as Project Director, Geoff Emberling as Field Director, and Helen McDonald in charge of the house and recording of pottery and objects. The season was co-sponsored by the ...
Abstract: The fourth and fifth seasons of archaeological work at Hirbemerdon Tepe have been cruci... more Abstract: The fourth and fifth seasons of archaeological work at Hirbemerdon Tepe have been crucial for further developing the three major research objectives of the Hirbemerdon Tepe Archaeological Project, which can be summarized as follows: 1) the definition of a clear chronological sequence of occupation at the site; 2) a more complete understanding of the function of the Middle Bronze Age 'architectural complex'located in the High Mound; and 3) the initiation of an intensive survey that will interpret the site catchment and exploitation ...
Geoarchaeological investigations at Borgring, a recently identified Danish Viking Age ring fortre... more Geoarchaeological investigations at Borgring, a recently identified Danish Viking Age ring fortress, reconstructs the original landscape showing how the site was expanded and modified to accommodate a structure of pre-defined size and how this large-scale project demonstrates the willingness to invest significant resources in its precise positioning. The investigations also assess the possibility of navigating along the nearby stream from the coast and show that access by anything larger than a dinghy was impossible, hence navigability was not important for the location and function of the fortress. This has implications for the functional interpretation of all Danish Viking Age ring fortresses.
ENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE FROM THE MINARET OF JAM ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT, AFGHANISTAN1 By DC Thomas,... more ENVIRONMENTAL EVIDENCE FROM THE MINARET OF JAM ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECT, AFGHANISTAN1 By DC Thomas, K. Deckers, MM Hald, M. Holmes, M. Madella and K. White2 Cambridge, La Trobe, Tübingen, Sheffield, Barcelona and Reading ...
High-resolution insight into parasitic infections and diet of past populations in Northern Europe... more High-resolution insight into parasitic infections and diet of past populations in Northern Europe and the Middle East (500 BC- 1700 AD) was obtained by pre-concentration of parasite eggs from ancient latrines and deposits followed by shotgun sequencing of DNA. Complementary profiling of parasite, vertebrate and plant DNA proved highly informative in the study of ancient health, human-animal interactions as well as animal and plant dietary components. Most prominent were finding of soil-borne parasites transmitted directly between humans, but also meat-borne parasites that require consumption of raw or undercooked fish and pork. The detection of parasites for which sheep, horse, dog, pig, and rodents serves as definitive hosts are clear markers of domestic and synanthropic animals living in closer proximity of the respective sites. Finally, the reconstruction of full mitochondrial parasite genomes from whipworm (Ascaris lumbricoides) and roundworm species (Trichuris trichiura and Tri...
Beveled Rim Bowls (BRBs) are the most iconic and well-known vessel type of ancient Southwest Asia... more Beveled Rim Bowls (BRBs) are the most iconic and well-known vessel type of ancient Southwest Asia. Roughly and carelessly produced, these conical bowls are attested in their thousands at 4 th millennium BCE sites from southern Iraq and the Persian Gulf to the highlands of eastern Turkey and Iran. Questions regarding their function and relationship with emergent state institutions have stood at the centre of nearly a century of debates about the nature of early Mesopotamian urbanism and the so-called Uruk Expansion. In this paper we present the results of organic residue analyses of 10 BRBs from the site of Shakhi Kora in the Sirwan/Upper Diyala River Valley in the Kurdistan Region of northeast Iraq. Our analytical results challenge traditional interpretations that see BRBs as containers of cereal-based rations and bread moulds. The presence of meat-and potentially also dairy-based foods in the Shakhi Kora vessels lends support to multipurpose explanations and points to local processes of appropriation of vessel meaning and function.
The 23rd season of excavation at Tell Brak took place from March 13 to May 16, 2000, with David O... more The 23rd season of excavation at Tell Brak took place from March 13 to May 16, 2000, with David Oates as Project Director, Geoff Emberling as Field Director, and Helen McDonald in charge of the house and recording of pottery and objects. The season was co-sponsored by the ...
Anatolica (Nederlands Instituut voor het Nabije Oosten/Peeters) XLVII, 2021
Controlling access to an important ford of the Upper Euphrates River in southeastern Anatolia, Ti... more Controlling access to an important ford of the Upper Euphrates River in southeastern Anatolia, Titriş Höyük, was one of the many city-state capitals that emerged across Upper Mesopotamia in the Mid to Late Early Bronze Age, roughly dated to the second half of the third millennium BC. Like many other such capitals at the time, Titriş consisted of a central citadel surrounded by an extensive lower city. Millennia of later accumulation made exposures of the city's EBA citadel impracticable. However, much of the lower city was never reoccupied after the end of the Early Bonze Age and broad horizontal exposures and remote sensing surveys of this sector of the city help us understand the nature of urbanism at the site in its Late Early Bronze Age phase, dated to the last quarter of the third millennium BC. In what follows, we place the ebb and flow of the Mid to Late EBA city at Titriş in the context of wider contemporary regional and climatic developments. Additionally, we clarify aspects of the production of commodities at scale in the city during its initial Mid EBA Phase. Finally, we explore several aspects of the nature of the city in its final Late EBA incarnation, including (1) what is known about its physical layout at that time, (2) the diet of its inhabitants, and (3) the distribution of crops, animals, and material wealth within city households outside of its citadel.
Poster presenting the recent work by the Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq (DAEI) at the B... more Poster presenting the recent work by the Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq (DAEI) at the BANEA 2017 conference (Glasgow, 4-6 January).
Geoarchaeological investigations at Borgring, a recently identified Danish Viking Age ring fortre... more Geoarchaeological investigations at Borgring, a recently identified Danish Viking Age ring fortress, reconstructs the original landscape showing how the site was expanded and modified to accommodate a structure of pre-defined size and how this large-scale project demonstrates the willingness to invest significant resources in its precise positioning. The investigations also assess the possibility of navigating along the nearby stream from the coast and show that access by anything larger than a dinghy was impossible, hence navigability was not important for the location and function of the fortress. This has implications for the functional interpretation of all Danish Viking Age ring fortresses.
Excavation at Tell Brak during 2001 and 2002, the twenty-first and twenty-second' seasons of... more Excavation at Tell Brak during 2001 and 2002, the twenty-first and twenty-second' seasons of work at the site, continued research on occupation of the fourth and third millennia BC, periods in which Brak is known to have been particularly important in regional and interregional ...
The 23rd season of excavation at Tell Brak took place from March 13 to May 16, 2000, with David O... more The 23rd season of excavation at Tell Brak took place from March 13 to May 16, 2000, with David Oates as Project Director, Geoff Emberling as Field Director, and Helen McDonald in charge of the house and recording of pottery and objects. The season was co-sponsored by the ...
Abstract: The fourth and fifth seasons of archaeological work at Hirbemerdon Tepe have been cruci... more Abstract: The fourth and fifth seasons of archaeological work at Hirbemerdon Tepe have been crucial for further developing the three major research objectives of the Hirbemerdon Tepe Archaeological Project, which can be summarized as follows: 1) the definition of a clear chronological sequence of occupation at the site; 2) a more complete understanding of the function of the Middle Bronze Age 'architectural complex'located in the High Mound; and 3) the initiation of an intensive survey that will interpret the site catchment and exploitation ...
Geoarchaeological investigations at Borgring, a recently identified Danish Viking Age ring fortre... more Geoarchaeological investigations at Borgring, a recently identified Danish Viking Age ring fortress, reconstructs the original landscape showing how the site was expanded and modified to accommodate a structure of pre-defined size and how this large-scale project demonstrates the willingness to invest significant resources in its precise positioning. The investigations also assess the possibility of navigating along the nearby stream from the coast and show that access by anything larger than a dinghy was impossible, hence navigability was not important for the location and function of the fortress. This has implications for the functional interpretation of all Danish Viking Age ring fortresses.
The Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq is investigating early urbanism in the eastern margins of Upper Mesopotamia (an area encompassing parts of modern Iraq, Syria and Turkey). Urbanism – the origin of the earliest cities– is one of the greatest milestones in human history. Mesopotamia is home to the world’s first urban societies, which transformed human lifestyles and the landscape irrevocably.
The project also assists in monitoring and protecting archaeological heritage on the Rania plain in the Sulaymaniyah Province of Iraqi Kurdistan in northeastern Iraq. With support from the Danish Institute in Damascus the project - a collaboration between the University of Copenhagen and the National Museum of Denmark - has recently completed its fourth season (October-November 2015) of archaeological research on the Rania plain with excavations at the twin sites of Bab-w-Kur and a survey of the surrounding region. The investigations have revealed fascinating evidence of early urban development in the Zagros foothills; a region which until very recently was remote and unexplored.
FUTURE WORK A new phase of investigations on the Rania plain by the Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq will begin in 2016. Its aim is to explore and expand our understanding of the anatomy and temporal development of early urbanism at the margins of what was once Upper Mesopotamia. This research will include studies of the morphology of the urban landscape, the spatial and socio-economic organization of early urban societies, and it will establish a fine-resolution chronology through scientific sampling and dating methods for the urbanisation process visible in the region.
ABOUT THE DANISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO IRAQ The Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq (the former University of Copenhagen Archaeological Project in Iraq) is a collaborative project between the University of Copenhagen and the National Museum of Denmark. The project is directed by Tim Skuldbøl, Carlo Colantoni (University of Leicester, England) and Mette Marie Hald (National Museum of Denmark) and has a number of affiliated researchers from Denmark, USA and Europe who contribute to the study of archaeological remains.
Team members in 2012-2015: Amanj Ameen (representative), Barzan Baiz (representative), Henrik Brahe, Carlo Colantoni, Marc Adam Fenchel, Anne Mette Harpelund, Ditte Kannegaard Kvist, Rasmus Birk Nielsen, Tim Skuldbøl, Guenever Bjerre Thaarup, Jill Weber and Alexandra Wood.
We are greatly indebted to the Sulaimaniyah Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage directed by Kamal Rasheed Raheem, and the Archaeological Museum of Sulaymaniyah, directed by Hashim Hama Abdulla for their invaluable support and assistance.
FUNDING The Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq is supported by:
Gerald Avery Wainwright Fund for Near Eastern Archaeology Research Grant (2016) 'Early urbanism on the fringes of Mesopotamia: sprawl, trash dumping and the transformation of human landscapes in the Late Chalcolithic.' (Carlo Colantoni)
Danish Institute in Damascus (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation - Danish Council for Independent Research (2012-2013)
Brødrene Hartmanns Fond (2014, 2015)
Julie von Müllens Fond – The Royal Danish Academy (2015)
Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen (2012-present)
UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2016 Tracking early urbanism in the Zagros foothills. To be presented at the Near Eastern Lecture Series - Archaeology and Assyriology, University of Copenhagen, December 2016.
RECENT PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., Colantoni, C. and Hald, M.M. 2016 Culture contact and early urban development in Upper Mesopotamia. New evidence from the Zagros foothills, northeastern Iraq. Paper to be presented at the 10th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Section: 6. Excavation Reports & Summaries, 25-29. April, 2016, Vienna, Austria.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., Hald, M.M. and Colantoni, C. 2016 Why manage garbage? New light on the management of garbage in early urban societies. Poster to be presented at the to 10th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 25-29. April, 2016, Vienna, Austria.
THIS POSTER IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD. SEE ATTACHED DOWNLOADS TO THIS SECTION.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2016 Tracking early urbanism in the Zagros foothills. To be presented at the Near Eastern Lecture Series - Archaeology and Assyriology, University of Copenhagen, December 2016.
Colantoni C. 2015 Three seasons of work by the University of Copenhagen Archaeological Project on the Rania Plain, Iraqi Kurdistan. An investigation of early urbanism on the hilly flanks of Mesopotamia. School of Archaeology, Oxford University Seminar series. May 2015.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. and Colantoni, C. 2015 Low‐ d ensity urbanism and urban sprawl in the Zagros foothills, northeastern Iraq. B ANEA- the British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology 2015, London. 7-9 January 2015.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2 014 Urban trajectories and dynamics of complexity in the Upper Mesopotamia: a view from the Zagros foothills. NINO 75-Jubilee Conference, Zagros. National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden, Holland, 1. December 2014 (Invited).
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., C olantoni, C. and Hald, M.M. 2014 Early urbanism in the hilly flanks of Mesopotamia - The dynamics of settlement complexity and urban transformation on the Rania Plain in northeastern Iraq. ASOR - American Schools of Oriental Research 2014, San Diego, USA.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. and Colantoni, C. 2014 Urbanism on the edge - Complex settlement patterns and urban transformations on the Rania Plain in northeastern Iraq. 9th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (ICAANE 2014), Basel, Switzerland.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. and Colantoni, C. 2014 First Results of the Rania Plain Survey ‐ Salvage Operations in the Dokan Dam Inundation Zone. 9 t h International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (ICAANE 2014), for the workshop “Trajectories of complexity in Upper Mesopotamia: processes and dynamics of social complexity and their origin in the Halaf period”. Basel, Switzerland.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2014 First results of the University of Copenhagen Archaeological Project in Iraqi Kurdistan, Near Eastern Lecture Series - Archaeology and Assyriology, University of Copenhagen, 21. Marts 2014.
FURTHER READING
PUBLICATIONS Skuldbøl, T.B.B., and Colantoni C. 2016 Traces of cultural transmission and interaction on the Rania Plain. In K. Kopanias, J. MacGinnis. (Eds.) Archaeological Research in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the adjacent areas. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., Colantoni, C.,and Hald, MM. 2016. The Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq – three years of pioneering archaeological investigations on the Rania Plain. Det Danske Institut I Damaskus. www.damaskus.dk
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. and Colantoni, C. 2016 First Results of the Rania Plain Survey. Salvage Operations in the Dokan Dam Inundation Zone. 9th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Proceedings. Harrassowitz Verlag, p. 1189-1203.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., and Colantoni, C. 2016 (in press). Interaction and culture contacts in the Late Chalcolithic period: New evidence on the Uruk culture from the Zagros foothills. In J. Eidem (ed.) Zagros Studies (ZAST) – PIHANS 2016, NINO Publications. 19 pages.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., Hald, M.M., Colantoni, C., Weber, J., Nielsen R.B., Thaarup, G.B. and Brahe, H. 2014. Arkæologi i vandkanten – redningsundersøgelser langs Dokan-søen i det nordøstlige Irak. National Museets Arbejdsmark 2014, p. 144-157
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. and Colantoni, C. 2016 (in press). Early urbanism on the margins of Upper Mesopotamia - Complex settlement patterns and urban transformations on the Rania Plain in northeastern Iraq. In Trajectories of Complexity in Upper Mesopotamia, eds. Al Kuntar, S. and Iamoni, M. in the Studia Chaburensia series, Harrassowitz, 25 pages.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. and Colantoni, C. 2014. Damage assessment of Iraq’s past: Archaeological Heritage Management on the Rania Plain, Iraqi Kurdistan. Middle East – Topics & Arguments (META) Vol. 3: 41-54.
ADDITIONAL PAPERS Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2015 Rania Plain: University of Copenhagen Archaeological Project. In Kopanias, K., MacGinnis, J and Ur, J. (eds.). Archaeological Projects in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The Directorate of Antiquities of Kurdistan, 2015, p. 39.
Eidem, J. and Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2015 Rania Plain Survey. In Kopanias, K., MacGinnis, J and Ur, J. (eds.). Archaeological Projects in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The Directorate of Antiquities of Kurdistan, 2015, p. 40.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2013 På kanten af Zagros bjergene. Tidskriftet Sfinx, no. 2013-1: 20-23
Poster presenting the recent work by the Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq (DAEI) at the B... more Poster presenting the recent work by the Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq (DAEI) at the BANEA 2017 conference (Glasgow, 4-6 January).
Paper presenting the recent work by the Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq (DAEI) at the BA... more Paper presenting the recent work by the Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq (DAEI) at the BANEA 2017 conference (Glasgow, 4-6 January).
A Danish archaeological expedition to Hama in Syria in the 1930s discovered an ancient town lived... more A Danish archaeological expedition to Hama in Syria in the 1930s discovered an ancient town lived in for thousands of years. Members of the expedition also fell in love with the town around the ancient mound, which they explored on their days off. The archive of the expedition is held by the National Museum of Denmark. Rare, gritty photos of bustling city life are interspersed with strictly composed paintings, where the past appears in vivid colour. However, behind the façade of this picturesque town, forces were at play to change the political and social fabric of Syria for ever. خلال ثلاثينيات القرن الماضي، اكتَشَفَتْ بعثةٌ أثريَّةٌ دنماركية واحدةً من أقدمِ المدن التي تعود لآلاف السنين، ضِمن تلِّ حماة الأثريَّ في سوريا. خلال فترةِ تنفيذ أعمالهم أَحبَّ أفراد هذه البعثة المدينة القديمة المحيطة بالتلِّ الأثريّ، والتي قاموا باكتشافها وتوثيقها خلال أيَّام العُطل. يحتفظُ المتحف الوطني الدنماركي حالياً بأرشيف البعثة، الذي يحتوي على صورٍ نادرةٍ لحياة المدينة الصاخبة، ويتضمَّن أيضاً لوحاتٍ فنيةٍ منفَّذةٍ بدقةٍ يَظهرُ من خلالها الماضي بألوانٍ زاهيةٍ. خَلْفَ هذا المشهد الهادئ لمدينة حماة، كانت هناك قوىً تعملُ على تغيير النسيج السياسي والاجتماعي لسوريا إلى الأبد.
International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East , 2023
International Congress on the Archaeology
of the Ancient Near East
Copenhagen, 22-26 May 2023
F... more International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Copenhagen, 22-26 May 2023 From 1931 to 1938 a Danish team under the direction of Harald Ingholt excavated at the site of Hama in the Orontes valley, in Inland Western Syria. 63 years after the report on the pre-Hellenistic levels was published by Ejnar Fugmann in 1958, two new interrelated Hama projects were initiated in 2021. The project teams are international and interdisciplinary, with scholars from Denmark, France, Italy, the US and the UK taking part, many in both projects. One focuses on the Early Bronze IV Period (ca. 2500-2000 BCE), a time characterized by the processes of state formation and urbanization in this area. Funded by the Independent Research Fund of Denmark and directed by Mette Marie Hald of the National Museum of Denmark, this project’s basic goal is to add a completely new layer of information to the state of knowledge in an area currently inaccessible by means of the application of new approaches and scientific analyses to an old museum collection from an ordinary domestic neighbourhood. The second project, led by Georges Mouamar of the National Museum of Denmark/Institut Français du Proche Orient and funded by the Shelby White – Leon Levy Foundation, addresses a particular attribute of the excavation of Hama: the longest continuous sequence – Middle Neolithic through Iron Age 2 (ca. 6500-720 BCE) – in Inland Western Syria. This project aims to create an absolute and precise chronology, with which all other site chronological sequences in this region can be correlated, through the combination of material culture studies and archaeometric, C14, and archaeomagnetic analyses. In this workshop team members will be presenting initial results of their research.
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The Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq is investigating early urbanism in the eastern margins of Upper Mesopotamia (an area encompassing parts of modern Iraq, Syria and Turkey). Urbanism – the origin of the earliest cities– is one of the greatest milestones in human history. Mesopotamia is home to the world’s first urban societies, which transformed human lifestyles and the landscape irrevocably.
The project also assists in monitoring and protecting archaeological heritage on the Rania plain in the Sulaymaniyah Province of Iraqi Kurdistan in northeastern Iraq. With support from the Danish Institute in Damascus the project - a collaboration between the University of Copenhagen and the National Museum of Denmark - has recently completed its fourth season (October-November 2015) of archaeological research on the Rania plain with excavations at the twin sites of Bab-w-Kur and a survey of the surrounding region. The investigations have revealed fascinating evidence of early urban development in the Zagros foothills; a region which until very recently was remote and unexplored.
FUTURE WORK
A new phase of investigations on the Rania plain by the Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq will begin in 2016. Its aim is to explore and expand our understanding of the anatomy and temporal development of early urbanism at the margins of what was once Upper Mesopotamia. This research will include studies of the morphology of the urban landscape, the spatial and socio-economic organization of early urban societies, and it will establish a fine-resolution chronology through scientific sampling and dating methods for the urbanisation process visible in the region.
ABOUT THE DANISH ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION TO IRAQ
The Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq (the former University of Copenhagen Archaeological Project in Iraq) is a collaborative project between the University of Copenhagen and the National Museum of Denmark. The project is directed by Tim Skuldbøl, Carlo Colantoni (University of Leicester, England) and Mette Marie Hald (National Museum of Denmark) and has a number of affiliated researchers from Denmark, USA and Europe who contribute to the study of archaeological remains.
Team members in 2012-2015:
Amanj Ameen (representative), Barzan Baiz (representative), Henrik Brahe, Carlo Colantoni, Marc Adam Fenchel, Anne Mette Harpelund, Ditte Kannegaard Kvist, Rasmus Birk Nielsen, Tim Skuldbøl, Guenever Bjerre Thaarup, Jill Weber and Alexandra Wood.
We are greatly indebted to the Sulaimaniyah Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage directed by Kamal Rasheed Raheem, and the Archaeological Museum of Sulaymaniyah, directed by Hashim Hama Abdulla for their invaluable support and assistance.
FUNDING
The Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq is supported by:
Gerald Avery Wainwright Fund for Near Eastern Archaeology Research Grant (2016)
'Early urbanism on the fringes of Mesopotamia: sprawl, trash dumping and the transformation of human landscapes in the Late Chalcolithic.' (Carlo Colantoni)
Danish Institute in Damascus (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation - Danish Council for Independent Research (2012-2013)
Brødrene Hartmanns Fond (2014, 2015)
Julie von Müllens Fond – The Royal Danish Academy (2015)
Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen (2012-present)
UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2016
Tracking early urbanism in the Zagros foothills. To be presented at the Near Eastern Lecture Series - Archaeology and Assyriology, University of Copenhagen, December 2016.
RECENT PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., Colantoni, C. and Hald, M.M. 2016
Culture contact and early urban development in Upper Mesopotamia. New evidence from the Zagros foothills, northeastern Iraq. Paper to be presented at the 10th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Section: 6. Excavation Reports & Summaries, 25-29. April, 2016, Vienna, Austria.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., Hald, M.M. and Colantoni, C. 2016
Why manage garbage? New light on the management of garbage in early urban societies. Poster to be presented at the to 10th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 25-29. April, 2016, Vienna, Austria.
THIS POSTER IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD. SEE ATTACHED DOWNLOADS TO THIS SECTION.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2016
Tracking early urbanism in the Zagros foothills. To be presented at the Near Eastern Lecture Series - Archaeology and Assyriology, University of Copenhagen, December 2016.
Colantoni C. 2015
Three seasons of work by the University of Copenhagen Archaeological Project on the Rania Plain, Iraqi Kurdistan. An investigation of early urbanism on the hilly flanks of Mesopotamia. School of Archaeology, Oxford University Seminar series. May 2015.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. and Colantoni, C. 2015
Low‐ d ensity urbanism and urban sprawl in the Zagros foothills, northeastern Iraq. B ANEA- the British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology 2015, London. 7-9 January 2015.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2 014
Urban trajectories and dynamics of complexity in the Upper Mesopotamia: a view from the Zagros foothills. NINO 75-Jubilee Conference, Zagros. National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden, Holland, 1. December 2014 (Invited).
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., C olantoni, C. and Hald, M.M. 2014
Early urbanism in the hilly flanks of Mesopotamia - The dynamics of settlement complexity and urban transformation on the Rania Plain in northeastern Iraq. ASOR - American Schools of Oriental Research 2014, San Diego, USA.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. and Colantoni, C. 2014
Urbanism on the edge - Complex settlement patterns and urban transformations on the Rania Plain in northeastern Iraq. 9th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (ICAANE 2014), Basel, Switzerland.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. and Colantoni, C. 2014
First Results of the Rania Plain Survey ‐ Salvage Operations in the Dokan Dam Inundation Zone. 9 t h International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East (ICAANE 2014), for the workshop “Trajectories of complexity in Upper Mesopotamia: processes and dynamics of social complexity and their origin in the Halaf period”. Basel, Switzerland.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2014
First results of the University of Copenhagen Archaeological Project in Iraqi Kurdistan, Near Eastern Lecture Series - Archaeology and Assyriology, University of Copenhagen, 21. Marts 2014.
FURTHER READING
PUBLICATIONS
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., and Colantoni C. 2016
Traces of cultural transmission and interaction on the Rania Plain. In K. Kopanias, J. MacGinnis. (Eds.) Archaeological Research in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and the adjacent areas. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., Colantoni, C.,and Hald, MM. 2016.
The Danish Archaeological Expedition to Iraq – three years of pioneering archaeological investigations on the Rania Plain. Det Danske Institut I Damaskus. www.damaskus.dk
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. and Colantoni, C. 2016
First Results of the Rania Plain Survey. Salvage Operations in the Dokan Dam Inundation Zone. 9th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East Proceedings. Harrassowitz Verlag, p. 1189-1203.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., and Colantoni, C. 2016 (in press).
Interaction and culture contacts in the Late Chalcolithic period: New evidence on the Uruk culture from the Zagros foothills. In J. Eidem (ed.) Zagros Studies (ZAST) – PIHANS 2016, NINO Publications. 19 pages.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., Hald, M.M., Colantoni, C., Weber, J., Nielsen R.B., Thaarup, G.B. and Brahe, H. 2014.
Arkæologi i vandkanten – redningsundersøgelser langs Dokan-søen i det nordøstlige Irak. National Museets Arbejdsmark 2014, p. 144-157
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. and Colantoni, C. 2016 (in press).
Early urbanism on the margins of Upper Mesopotamia - Complex settlement patterns and urban transformations on the Rania Plain in northeastern Iraq. In Trajectories of Complexity in Upper Mesopotamia, eds. Al Kuntar, S. and Iamoni, M. in the Studia Chaburensia series, Harrassowitz, 25 pages.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. and Colantoni, C. 2014.
Damage assessment of Iraq’s past: Archaeological Heritage Management on the Rania Plain, Iraqi Kurdistan. Middle East – Topics & Arguments (META) Vol. 3: 41-54.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B., Hald, MM., and Colantoni, C., 2013.
Danske arkæologer skal redde Iraks kulturarv. www.videnskab.dk (December 2013). Online periodical of the Danish Ministry of Research. http://videnskab.dk/miljo-naturvidenskab/danske-arkaeologer-skal-redde-iraks-kulturarv
ADDITIONAL PAPERS
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2015
Rania Plain: University of Copenhagen Archaeological Project. In Kopanias, K., MacGinnis, J and Ur, J. (eds.). Archaeological Projects in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The Directorate of Antiquities of Kurdistan, 2015, p. 39.
Eidem, J. and Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2015
Rania Plain Survey. In Kopanias, K., MacGinnis, J and Ur, J. (eds.). Archaeological Projects in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The Directorate of Antiquities of Kurdistan, 2015, p. 40.
Skuldbøl, T.B.B. 2013
På kanten af Zagros bjergene. Tidskriftet Sfinx, no. 2013-1: 20-23
خلال ثلاثينيات القرن الماضي، اكتَشَفَتْ بعثةٌ أثريَّةٌ دنماركية واحدةً من أقدمِ المدن التي تعود لآلاف السنين، ضِمن تلِّ حماة الأثريَّ في سوريا. خلال فترةِ تنفيذ أعمالهم أَحبَّ أفراد هذه البعثة المدينة القديمة المحيطة بالتلِّ الأثريّ، والتي قاموا باكتشافها وتوثيقها خلال أيَّام العُطل. يحتفظُ المتحف الوطني الدنماركي حالياً بأرشيف البعثة، الذي يحتوي على صورٍ نادرةٍ لحياة المدينة الصاخبة، ويتضمَّن أيضاً لوحاتٍ فنيةٍ منفَّذةٍ بدقةٍ يَظهرُ من خلالها الماضي بألوانٍ زاهيةٍ. خَلْفَ هذا المشهد الهادئ لمدينة حماة، كانت هناك قوىً تعملُ على تغيير النسيج السياسي والاجتماعي لسوريا إلى الأبد.
of the Ancient Near East
Copenhagen, 22-26 May 2023
From 1931 to 1938 a Danish team under the direction of Harald Ingholt excavated at the site of Hama in the Orontes valley, in Inland Western Syria. 63 years after the report on the pre-Hellenistic levels was published by Ejnar Fugmann in 1958, two new interrelated Hama projects were initiated in 2021. The project teams are international and interdisciplinary, with scholars from Denmark, France, Italy, the US and the UK taking part, many in both projects. One focuses on the Early Bronze IV Period (ca. 2500-2000 BCE), a time characterized by the processes of state formation and urbanization in this area. Funded by the Independent Research Fund of Denmark and directed by Mette Marie Hald of the National Museum of Denmark, this project’s basic goal is to add a completely new layer of information to the state of knowledge in an area currently inaccessible by means of the application of new approaches and scientific analyses to an old museum collection from an ordinary domestic neighbourhood. The second project, led by Georges Mouamar of the National Museum of Denmark/Institut Français du Proche Orient and funded by the Shelby White – Leon Levy Foundation, addresses a particular attribute of the excavation of Hama: the longest continuous sequence – Middle Neolithic through Iron Age 2 (ca. 6500-720 BCE) – in Inland Western Syria. This project aims to create an absolute and precise chronology, with which all other site chronological sequences in this region can be correlated, through the combination of material culture studies and archaeometric, C14, and archaeomagnetic analyses. In this workshop team members will be presenting initial results of their research.