ñ

UNEARTHING THE PAST SINCE 1900
  • BECOME A MEMBER
  • SEARCH
  • ññ
  • About
    • WELCOME FROM ñ OFFICERS
    • FACTS & FIGURES—ñ
    • MISSION, BYLAWS, & STRATEGIC PLAN
    • HISTORY OF ñ
    • COMMITTEES
    • POLICIES
    • FINANCIAL DOCUMENTS
    • ñ’s Honors and Awards
    • AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTERS
    • CONTACT US—ñ
  • INITIATIVES
    & PROJECTS
    • ñ CULTURAL HERITAGE INITIATIVES
    • ñ-AFFILIATED ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECTS
    • ñ ARCHIVES
    • ONLINE RESOURCES
    • ñ PUBLICATIONS
    • WOMEN OF ñ MAP
  • ANNUAL
    MEETING
    • REGISTRATION
    • HOTEL RESERVATIONS
    • Annual Meeting Schedules
    • SPONSOR & EXHIBIT
    • ñ Online Library
    • HONORS & AWARDS
    • ANNUAL MEETING SCHOLARSHIPS
    • PAST & FUTURE ANNUAL MEETINGS
  • MEMBERSHIP
    • INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIPS
    • INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
    • ONLINE RESOURCES
    • MEMBER DIRECTORY
    • FY24 HONOR ROLL OF DONORS
    • ñ LEGACY CIRCLE
    • FRIENDS OF ñ
    • Friends of ñ Webinars
  • FELLOWSHIPS
    & GRANTS
    • SCHOLARSHIPS FOR FIELDWORK PARTICIPATION
    • GRANTS FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROJECTS
    • RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS FOR MEMBERS
    • MEMBERSHIP & ANNUAL MEETING SCHOLARSHIPS
    • ñ-AFFILIATED RESEARCH CENTERS FELLOWSHIPS
    • OTHER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMS
  • PUBLICATIONS
    & RESOURCES
    • BULLETIN OF ñ
    • JOURNAL OF CUNEIFORM STUDIES
    • NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY
    • MAARAV
    • NEWS@ñ
    • ñ Online Library
    • BOOK SERIES & MONOGRAPHS
    • EARLY CAREER MEMBER RESOURCES
  • NEWS &
    EVENTS
    • PAST ñ NEWS, MONTH BY MONTH
    • NEWS@ñ
    • LIFETIME HONOR ROLL OF DONORS
    • FY24 HONOR ROLL OF DONORS
  • WAYS TO
    DONATE

ᴡ鷡

 

NEWS@ñ E-NEWSLETTER

ANCIENT NEAR EAST TODAY E-NEWSLETTER

PAST ñ NEWS, MONTH BY MONTH

ñ LEGACY CIRCLE MEMBERS

LIFETIME HONOR ROLL OF DONORS

FY24 HONOR ROLL OF DONORS

ñ ANNUAL MEETING

2022/2023 Mesopotamian Fellowship Report: Preliminary Report on the Tepe Gawra Lower Town Survey

Khaled Abu Jayyab, University of Toronto

Based on the kind letter of support by the General Directorate of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH), Baghdad, we began the systematic survey of the lower town of Tepe Gawra (344197.14 m E, 4040351.85 m N) in the Ninawa Governate (fig.1) on the 9th of October 2022. Fieldwork at the site was concluded on the 20th of October 2022, with analysis of the recovered materials carried out in the expedition house in the Muthana neighborhood in Mosul. The work at Tepe Gawra was conducted by a Canadian research team from the University of Toronto in partnership with the SBAH office in Mosul.

Figure 1: Location of Tepe Gawra

Location of Tepe Gawra
The site of Tepe Gawra is located in the in the Ninawa Plain in the piedmont of the Zagros Mountains. The site is roughly a kilometer and a half to the south of the town of Fadiliyah, and about the same distance from the ancient Assyrian city of Dur Šarukin (Khorsabad) to its east. Tepe Gawra is located in a well-watered plain with several spring fed streams running through the site or near it. This condition encouraged settlement across time resulting in a long sequence of occupation at the site. Today most of the springs that were near Fadiliyah are dry as a result of tapping into the water table with deep wells and pumps.

History of Work at the site and its Significance
Tepe Gawra has long been seen as an essential site for late prehistoric and early historic periods, not only in Iraq but for the region in its entirety. Despite the significance of Tepe Gawra, there hasn’t been work carried out at the site since the 1930’s. The work conducted at the site by Speiser (1935) and Tobler (1950) has revealed a long occupational sequence dating from the Halaf period to the mid second millennium BC. The sequence has very few short-lived gaps in occupation and as such has become a chronological anchor for the region, especially for late prehistory (Halaf, Ubaid, and Uruk/LC). Analytical work carried out by Abu al-Soof (1974), and more recently, Rothman (2002), has expanded our understanding of the Northern Uruk period and has been key to developing the modern Late Chalcolithic (LC1-LC5) chronological scheme (Rothman ed. 2001; Schwartz 2001).

Despite its small size (roughly 2-3 ha. at its base extent), Tepe Gawra has been the hallmark site for the development of complexity during the Ubaid and Late Chalcolithic periods in the ancient Near East. Excavations at the site revealed a local development of a sophisticated infrastructure manifest in construction of temples, monumental architecture, and elaborate administrative practices. The site throughout its occupation shows an involvement in far flung networks connecting it with Highland Anatolia and the Zagros mountains, with connections as far afield as Afghanistan. These connections were seen in the high concentration of objects made of exotic materials such as obsidian, lapis lazuli, carnelian, copper, gold, and silver (Rothman 2002: 8), in addition to the presence of imported utilitarian and luxury ceramics (Abu Jayyab 2019; Rothman and Blackman 2003). The households at Tepe Gawra were also shown to be involved in multiple craft activities such as woodwork, textile production, elaborate administration, stone tool manufacture, and the production of high-end ceramic wares (see Rothman 2002; Rothman and Blackman 2003).

All together the main mound of the site has furnished evidence of highly specialized activities (administration, exchange, and craft production) with very little evidence of agricultural implements and farming practices. This phenomenon is unique as this degree of specialization was only attested at larger contemporary sites that combined specialized activities with extensive farming practices (e.g. Tell Brak reaches over 100 ha during this period). This situation necessitated that the inhabitants of Tepe Gawra relied on an external source for food. Rothman suggested that a functional segregation between sites existed in the piedmont or the foothills during this time (Rothman 2002: 5). He saw that the site of Tepe Gawra was a ‘center’ at the top of a specialized hierarchical network. Within this network Gawra served as an administrative, religious, and craft hub (Rothman 2002: 5-6). In support of the notion of a center, Frangipane argues that the landscape played a role in limiting urbanism in the piedmont around Tepe Gawra where the terrain may have restricted the expansion of agriculture beyond its natural limit restricting the region from producing enough agricultural surpluses to support a large conglomeration (Frangipane 2009: 135).

Research Aims
There is no doubt as to the significance of Tepe Gawra within the region but was the site truly interdependent as part of a large regional network for subsistence? That is, was the site serving a special function that excluded it from food production? There remains a debate as to whether or not there was a lower Chalcolithic period town around Tepe Gawra. Algaze notes (1993: 71-72) – based on personal communication with Gibson – that the mound was surrounded by a lower town. If this was true then the high mound would have been the acropolis of a larger town that still remains systematically unexplored. Rothman did not reject the idea of the presence of a lower town, however he remained skeptical with the absence of empirical data (Rothman 2002: 19).

The absence of a lower town in the narrative histories of Tepe Gawra coupled with the complexity exhibited at the site has prompted scholars to challenge unilinear models of complexity focused on urbanism. Indeed, the presence or absence of a lower town is central to the notion that Gawra was a regional center dependent on its intra and interregional networks rather than the mobilization of an internal workforce.

Figure 2: Olive orchard around the mound of Tepe Gawra (in the background).

With the kind permission of the SBAH office in Mosul, we had the chance to visit the site on October 1st 2021. The question heading to the site was whether or not the site had a lower town. we were extremely excited to discover a dense scatter of sherds at the lower town, and from what could be observed, many seemed to date to the Late Chalcolithic period. This realization prompted us to apply for the permit to conduct surface survey around the main mound of Tepe Gawra.

The aim of this work at Tepe Gawra was, first, to document and record the full expanse of the settlement beyond the mounded tell area, and to develop a detailed understanding of the occupation history of the lower town. Second, with the expanse of olive orchards around the main mound (fig.2), field investigation of the lower town is an essential undertaking at such an important heritage site in Iraq.

Method
Our approach consisted of combining remote sensing data with field walking to obtain a clearer picture on the cultural and physical surroundings of the site and to document its current state of preservation. Prior to our work in the field, we explored the landscape around the site using satellite imagery (Corona, Keyhole, and Landsat) for two main goals. First, examining corona satellite imagery, has the potential to reveal the presence of anthropogenic soils and, in turn, the extent of human occupation around the site (fig.3). Second, exploring the changes that took place at the site between the late 1960’s and present day.

From the legacy satellite imagery, we were able to define a number of features that were otherwise invisible both on the ground and in more recent satellite imagery. From corona imagery, we were able to identify two smaller tells adjacent to the main mound of Tepe Gawra; A first northern tell (fig.4) that was separated from the main mound by a stream. This tell was already indicated in one of Speiser’s early topographic maps of the area (Speiser 1927: fig.2). A second feature was an eastern mound faintly visible only in the corona imagery. There was also a trace of a stream running east of the mound. This stream separated the main mound of Tepe Gawra from the above-mentioned eastern mound (fig.4). Corona and keyhole imagery allowed us to identify, based on soil color and relief, what we believed was the extent of the lower town, and which in turn guided our selection of survey zones (fig.3).

Figure 3: Possible extent of lower town at Tepe Gawra based on soil discoloration (Corona satellite imagery, December 1969).
Figure 4: Traces of Streams and Sites Around Tepe Gawra, Note the Southeastern Stream is no longer visible

Figure 5: DEM of Tepe Gawra

In the field, we conducted a UAV (drone) survey of the site in order to obtain a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) and render a 3D model of the Tell and its surroundings (fig.5). This was an important initial step that aims to create an accurate plan of the site and to document its present condition, and assess any possible future threats to it. Our second step was to lay out a collection grid around the site as a precursor to our systematic surface collection of the lower town. The grid contained collection units spaced at regular intervals (50 m) immediately around the tell (fig.6).

All diagnostic artifacts within the units were collected and taken to the expedition house for processing. Processing consists of washing the artifacts, recording and drawing them, with the aim of carrying out a typo-technological study. The typo-technological analysis entails studying the finds (e.g. ceramic sherds, stone tools) with the aim of identifying the relative age of the artifacts and the technological steps taken to produce them (another avenue that may possibly help us determine periodization). We also analyzed the obsidian stone tools with a portable x-ray florescence analyzer (PXRF). The PXRF will allow us to determine the source/s of obsidian artifacts found at the site and begin to explore new network connections that the site was involved in. The information gathered through the material studies will later be connected to the spatial data through a GIS. Through a period-by-period artifact count from each unit we were able to see the extent of occupation in the area surrounding the tell and detect changes in this occupation from one period to the next.

Figure 6: A) Grid and collection units at the in the lower town of Tepe Gawra with full artifact counts. B) Sherd count for each period, C) Estimated area occupied during each period.

Preliminary Results

1-Damage Assessment

Figure 7: Arial photo showing damages to Tepe Gawra.

Both the main mound and the lower town at Tepe Gawra have been subject to anthropogenic disturbances. Chronologically, the initial impact on the settlement resulted from the excavations carried out in the 1930’s (Speiser 1935). The site is believed to be at least 7m higher than its current elevation with several levels completely removed (Levels I-IX). After Level X the site was divided into two parts with excavations focusing exclusively on the northeastern portion of the tell. As such, piles of dirt from the excavations were dumped along the slopes of the mound causing an artificial swelling along the edges and slopes of the mound. We were able to document these dumping piles along the different slopes of the mound (fig.7).

 

Figure 8: The Dirt Embankment Around the Base of the Mound.

The main mound of Tepe Gawra in addition to the lower town were also impacted by farming activities. Farming activities consisted primarily of the planting of olive orchards around the site (fig.2). According to local farmers the orchard was planted roughly 30 years ago, this coincides with the destabilization of the country and the weakening of the central authorities during the first Gulf War. The olive groves and the infrastructural developments related to them have certainly damaged the lower town extensively. First, clear bulldozing took place at the foot of the main mound in order to level that area and prepare it for agriculture. The majority of the dirt was pushed towards the mound forming a low embankment along the majority of the mound’s circumference (fig.8). Second, the act of planting the trees, and plowing the land, in addition to the irrigation systems associated with them (including lines of watering tubes buried in the ground and running between the trees) churned up large swaths of the lower town at Tepe Gawra. Finally, the construction of a number of farm houses, rest areas, and water collection basins with the orchard impacted the lower town significantly (empty squares in figure 6 were not surveyed primarily due to the presence of such features). All these factors make excavations of the lower town near impossible making this survey all the more important. A further complication to studying the lower town and its surrounding is the construction of a road between Khorsabad and Bashiqa that ran through the eastern mound, leading to its complete removal.

The most recent damage to the site was caused through its use by members of ISIS. The militant group dug an intricate network of tunnels within the mound (fig.9). These tunnels may impact the integrity of the mound and cause collapses in the near future. Besides the structural issues these tunnels caused, due to their size, the impact on the archaeological remains is equally devastating if not more.

Figure 9: ISIS Tunnel Along the Southwestern Slope of the Mound

2-Lower Town Remains
In total, we surveyed 187 50x50m units, in addition to 5 large external units (see fig.6). within these units we counted 43895 sherds (fig.10), and a total of 904 chipped stone artifacts (fig.11). Almost 40% of the materials were made from clear obsidian with a greenish hue, while 55% were made from flint. Of note, we documented a total of 6 Canaanean looking blades on our survey. Their distribution seems to be confined to the northeast area of the survey region, including Zone 3 East and the squares (M5, M6, and M7) adjacent to it. This is of note since Canaanean blades made from lever pressure are characteristic of Late Chalcolithic lithic assemblages and ours were all found in conjunction with Late Chalcolithic pottery.

Figure 10: examples of ceramics collected from Tepe Gawra Lower Town Survey.
Figure 11: collection of stone tools from the Tepe Gawra Lower Town Survey.

In terms of occupational history, the team was able to document the stages of development at the site where a clear expansion from the main mound clearly began during the Late Chalcolithic 1 period (4600-4200 BC) and continued through to the Late Chalcolithic 3 period (3900-3600 BC) to at which point the site was abandoned until the Ninevite 5 period (3100-2800 BC). During the late Chalcolithic the site expands from roughly 4 ha. (Ubaid Middle Chalcolithic period, 5300-4600 BC) to 9 ha. during the LC1, and later, to 15 ha. during the LC2 and 3 (fig.12). Further, the team was able to isolate a number of distinct activity areas (e.g. pottery making) dating to these periods (fig.13). All this implied that rather than being an isolated small center exclusively reliant on far-flung inter and intraregional networks, Tepe Gawra was going through similar processes of urban expansion, social differentiation, and economic specialization that were occurring at other sites in the region, albeit within its own local trajectory.

Figure 12: LC3 settlement located east of the main mound of Tepe Gawra. Note that the number in the collection unit is the percentage of late EB sherds relative to other sherds collected in the unit.
Figure 13: Extent of Late Chalcolithic 1 (LC1) settlement at Tepe Gawra. Initially the LC 1 occupation was believed to be restricted to the main mound, top dashed circle (3 ha. in extent), however, after survey we now see that the occupation was 3 times the size initially believed (9 ha.). The lower dashed circle points to an LC1 ceramic working area. This was discerned based on the heavy presence of wasters (objects in the image) and pottery slag, which are by-products of ceramic manufacture.

Occupation at the site reached its zenith during the latter part of the 3rd millennium or the Late Early Bronze Age (Akkadian/post Akkadian periods). During this period, we see the largest extent of the site reaching approximately 23 ha., or possibly 36 if we take into consideration units with a low density of sherds (fig.14). The site declines during the Middle Bronze Age, and eventually shifts slightly to the north during the Late Bronze Age and the Iron Age, where the mound of Tepe Gawra itself becomes too narrow at the summit to sustain a village. The Final occupation in the environs of the site occurs during the late Sassanian/Early Islamic period where settlement shifts to the southern edges of the survey zone.

Figure 14: Extent of the late third millennium settlement. Note that the number in the collection unit is the percentage of late EB sherds relative to other sherds collected in the unit.

3-Outreach

Figure 15: Workshop carried out at Qadisiya University by members of the Tepe Gawra Survey Project (From left): Khaled Abu Jayyab, Arno Glasser, Abbas al-Hussainy, and Ira Schwartz.

Another important aspect of the project was to foster close cooperation with local institutes and members of the community. This approach is taken as part of the steps in reforming and decolonizing excavation and survey in Iraq as outlined by Jotheri (2022). Accordingly, the project emphasized the training of members of the SBAH involved. Moreover, following the season members of the project held a workshop at Qadisiya University in Diwaniya, organized by Prof. Abbas al-Hussainy, pertaining to the work at Tepe Gawra, and analytical work on ceramics, lithics, and survey methodology. The workshop was open to faculty, students, and members of the public alike (fig.15).

The season’s work at Tepe Gawra was a resounding success despite the tight schedule. This would not have been possible without the financial support provided by the ñ Mesopotamia Fellowship, and the CRANE project (University of Toronto), In addition to the guidance, motivation, and logistical support provided by Prof. Timothy Harrison (NMC) and Prof. Abbas Al-Hussainy (Qadisiya University). Finally, the work would not have been possible without the monumental efforts of the Tepe Gawra survey team (fig.16), Dr. Stephen Batiuk (NMC, University of Toronto), Dr. Abbas al-Hussainy (Ira Schwartz, Arno Glasser (both U of T, Anthropology, University of Toronto), Hossam Hadi, Abdul Ghani Jbori, and Ahmad Najar (SBAH), whom all put in extra shifts to ensure the data was processed on time and in a scientific manner. The success of this work would not have been possible without them.

Figure 16: Members of the Tepe Gawra Survey team (from left to right): Hossam Hadi, Khaled Abu Jayyab, Ira Schwartz, Hikmet al-Jbouri, Stephen Batiuk, Abbas al-Hussainy, Ahmad Najar, Arno Glasser, and Abdul Ghani Jbori

Bibliography

Abu al-Soof, B. (1974). “Prehistoric Pottery from Nineveh, Gawra, and the Neighboring Sites.” Sumer 30: 1-10.

Abu Jayyab, K. (2012). “A Ceramic Chronology from Hamoukar’s Southern Extension.” In Catherine Marro (ed.) “After the Ubaid: Interpreting Change from the Caucuses to Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Urban Civilization (4500-3500 BC).” 87-128. Varia Anatolica XXVII.

Abu Jayyab, K. (2019). “Nomads in Late Chalcolithic Northern Mesopotamia: Mobility and Social Change in the 5th and 4th Millennium BC.” Unpublished PhD. Thesis, University of Toronto.

Algaze, G. (1993). “The Uruk World System: the Dynamics of Expansion of Early Mesopotamian Civilization.” University of Chicago Press.

Al-Quntar, S. & Abu Jayyab, K. (2014). “The Political Economy of the Upper Khabur in the Late Chalcolithic 1-2: Ceramic Mass-production, Standardization and Specialization.” In McMahon, A. & Crawford, H. (eds.) “Preludes to Urbanism: The Late Chalcolithic of Mesopotamia.” 89-108. McDonald Institute Monographs. Cambridge.

Frangipane, M. (2009). “Non-urban Hierarchical Patterns of Territorial and Political Organization in in Northern Regions of Greater Mesopotamia: Tepe Gawra and Arslantepe.” Subartu XXIII: 135-148.

Jotheri, J. (2022). “Reforming (and Decolonizing) Excavations and Survey in Iraq.” ANE Today X: 12.

Rothman, M. ed. (2001). “Uruk Mesopotamia and Its Neighbors: Cross-cultural Interactions in the Era of State Formation.” School of American Research Press.

Rothman, M. (2002).  “Tepe Gawra: The Evolution of a Small Prehistoric Center in Northern Iraq.” Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Press.

Rothman, M. & Blackman, J. (2003). “Late Fifth and Early Fourth Millennium Exchange Systems in Northern Mesopotamia: Chemical Characterization of Sprig and Impressed Wares.” Al-Rafidan 24: 1-21.

Schwartz, G. (2001). “Syria and the Uruk Expansion.” In Ed. Rothman. M. “Uruk Mesopotamia and Its Neighbors: Cross-cultural Interactions in the Era of State Formation.” 233-264. School of American Research Press.

Speiser, E. (1927). “Preliminary excavations at Tepe Gawra.” Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 9: 57-94.

Speiser, E. (1935). “Excavations at Tepe Gawra, I.” Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Tobler, A. J. (1950). “Excavations at Tepe Gawra II.” Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.

BROWSE THE NEWS ARCHIVE

  • 2025 Grant & Fellowship Awardees
  • New ñ-Affiliated Projects 2025
  • FOA Webinar: Amy Gansell
  • Fieldwork Report: Rubar Yavuz

ñ
The James F. Strange Center
209 Commerce Street
Alexandria, VA 22314

E-mail: info@asor.org

© 2023 ñ
All rights reserved.
Images licensed under a

Contact Us
Membership

Friends of ñ
ñ Cultural Heritage Initiatives
Terms of Use

COVID-19 Update: Please consider making payments or gifts on our secure . Please e-mail info@asor.org if you have questions or need help.

Follow us on: