A morphological typology for the “Kranzhügel” of the Greater Western Jazira and its impact upon interpretations of Early Bronze Age north-eastern Syria

Abstract

In the poorly-investigated Greater Western Jazira (GWJ) of north-eastern Syria, the most well-known sites are large tell settlements often called “Kranzhügel”. While this term broadly describes sub-circular mounded sites with two concentric ramparts, it is neither precise nor applicable to all fortified tells of the region. Its widespread application across morphologically heterogeneous sites has led to a distortion of concepts of settlement dynamics and human activity in the GWJ during the Early Bronze Age. This paper uses an intensive remote sensing study and results from past fieldwork to disentangle the term “Kranzhügel” from indiscriminate use and lack of academic dissemination, and build a new typology based upon the absolute morphological forms of fortified GWJ sites. This not only provides a framework for researchers in this region, especially when working with remote sensing data, but also a case study of the pitfalls of terminological ambiguity which are present across many areas of archaeological research.