Activity across space on the threshold of complexity: Microdebris analysis at Late Chalcolithic 1 Tell Surezha, Iraq

Abstract

The study of archaeological microdebris—small pieces of debris preserved in surface matrices—can offer insight into the distribution of past activity across space. This study provides a methodological test case for microdebris analysis. It contributes to understanding of late prehistoric economy and society in Mesopotamia by providing fine-grained spatial data on the organization of activity at one village site on the Erbil Plain, and offers a spatial perspective on emergent social complexity in the Late Chalcolithic in North Mesopotamia.An analysis of microdebris from the 5th millennium occupation of Tell Surezha, Iraq, suggests that domestic spaces were centers of debris-producing activities, with a high degree of multifunctionality in their use. Courtyards in particular appear to have been centers of both production and consumption. By contrast, certain nondomestic spaces were characterized by very low levels of debris-producing activity and apparent limits on access. These data support an interpretation of the period as one in which economic activity was centered on houses and organized at the household level, even as nondomestic institutions were beginning to exert control over activity outside the home.