Abstract
In 2012, the Erbil Plain Archaeological Survey (EPAS) conducted its first season of fieldwork. The project's goal is the complete mapping of the archaeological landscape of Erbil, with an emphasis on the Neo-Assyrian and Hellenistic periods. It will test the hypothesis that the Neo-Assyrian landscape was closely planned. This first report emphasizes the project's field methodology, especially the use of a variety of satellite remote sensing imagery. Our preliminary results suggest that the plain was part of the urbanized world of Mesopotamia, with new cities of the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Sasanian era identified.
Highlights
Iraq is one of the intellectual birthplaces of the study of ancient settlement patterns and landscapes.Yet in the last forty years, innovative research in the Near East has taken place exclusively in adjacent regions, largely for political reasons internal to the Republic of Iraq
The results of the initial season of survey are suggestive of trends in settlement and land use, but are insufficiently extensive to allow for any confidently-reconstructed historical narrative
Some initial observations on long-term trajectories can be made (Fig. 15), with the caveat that they are based on the Tell Baqrta and Qasr Shemamok regions, a small and possibly non-representative subset of the entire plain
Summary
Jason, Lidewijde de Jong, Jessica Giraud, James F. Ancient cities and landscapes in the Kurdistan region of Iraq: The Erbil Plain Archaeological Survey 2012 season. ANCIENT CITIES AND LANDSCAPES IN THE KURDISTAN REGION OF IRAQ: THE ERBIL PLAIN ARCHAEOLOGICAL. In 2012, the Erbil Plain Archaeological Survey (EPAS) conducted its first season of fieldwork. The project’s goal is the complete mapping of the archaeological landscape of Erbil, with an emphasis on the Neo-Assyrian and Hellenistic periods. It will test the hypothesis that the Neo-Assyrian landscape was closely planned. This first report emphasizes the project’s field methodology, especially the use of a variety of satellite remote sensing imagery. Our preliminary results suggest that the plain was part of the urbanized world of Mesopotamia, with new cities of the Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Sasanian era identified
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