Excavations at Jemdet Nasr, 1989

Abstract

The British Archaeological Expedition to Iraq conducted a second season of excavations at Jemdet Nasr from 21st October to 31st December 1989. Our gratitude for support is in the first place due to the Iraqi Department of Antiquities and Heritage, and in particular to its Director-General, Dr. Mu'ayyad Said Damerji, and the ever helpful staff of the External Relations section. We are also grateful to the Director of the Iraq Museum, Dr. Munir Taha, particularly for permission to export lithic material for analysis by M. Pope. A special debt of gratitude is due to our representative, Sd. Abdulrazaq Abboudi, for his wholehearted assistance in all aspects of our work. We also thank Sd. Doni George for making a video film at the site. Financial support was most gratefully received from the British Academy and the British School of Archaeology in Iraq.The team this year consisted of: Roger Matthews (director), Petr Charvat (archaeologist), Sarah Collins (pottery specialist), David Knight (camp support), Alan Lupton, Wendy Matthews, Helen McDonald, Susan Pollock (archaeologists), Melody Pope (photographer and lithics specialist), Madeleine Sarley (archaeologist) and David Schofield (illustrator). Our epigraphist, Robert Englund, waited patiently by the telephone in Berlin but, alas, an absence of tablets meant we made no call upon his expertise.One of our main aims this season was the construction of a site dig-house in order to facilitate future work at Jemdet Nasr, particularly with regard to storage and living conditions. With exceptional assistance from our representative a three room house, 18 × 5·5 m in ground area, was completed in December, its construction having consumed a substantial proportion of our funds and energies for the season.