Excavations at Tell Brak 1998: Preliminary Report

Abstract

The 22nd season of excavations at Tell Brak took place in April and May of 1998, with David Oates as Project Director and Geoff Emberling as Field Director. It is our pleasure to mention institutions and people who made the project such a success. This season was primarily funded by the Adelaide Milton de Groot Fund (in memory of the de Groot and Hawley families) of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Carsten Niebuhr Institute of the University of Copenhagen, Dell Computer Corporation and the Museum of Anthropology of the University of Michigan also generously provided funds and equipment. We would like to thank Dr Sultan Muhesen, Director-General of Antiquities and Museums in Syria, for his encouragement and interest, as well as Dr Adnan Bounni, Director of Excavations, and our representative, Abd el Messih Baghdo. The excavation team this season was exceptionally enthusiastic and dedicated. Jack Cheng was registrar, a position that included designing an excavation database as well as photography and drawing; Tim Skuldboel and Torben Larsen were surveyors; Lisa Cooper, Zenia Hoeserich, Stine Rossel, Suanna Selby and Laura Tedesco were site supervisors; Michael Charles and Mette Marie Hald supervised the notation program; Jill Weber worked on faunal material; Jean-Francois de Laperouse of the Metropolitan Museum was objects conservator; Henry Wright analysed samples of chipped stone; and Donald Hansen and Joan Oates gave crucial help in architecture, excavation and ceramic analysis. David Oates provided helpful advice and support. We thank them all for their many contributions to work in the field and to this report.