The Shahrizor Prehistory Project has targeted prehistoric levels of the Late Ubaid and Late Chalcolithic 4 (LC4; Late Middle Uruk) periods at Gurga Chiya (Shahrizor, Kurdistan region of northern Iraq), along with the Halaf period at the adjacent site of Tepe Marani. Excavations at the latter have produced new dietary and environmental data for the sixth millennium B.C. in the region, while at Gurga Chiya part of a burned Late Ubaid tripartite house was excavated. This has yielded a promising archaeobotanical assemblage and established a benchmark ceramic assemblage for the Shahrizor Plain, which is closely comparable to material known from Tell Madhhur in the Hamrin valley. The related series of radiocarbon dates gives significant new insights into the divergent timing of the Late Ubaid and early LC in northern and southern Mesopotamia. In the following occupation horizon, a ceramic assemblage closely aligned to the southern Middle Uruk indicates convergence of material culture with central and southern Iraq as early as the LC4 period. Combined with data for the appearance of Early Uruk elements at sites in the adjacent Qara Dagh region, this hints at long-term co-development of material culture during the fourth millennium B.C. in southeastern Iraqi Kurdistan and central and southern Iraq, potentially questioning the model of expansion or colonialism from the south.

Recent work in Slemani Province, Iraqi Kurdistan is beginning to reveal that the Shahrizor region, an intermontane valley located between Slemani (Suleymaniyah) city and Halabja, had a paleoenvironment that is very different from the region today. The region can be characterized as having active alluvial systems, with likely more perennial streams or greater hydrologic flow, surrounded by greater shrub and tree cover for long periods in the Holocene, lasting until about 2300 BP. At the site of Bakr Awa, which was a major regional center from the 3rd to 1st millennium BC, evidence of land use and water management, including possible flood farming/irrigation, is found. The immediate surroundings appear to have been ecologically diverse, suggesting agriculture may have only been one among multiple economic avenues in the region. Wetland plants, in particular, appear to have been greatly exploited. Barley cultivation was a major focus in the late 3rd millennium BC, which could be related to an economic focus on animal husbandry, as also supported by historical sources. Relatively wetter conditions in the late third and early second millennium BCE suggest the 4.2 ka year event had either unclear or minor impact in the region. At around 2300 BP or later, the hydrologic and climatic regime shifts to drier conditions with greater short-term climatic volatility, even though the general trend indicates conditions becoming more similar to today. Interestingly, some major global-scale climatic events, such as the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age, do not, as of yet, appear to have direct parallels in the Shahrizor plain and perhaps wider region, emphasizing the need to collect multiple, local paleoenvironmental proxies throughout the Near East.

Recent fieldwork and archival sedimentary materials from southern Iraq have revealed new insights into the environment that shaped southern Mesopotamia from the pre-Ubaid (early Holocene) until the early Islamic period. These data have been combined with northern Iraqi speleothem, or stalagmite, data that have revealed relevant palaeoclimate information. The new results are investigated in light of textual sources and satellite remote sensing work. It is evident that areas south of Baghdad, and to the region of Uruk, were already potentially habitable between the eleventh and early eighth millennia B.C., suggesting there were settlements in southern Iraq prior to the Ubaid. Date palms, the earliest recorded for Iraq, are evident before 10,000 B.C., and oak trees are evident south of Baghdad in the early Holocene but disappeared after the mid-sixth millennium B.C. New climate results suggest increased aridity after the end of the fourth millennium B.C. For the third millennium B.C. to first millennium A.D., a negative relationship between grain and date palm cultivation in Nippur is evident, suggesting shifting cultivation emphasising one of these crops at any given time in parts of the city. The Shatt en-Nil was also likely used as a channel for most of Nippur's historical occupation from the third millennium B.C. to the first millennium A.D. In the early to mid-first millennium A.D., around the time of the Sasanian period, a major increase in irrigation is evident in plant remains, likely reflecting large-scale irrigation expansion in the Nippur region. The first millennium B.C. to first millennium A.D. reflects a relatively dry period with periodic increased rainfall. Sedimentary results suggest the Nahrawan, prior to it becoming a well-known canal, formed an ancient branch of the Tigris, while the region just south of Baghdad, around Dalmaj, was near or part of an ancient confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates.

Although most phenology models can predict vegetation response to climatic variations, these models often perform poorly in precipitation-limited regions. In this study, we modified a phenology model, called the Growing Season Index (GSI), to better quantify relationships between weather and vegetation canopy dynamics across various semi-arid regions of Iraq. A modified GSI was created by adding a cumulative precipitation control to the existing GSI framework. Both unmodified and modified GSI values were calculated daily from 2001 to 2010 for three locations in Eastern Iraq: Sulaymaniyah (north), Wasit (central) and Basrah (south) and a countrywide mean and compared to the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) from MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for the same time period. Countrywide median inter-annual correlations between GSI and NDVI more than doubled with the addition of the precipitation control and within-site correlations also show substantial improvements. The modified model has huge potential to be used to predict future phenological responses to changing climatic conditions, as well as to reconstruct historical vegetation conditions. This study improves our understanding of potential vegetation responses to climatic changes across Iraq, but it should improve phenological predictions across other semi-arid worldwide, particularly in the face of rapid climate change and environmental deterioration.

Iraq, the land of two rivers, has a history that extends back millennia and is the subject of much archaeological research. However, little environmental research has been carried out, and as such relatively little is known about the interaction between Iraq’s vegetation and climate. This research serves to fill this knowledge gap by investigating the relationship between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and two climatic factors (precipitation and air temperature) over the last decade. The precipitation and air temperature datasets are from the Water and Global Change Forcing Data ERA-Interim (WFDEI), and the NDVI dataset was extracted from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) at 250 m spatial resolution and 16 day temporal resolution. Three different climatic regions in Iraq, Sulaymaniyah, Wasit, and Basrah, were selected for the period of 2001–2015. This is the first study to compare these regions in Iraq, and one of only a few investigating vegetation’s relationship with multiple climatic factors, including precipitation and air temperature, particularly in a semi-arid region. The interannual, intra-annual and seasonal variability for each region is analysed to compare the different responses of vegetation growth to climatic factors. Correlations between NDVI and climatic factors are also included. Plotting annual cycles of NDVI and precipitation reveals a coherent onset, fluctuation (peak and decline), with a time lag of 4 months for Sulaymaniyah and Wasit (while for the Basrah region, high temperatures and a short rainy season was observed). The correlation coefficients between NDVI and precipitation are relatively high, especially in Sulaymaniyah, and the largest positive correlation was (0.8635) with a time lag of 4 months. The phenological transition points range between 3 and 4 month time lag; this corresponds to the duration of maturity of the vegetation. However, when correlated with air temperature, NDVI experiences an inverse relationship, although not as strong as that of NDVI and precipitation; the highest negative correlation was observed in Wasit with a time lag of 2 months (− 0.7562). The results showed that there is a similarity between temporal patterns of NDVI and precipitation. This similarity is stronger than that of NDVI and air temperature, so it can be concluded that NDVI is a sensitive indicator of the inter-annual variability of precipitation and that precipitation constitutes the primary factor in germination while the air temperature acts with a lesser effect.

This work presents new data from phytolith and speleothem analyses that cover the middle to late Holocene from northeastern Iraq in the Kurdistan region. Coupling these data with previous work, we demonstrate how the region’s environment and climate developed during a time when agriculture became not only established but settlements started to transform into larger urban areas. Results demonstrate a wetter phase during the middle Holocene relative to the present period; a highly seasonal climate with one rainy season is also suggested between 8025 ± 38 and 6977 ± 219 BP. Phytoliths not only suggest a relatively wet environment but they also indicate a diversity of plants used for settlement activity. Sedimentary results complement the indication of a relatively wetter middle Holocene. Archaeologically, terraced construction found in Gurga Chiya and the presence of drought tolerant crops suggest adaptation to stronger, seasonal rains and seasonal droughts in the middle Holocene. Sedimentary, phytolith, and speleothem results suggest relatively drier late-Holocene conditions, although the region continued to be conducive for rainfed agriculture.

This paper presents the main results of The Crowded Desert Project (TCD) survey during the 2017 season concerning the distribution, orientation, and strategic location of campsites in the area under study. After explaining the evidence recorded in the field, the article proposes an archaeological interpretation based on ethnographic models provided by Ferdinand (1993) and Montigny (1979; 1983; 1985), and on archaeological models advanced by Macumber (2016) and McPhillips, Rosendahl and Morgan (2015). Although ethnoarchaeology is criticized nowadays, it is suggested in this paper that a careful methodology built on the correlation of material evidence and relevant ethnographical data (e.g. Guerin 1994) can provide significant results to interpret the archaeological record of the area of study. The results provide interesting insights regarding the long-term continuity of the structural principles that guide the strategies of the design and location of nomadic campsites at least between AD 400-300 and the twentieth century.

This paper presents the results and preliminary conclusions of the 2016 season of the Crowded Desert Project, aiming to find out about the nomadic occupation and its relations with the settled peoples in the region. Activities includes extensive and intensive surveys and excavations in the area delimited by the areas of Umm al-Mā’ and Mulayḥa in the North West desert of the Qatar Peninsula. Conclusions so far complement and expand the ideas developed during the pilot season of the project in 2015, but also provide finer chronological detail and a wider coverage of the area of research. The distribution of glass, metal and pottery recovered shows important chronological differences in the patterns of occupation of the landscape. The paper also presents observed differences of spatial distribution of features, showing how cairns (presumably pre-Islamic tombs), Islamic burials and cemeteries and mosques and places of prayer (sing. muṣallā, pl. muṣallayāt) are distributed with respect to the tents and inhabitation spaces found. Finally, this paper introduces the first stratigraphic and geoarchaeological assessments done in the area. Stratigraphic sequences are hard to find, and very often nothing remains of them around conserved structures. Even when some of them have been found, their interpretation is limited by their poor conservation and the constraints imposed by small trenches. A geoarchaeological program is being developed in the hope of overcoming these problems and providing an environmental information useful to understand the history of the region.

Tomb ZKT109 in the Oasis of Zukayt (al-Dākhilyyah, Sultanate of Oman) yielded a small biconical Mesopotamian jar (dated to Jemdet-Nasr/Early Dynastic I–II period; c.3100–2700 BC) made of fine, buff-coloured paste. The vessel is entire and well preserved apart from severe abrasion of the external surface. This find testifies to the penetration of southern Mesopotamian material culture (or to the contextual production of local imitations) into central Oman during the first half of the third millennium BC.

Excavations at the relatively small but strategically placed site of Hirbemerdon Tepe, located along the west bank of the upper Tigris River in modern southeastern Turkey, have yielded significant results. During the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1600 B.C.E.), the site was situated in an ecologically stratified landscape that included river terraces suitable for agriculture as well as forested uplands ideal for pastoral and hunting activities. A significant result of these excavations, which were conducted by the Hirbemerdon Tepe Archaeological Project, was the discovery of a well-preserved architectural complex with associated ritual artifacts on the northern side of the high mound. This report describes and situates this Middle Bronze Age site within its geographic, cultural, and ecological context. It examines the emergence of this small regional center and investigates the role of ritual activities in the development of socially integrated communities in the frontier zone of northern Mesopotamia during the beginning of the second millennium B.C.E.(1)

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Recent palaeoenvironmental, historical, and archaeological investigations, primarily consisting of site reconnaissance, in the Shahrizor region within the province of Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan are bringing to light new information on the region's social and socio-ecological development. This paper summarises two seasons of work by researchers from German, British, Dutch, and Iraqi-Kurdish institutions working in the survey region. Palaeoenvironmental data have determined that during the Pleistocene many terraces developed which came to be occupied by a number of the larger tell sites in the Holocene. In the sedimentary record, climatic and anthropogenic patterns are noticeable, and alluviation has affected the recovery of archaeological remains through site burial in places. Historical data show the Shahrizor shifting between periods of independence, either occupied by one regional state or several smaller entities, and periods that saw the plain's incorporation within large empires, often in a border position. New archaeological investigations have provided insight into the importance of the region as a transit centre between Western Iran and northern and southern Mesopotamia, with clear material culture links recovered. Variations between periods' settlement patterns and occupations are also beginning to emerge.

This article presents the results of the 2009 and 2010 excavation and geophysical survey seasons at Ziyaret Tepe, the Late Assyrian city of Tushhan, in southeastern Turkey, as well as the preliminary results of post-excavation analyses. Particular attention is given to the continuing excavation of a palace on the citadel, a large public administrative building, and a city gate in the lower town, and to the completion of a full-coverage magnetic gradiometry survey across the lower town. Geophysical survey recovered the location of three substantial buildings in the southeastern corner of the lower town; these will be investigated further in future seasons. Specialist reports on the zooarchaeological and paleobotanical reports add significant detail to our understanding of the architecture and excavated archaeological contexts and help to identify room function within the Assyrian buildings. Important epigraphic finds from the palace and lower town excavations are briefly treated, and chipped stone and phytolith analyses are also discussed. Finally, a brief summary is provided describing our conservation activities in conjunction with the regional Diyarbakır Archaeological Museum in preparing an important collection of ivory and bronze artifacts from the palace for long-term storage and display. The 2009 and 2010 seasons were a joint undertaking with a collaborative partnership between the Universities of Akron (US), Cambridge (UK), Mainz (Germany), and Marmara (Turkey).