Mary Shepperson | University of Liverpool - Academia.edu

Iraq, 2020

The Shahrizor Prehistory Project has targeted prehistoric levels of the Late Ubaid and Late Chalc... more 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 newdietary and environmental data for the sixth millenniumB.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.

Gurga Chiya and Tepe Marani are small, adjacent mounds located close to the town of Halabja in th... more Gurga Chiya and Tepe Marani are small, adjacent mounds located close to the town of Halabja in the southern part of the Shahrizor Plain, one of the most fertile regions of Iraqi Kurdistan. Survey and excavation at these previously unexplored sites is beginning to produce evidence for human settlement spanning the sixth to the fourth millennia, c. 5600–3300 cal. B.C. In Mesopotamian chronology this corresponds to the Late Neolithic through to Chalcolithic periods; the Halaf, Ubaid, and Uruk phases of conventional culture history. In Iraqi Kurdistan, documentation of these periods—which witnessed many important transformations in prehistoric village life—is currently very thin. Here we offer a preliminary report on the emerging results from the Shahrizor Plain, with a particular focus on the description of material culture (ceramic and lithic assemblages), in order to establish a benchmark for further research. We also provide a detailed report on botanical remains and accompanying radiocarbon dates, which allow us to place this new evidence in a wider comparative framework. A further, brief account is given of Late Bronze Age material culture from the upper layers at Gurga Chiya. We conclude with observations on the significance of the Shahrizor Plain for wider research into the later prehistory of the Middle East, and the importance of preserving and investigating its archaeological record. Introduction With a Mediterranean climate and 700–900 millimetres of annual precipitation, the Shahrizor Plain—which lies in Sulaimaniyah Province, close to the town of Halabja—is one of the most fertile areas of Iraqi Kurdistan. This preliminary report documents new archaeological fieldwork in this relatively unexplored part of the Middle East. The focus of these new investigations is on the later prehistory of the Shahrizor, between the sixth and fourth millennia B.C. In broader regional terms this corresponds to the long period between the establishment of Neolithic farming settlements and the emergence of the earliest cities, although the nature of these processes in Iraqi Kurdistan remains very poorly documented. In neighbouring parts of the Middle East, the periods in question have traditionally been divided into a series of broad cultural phases (Halaf, Ubaid, Uruk), reflecting associated changes in material culture and settlement patterns. In recent decades the utility of these broadly defined phases for any wider reconstruction of social evolution has been repeatedly brought into question. Partly this is the result of sustained research in areas such as the Syrian Euphrates and southern Turkey, bringing to light the complexity of local developments in village, and later urban, life and leading to a wider

Two periods of fieldwork are covered in this report. The first, from late 2011, was primarily a f... more Two periods of fieldwork are covered in this report. The first, from late 2011, was primarily a further season of excavation at the South Tombs Cemetery, which saw an exploratory trench run across the flat wadi floor, confirming that it had, at least in part, been used for burials. A notable find was of a decorated wooden coffin that included an image of a canine-headed god. A programme of repairs at the North palace was also completed. The second, in the spring of 2012, saw the start of a new project, the re-examination of the Great Aten Temple foundations, specifically an area at the front and another towards the rear where a stela and statue had been set up. The season ended with the study of the human bones from the 2011 excavations by the University of Arkansas bioanthropology team.

World Archaeology, 2009

Urban forms create complex spatial environments which form, and are formed by, the lives of their... more Urban forms create complex spatial environments which form, and are formed by, the lives of their inhabitants. Part of the construction of any urban environment is the formation of a light environment created by the interaction of the architecture with the changing natural light conditions through the day and over the year. This paper considers the construction of an appropriate and meaningful light environment to have been an essential factor in the development of urban form in ancient Mesopotamian cities, where strong summer sunlight constituted a serious limit to human activity and the sources of natural light held a high symbolic and religious value. The form and layout of ancient Mesopotamian cities is here examined in terms of the sort of light environments the architecture would have produced. Using the example of residential housing at ancient Ur, an analysis of the urban light environment demonstrates both functional and symbolic manipulation of sunlight through architectural form.

Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 99, 1-14, 2013

Several periods of fieldwork and study are covered in this report. Two separate excavations were ... more Several periods of fieldwork and study are covered in this report. Two separate excavations were made at the South Tombs Cemetery, near the end of 2012 and in the spring of 2013. Having reached the intended target of 400 individuals for analysis, no further excavation is planned for the immediate future. The Great Aten Temple also saw two seasons, in the autumn of 2012 and run as a survey field school, and in the spring of 2013. This was followed by the study of the human bones from both seasons of excavation by the University of Arkansas bioanthropology team. At various times other projects of recording and research were carried out at the expedition house.

Ziggurats, the monumental mud brick towers of ancient Mesopotamian temples, have long been unders... more Ziggurats, the monumental mud brick towers of ancient Mesopotamian temples, have long been understood as the embodiment of important symbolic concepts current within ancient Near Eastern theology. They are the house of the god, the sacred mountain, an attempt to rise as physically close to the heavens as possible. But archaeological analysis has rarely addressed the visual affectiveness—the physical and emotional impact upon a viewer situated in the landscape—of these structures as part of their symbolic function and design. The positioning of such dominant structures relative to the movement of the sun through the day, and to their surrounding architecture and wider settlement, can be shown to engineer the presentation of a series of potently symbolic images to intended viewers.
This paper will outline the ways in which ziggurats were designed to be visually affective, both in general terms and in highly culture-specific ways which echo the evidence of ancient textual sources. This will be illustrated by a case study of the ziggurat of Ur-Nammu at Ur, in southern Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq), including a detailed analysis of changing sunlight distribution on the ziggurat terrace through the day and year. The intention is to demonstrate how the visual effects produced by structures in changing sunlight can act as an important organizing principle in built space and can be considered as one of the primary functions of some architectural designs. For large-scale monumental structures, intended to be viewed primarily at a distance, the visual experience they engender is overwhelmingly a product of the relative positions of the building, the viewer and the sun. This experience varies profoundly through the day, and also through the year. This paper examines how the massive ziggurat structures of ancient Mesopotamia and their surrounding temple complexes sought to engineer this experience through their orientation to the sun and their positioning of the viewer.
The ziggurat structures examined here are restricted to those of the Bronze Age; from the first appearance of distinctive ziggurats in the mid-Third Millennium BC until the start of the Iron Age at around 1200 BC. The ziggurats considered here are also restricted geographically to the Mesopotamian plain of central and southern Iraq in order to correspond to the geographical range of the textual sources alongside which they are examined.

As part of ongoing research into the significance of light in ancient Mesopotamian architecture a... more As part of ongoing research into the significance of light in ancient Mesopotamian architecture and ideology,
a reorientation of the main external gateways of city temples can be identified, occurring from around the
beginning of the Ur III period. This change in orientation allowed temple gateways to receive direct sunlight
onto their external façades during the morning throughout the year. One possible explanation for this
architectural change is found in the legal practices of the late third and second millennia B.C. It is proposed that
access to sunlight, and therefore the presence of the sun god, was significant for the taking of oaths and the
administration of law at temple gateways from the Ur III period onwards, thereby promoting a south-easterly
orientation for these gateways. With this in mind, the careful provision of morning light access to the doorways
of the neighbourhood chapels of residential Ur may be taken as evidence for the local neighbourhood
administration of some legal functions. This in turn suggests a possible cultic and legal basis for the formation
of these localised subdivisions of urban communities.

Journal of Egyptian Archaeology , 2015

This report amalgamates the results of four seasons of work on the South and North Tombs cemeteri... more This report amalgamates the results of four seasons of work on the South and North Tombs cemeteries at Amarna from late 2014 to mid 2015.

Gurga Chiya and Tepe Marani are small, adjacent mounds located close to the town of Halabja in th... more Gurga Chiya and Tepe Marani are small, adjacent mounds located close to the town of Halabja in the southern part of the Shahrizor Plain, one of the most fertile regions of Iraqi Kurdistan. Survey and excavation at these previously unexplored sites is beginning to produce evidence for human settlement spanning the sixth to the fourth millennia, c. 5600–3300 cal. B.C. In Mesopotamian chronology this corresponds to the Late Neolithic through to Chalcolithic periods; the Halaf, Ubaid, and Uruk phases of conventional culture history. In Iraqi Kurdistan, documentation of these periods—which witnessed many important transformations in prehistoric village life—is currently very thin. Here we offer a preliminary report on the emerging results from the Shahrizor Plain, with a particular focus on the description of material culture (ceramic and lithic assemblages), in order to establish a benchmark for further research. We also provide a detailed report on botanical remains and accompanying radiocarbon dates, which allow us to place this new evidence in a wider comparative framework. A further, brief account is given of Late Bronze Age material culture from the upper layers at Gurga Chiya. We conclude with observations on the significance of the Shahrizor Plain for wider research into the later prehistory of the Middle East, and the importance of preserving and investigating its archaeological record. Introduction With a Mediterranean climate and 700–900 millimetres of annual precipitation, the Shahrizor Plain—which lies in Sulaimaniyah Province, close to the town of Halabja—is one of the most fertile areas of Iraqi Kurdistan. This preliminary report documents new archaeological fieldwork in this relatively unexplored part of the Middle East. The focus of these new investigations is on the later prehistory of the Shahrizor, between the sixth and fourth millennia B.C. In broader regional terms this corresponds to the long period between the establishment of Neolithic farming settlements and the emergence of the earliest cities, although the nature of these processes in Iraqi Kurdistan remains very poorly documented. In neighbouring parts of the Middle East, the periods in question have traditionally been divided into a series of broad cultural phases (Halaf, Ubaid, Uruk), reflecting associated changes in material culture and settlement patterns. In recent decades the utility of these broadly defined phases for any wider reconstruction of social evolution has been repeatedly brought into question. Partly this is the result of sustained research in areas such as the Syrian Euphrates and southern Turkey, bringing to light the complexity of local developments in village, and later urban, life and leading to a wider

Iraq

Excavations at Tell Khaiber in southern Iraq by the Ur Region Archaeological Project have reveale... more Excavations at Tell Khaiber in southern Iraq by the Ur Region Archaeological Project have revealed a substantial building (hereafter the Public Building) dating to the mid-second millennium b.c. The results are significant for the light they shed on Babylonian provincial administration, particularly of food production, for revealing a previously unknown type of fortified monumental building, and for producing a dated archive, in context, of the little-understood Sealand Dynasty. The project also represents a return of British field archaeology to long-neglected Babylonia, in collaboration with Iraq's State Board for Antiquities and Heritage. Comments on the historical background and physical location of Tell Khaiber are followed by discussion of the form and function of the Public Building. Preliminary analysis of the associated archive provides insights into the social milieu of the time. Aspects of the material culture, including pottery, are also discussed.

Iraq, 2020

The Shahrizor Prehistory Project has targeted prehistoric levels of the Late Ubaid and Late Chalc... more 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 newdietary and environmental data for the sixth millenniumB.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.

Gurga Chiya and Tepe Marani are small, adjacent mounds located close to the town of Halabja in th... more Gurga Chiya and Tepe Marani are small, adjacent mounds located close to the town of Halabja in the southern part of the Shahrizor Plain, one of the most fertile regions of Iraqi Kurdistan. Survey and excavation at these previously unexplored sites is beginning to produce evidence for human settlement spanning the sixth to the fourth millennia, c. 5600–3300 cal. B.C. In Mesopotamian chronology this corresponds to the Late Neolithic through to Chalcolithic periods; the Halaf, Ubaid, and Uruk phases of conventional culture history. In Iraqi Kurdistan, documentation of these periods—which witnessed many important transformations in prehistoric village life—is currently very thin. Here we offer a preliminary report on the emerging results from the Shahrizor Plain, with a particular focus on the description of material culture (ceramic and lithic assemblages), in order to establish a benchmark for further research. We also provide a detailed report on botanical remains and accompanying radiocarbon dates, which allow us to place this new evidence in a wider comparative framework. A further, brief account is given of Late Bronze Age material culture from the upper layers at Gurga Chiya. We conclude with observations on the significance of the Shahrizor Plain for wider research into the later prehistory of the Middle East, and the importance of preserving and investigating its archaeological record. Introduction With a Mediterranean climate and 700–900 millimetres of annual precipitation, the Shahrizor Plain—which lies in Sulaimaniyah Province, close to the town of Halabja—is one of the most fertile areas of Iraqi Kurdistan. This preliminary report documents new archaeological fieldwork in this relatively unexplored part of the Middle East. The focus of these new investigations is on the later prehistory of the Shahrizor, between the sixth and fourth millennia B.C. In broader regional terms this corresponds to the long period between the establishment of Neolithic farming settlements and the emergence of the earliest cities, although the nature of these processes in Iraqi Kurdistan remains very poorly documented. In neighbouring parts of the Middle East, the periods in question have traditionally been divided into a series of broad cultural phases (Halaf, Ubaid, Uruk), reflecting associated changes in material culture and settlement patterns. In recent decades the utility of these broadly defined phases for any wider reconstruction of social evolution has been repeatedly brought into question. Partly this is the result of sustained research in areas such as the Syrian Euphrates and southern Turkey, bringing to light the complexity of local developments in village, and later urban, life and leading to a wider

Two periods of fieldwork are covered in this report. The first, from late 2011, was primarily a f... more Two periods of fieldwork are covered in this report. The first, from late 2011, was primarily a further season of excavation at the South Tombs Cemetery, which saw an exploratory trench run across the flat wadi floor, confirming that it had, at least in part, been used for burials. A notable find was of a decorated wooden coffin that included an image of a canine-headed god. A programme of repairs at the North palace was also completed. The second, in the spring of 2012, saw the start of a new project, the re-examination of the Great Aten Temple foundations, specifically an area at the front and another towards the rear where a stela and statue had been set up. The season ended with the study of the human bones from the 2011 excavations by the University of Arkansas bioanthropology team.

World Archaeology, 2009

Urban forms create complex spatial environments which form, and are formed by, the lives of their... more Urban forms create complex spatial environments which form, and are formed by, the lives of their inhabitants. Part of the construction of any urban environment is the formation of a light environment created by the interaction of the architecture with the changing natural light conditions through the day and over the year. This paper considers the construction of an appropriate and meaningful light environment to have been an essential factor in the development of urban form in ancient Mesopotamian cities, where strong summer sunlight constituted a serious limit to human activity and the sources of natural light held a high symbolic and religious value. The form and layout of ancient Mesopotamian cities is here examined in terms of the sort of light environments the architecture would have produced. Using the example of residential housing at ancient Ur, an analysis of the urban light environment demonstrates both functional and symbolic manipulation of sunlight through architectural form.

Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 99, 1-14, 2013

Several periods of fieldwork and study are covered in this report. Two separate excavations were ... more Several periods of fieldwork and study are covered in this report. Two separate excavations were made at the South Tombs Cemetery, near the end of 2012 and in the spring of 2013. Having reached the intended target of 400 individuals for analysis, no further excavation is planned for the immediate future. The Great Aten Temple also saw two seasons, in the autumn of 2012 and run as a survey field school, and in the spring of 2013. This was followed by the study of the human bones from both seasons of excavation by the University of Arkansas bioanthropology team. At various times other projects of recording and research were carried out at the expedition house.

Ziggurats, the monumental mud brick towers of ancient Mesopotamian temples, have long been unders... more Ziggurats, the monumental mud brick towers of ancient Mesopotamian temples, have long been understood as the embodiment of important symbolic concepts current within ancient Near Eastern theology. They are the house of the god, the sacred mountain, an attempt to rise as physically close to the heavens as possible. But archaeological analysis has rarely addressed the visual affectiveness—the physical and emotional impact upon a viewer situated in the landscape—of these structures as part of their symbolic function and design. The positioning of such dominant structures relative to the movement of the sun through the day, and to their surrounding architecture and wider settlement, can be shown to engineer the presentation of a series of potently symbolic images to intended viewers.
This paper will outline the ways in which ziggurats were designed to be visually affective, both in general terms and in highly culture-specific ways which echo the evidence of ancient textual sources. This will be illustrated by a case study of the ziggurat of Ur-Nammu at Ur, in southern Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq), including a detailed analysis of changing sunlight distribution on the ziggurat terrace through the day and year. The intention is to demonstrate how the visual effects produced by structures in changing sunlight can act as an important organizing principle in built space and can be considered as one of the primary functions of some architectural designs. For large-scale monumental structures, intended to be viewed primarily at a distance, the visual experience they engender is overwhelmingly a product of the relative positions of the building, the viewer and the sun. This experience varies profoundly through the day, and also through the year. This paper examines how the massive ziggurat structures of ancient Mesopotamia and their surrounding temple complexes sought to engineer this experience through their orientation to the sun and their positioning of the viewer.
The ziggurat structures examined here are restricted to those of the Bronze Age; from the first appearance of distinctive ziggurats in the mid-Third Millennium BC until the start of the Iron Age at around 1200 BC. The ziggurats considered here are also restricted geographically to the Mesopotamian plain of central and southern Iraq in order to correspond to the geographical range of the textual sources alongside which they are examined.

As part of ongoing research into the significance of light in ancient Mesopotamian architecture a... more As part of ongoing research into the significance of light in ancient Mesopotamian architecture and ideology,
a reorientation of the main external gateways of city temples can be identified, occurring from around the
beginning of the Ur III period. This change in orientation allowed temple gateways to receive direct sunlight
onto their external façades during the morning throughout the year. One possible explanation for this
architectural change is found in the legal practices of the late third and second millennia B.C. It is proposed that
access to sunlight, and therefore the presence of the sun god, was significant for the taking of oaths and the
administration of law at temple gateways from the Ur III period onwards, thereby promoting a south-easterly
orientation for these gateways. With this in mind, the careful provision of morning light access to the doorways
of the neighbourhood chapels of residential Ur may be taken as evidence for the local neighbourhood
administration of some legal functions. This in turn suggests a possible cultic and legal basis for the formation
of these localised subdivisions of urban communities.