The main focus of this research is the analysis of the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) and Late Bronze Age (LBA) unpublished ceramic assemblages and related archaeological contexts from two case-studies, Tell Barri and Tell Bazi, both located in what is now Northern Syria, in the region identified with Northern Mesopotamia. Tell Barri, identified with ancient Kahat, is a multi-period site located on the left bank of wadi Jaghjagh, in the Upper Khabur Basin, between the modern cities of al-Qamishlie and al-Hassake. Tell Bazi is a Bronze Age settlement located in the Tishreen Dam area of the Upper Syrian Euphrates Valley, to the south-west of the modern town of Manbij. They both provide a continuous MBA and LBA settlement sequence, an exemplary tool to detect changes and developments in the ceramic assemblages. This would allow for isolation, in terms of material culture, and a better understanding of the beginning of the LBA, which corresponds in historical terms with the emergence of the Mittani Kingdom, a phase that is still poorly understood. Remains dated to the period of interest were detected in Tell Barri in Area G, excavated between 1993 and 1999 by the Missione Archeologica Italiana a Tell Barri (Siria), and 2,144 diagnostic sherds were retrieved from stratified contexts. In Tell Bazi the period was investigated on the northern slope of the mound (Nordhang), excavated by the German project Ausgrabungen in Tall Bazi, in 1994 and 2000, and 417 diagnostic sherds have been collected. A second important part of this study is to correlate the ceramic assemblages and related stratigraphic sequences of selected sites in neighbouring areas with the case-studies, among which the most relevant are Tell Leilan and Tell Brak.
The lead researcher on this publication project is Costanza Coppini, who has been involved since 2000 in the Tell Barri excavation project – led by Prof. R. Pierobon Benoit (Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”) - in which capacity she is in charge of the study of Late Bronze Age I levels.
(PROJECT FUNDING GENEROUSLY PROVIDED BY THE GETTY FOUNDATION)
