Tell Qarqur Publication Project

Jesse Casana is a specialist in the archaeology of the Middle East and joined the Department of Anthropology at Dartmouth in 2015.  His research investigates settlement and land use history, the emergence and development of complex societies, and the dynamic interactions of humans with their environment.  Casana's projects explore large regions, embrace long periods of human history, and employ a wide range of technologies.  He is currently the co-director of a regional archaeological survey project in the upper Diyala (Sirwan) River Valley and an excavation at the second millennium BC city of Khani Masi, both in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. 

Much of Prof. Casana’s research is dedicated to the development and implementation of geospatial technologies in archaeology, primarily using satellite, low-altitude aerial, and ground-based remote sensing.  He currently directs the CORONA Atlas Project, an effort to make Cold War-era spy satellite imagery available to researchers through an online database.  He also directs an NEH-funded project that is exploring archaeological landscapes in North America and the Middle East using drone-acquired thermal and mulispectral imagery.  In addition, Casana is a Co-PI for the NSF-funded SPARC (SPatial Archaeometry Research Collaborations) Program.