Publication of the complete late fourth millennium BC Godin Tepe’s excavation archive and artifacts, housed at the Royal Ontario Museum
This manuscript presents a critical reappraisal of the late fourth-millennium BC occupation of Godin Tepe (Period VI), based on a comprehensive analysis of previously unpublished excavation archives and artifact assemblages housed at the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). Godin Tepe, a ~30 m-high mound in the Kangavar Valley covering approximately 15–18 hectares, was excavated between 1965 and the early 1970s by a joint Royal Ontario Museum–University of Toronto expedition led by Cuyler Young. The site preserves a long occupational sequence from the Chalcolithic to the Iron Age and occupies a strategic position along the Khorasan High Road.
Periods VI:2 and VI:1 (ca. 3650–3150 BC) represent the principal fourth-millennium occupations. Period VI:1, associated with southern Mesopotamian material culture—including Uruk/Susa-style pottery and administrative devices—has long been interpreted as a colonial enclave centered on a defensive “Oval Compound” identified in the Deep Sounding. This interpretation has played a central role in broader debates on interregional interaction and the so-called Uruk Expansion and remains widely accepted in scholarship.
Through the systematic reanalysis of excavation records, architectural plans, stratigraphy, and artifacts, this study demonstrates that the “Oval Wall” does not, in fact, exist. Rather, it is a post-excavation construct created through the conflation of architectural elements from multiple occupational phases. Features previously interpreted as enclosed extend beyond this supposed boundary, revealing instead a more coherent architectural layout consistent with local Iranian Highland traditions.
This finding fundamentally reshapes interpretations of Godin Tepe, shifting the narrative from a segregated colonial enclave to an integrated, locally grounded community actively engaged in long-standing economic developments. It also highlights the site’s central and strategic position along trade routes that facilitated interregional exchange networks and sustained growth. The study therefore challenges previous colonial models and calls for a reassessment of chronological frameworks and the role of local communities in interregional interaction. Methodologically, it demonstrates the potential of archival archaeology by integrating fragmented legacy data with digital reconstruction, offering a model for reinterpreting excavation archives and reintegrating them into contemporary archaeological research.
The publication project is directed by Dr. Rasha Elendari.
