Hirbemerdon Tepe Archaeological Project 2003-2013 Final Report: Chronology and material culture
Nicola Laneri (with contributions by M. Schwartz, J. Ur, S. Valentini, M. Aquilano, L. Biazzo, R. Brancato, L. Crescioli, M. Dallai, G. Guarducci, M. Massimino and S. Nannucci)

The Hirbemerdon Tepe Archaeological Project was initiated in 2003 as part of a broader cultural heritage rescue project associated with the construction of the Ilısu Dam and planned as part of a scientific collaboration between the University of Catania, the Istituto per l’Africa e l’Oriente and the Archaeological Museum of Dıyarbakir. The site is located on the western bank of the Tigris river about 100 km southeast of the modern city of Dıyarbakir. During the 10 years of archaeological work performed at the site 11 archaeological phases were recorded starting from the fourth millennium BC until the XIXth century AD. This volume represents the final report on the studies of the material culture belonging to this long chronological sequence that was unearthed during the excavations and aims at allowing the interested scholars at reconstructing the history of the settlement as well as a broader sociocultural landscape that involved other social groups inhabiting the upper Tigris region as well as other Anatolian and Mesopotamian regions.

Nicola Laneri teaches Archaeology of the Ancient Near East at the University of Catania and during his career has organized conferences, panels and workshops as well as presented papers at internationally recognized meetings and institutions. He published more than 80 scientific articles in journals and books such as The Hirbemerdon Tepe Archaeological Project 2003-2013 Final Report: Chronology and Material Culture (Bradypus 2016), Archeologia della morte (Carocci 2011), Biografia di un vaso (Pandemos 2009), I costumi funerari della media vallata dell'Eufrate durante il III millennio a.C. (L'Orientale 2004), and the edited volumes Performing Death: The Social Analysis of Funerary Traditions in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean (Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago 2007), Looking north: The socioeconomic dynamics of northern Mesopotamian and Anatolian regions during the late third and early second millennium BC (Harrassowitz 2012) and Defining the Sacred: Approaches to the Archaeology of Religion in the Near East (Oxbow 2015).

Table of contents

• Foreword
• Abstract
• Özet
• Chapter 1. Introduction by Nicola Laneri, Mark Schwartz and Jason Ur
  • The site
  • The geomagnetic survey
  • The HMTS (Hirbemerdon Tepe Survey)
  • The archaeological excavation
  • The chronological phases
• Chapter 2. Phase I: Late Chalcolithic period by Simone Nannucci
  • Stratigraphy and Architecture
• Chapter 3. Phases IIA, IIB, and IIIA: The Early Bronze Age by Nicola Laneri, Margherita Dallai and Lorenzo Biazzo
  • Phase IIA - Early Bronze Age
  • Phase IIB - Early Bronze Age II
  • Phase IIIA - Early Bronze Age III/IV
  • Animal gurines
  • Hirbemerdon Tepe and its regional context during the third millennium BCE
• Chapter 4. Phase IIIB: The Middle Bronze Age by Nicola Laneri, Stefano Valentini, Marta Aquilano, Margherita Dallai and Martina Massimino
  • Architecture
  • Pottery
  • The ceremonial objects
  • Animal gurines and wheels of chariot models
  • The metal production
  • Other small finds
• Chapter 5. Phase IIIC: The Late Bronze Age by Lorenzo Crescioli
  • Architecture
  • Pottery
  • Small finds
  • Locating Hirbemerdon Tepe in a Late Bronze Age landscape
• Chapter 6. Phase IVA and IVB: The Early and Middle Iron Age by Guido Guarducci
  • Archaeological contexts and architecture
  • Pottery
• Chapter 7. Phase V: The Late Iron Age by Rodolfo Brancato
  • Architecture
  • Pottery
  • Small finds
• Chapter 8. Phase VI and VII: The Medieval and Ottoman periods by Rodolfo Brancato
• Phase VI: The Medieval period
  • Architecture
  • Pottery
  • Small finds
• Phase VII: The Ottoman Period
  • Architecture
  • Pottery
  • Small finds
• Chapter 9. Andirons, lamps and portable hearths by Marta Aquilano
  • Andirons
  • Lamps
  • Portable hearths
• Chapter 10. Other small finds by Margherita Dallai
  • Objects related to textile activities
  • Discs
  • Bone needles
• Chapter 11. Conclusions by Nicola Laneri
• Bibliographic References
• General Bibliographic References
• Catalogue
  • Figures
    • Architecture
    • Sections
    • Matrixes
  • I. Pottery catalogue
    • Notes to the pottery catalogue
    • Phase I
    • Phase IIa
    • Phase IIb
    • Phase IIIa
    • Phase IIIb
    • Phase IIIc
    • Phase IVa
    • Phase IVb
    • Phase V
    • Phase VI
    • Phase VII
  • II. Objects catalogue
    • Abbreviations used in the description of objects
    • Phase I
    • Phase IIa
    • Phase IIb
    • Phase IIIa
    • Phase IIIb
    • Phase IIIc
    • Phase IVa
    • Phase IVb
    • Phase V
    • Phase VI
    • Phase VII
  • III. Ceramic typologies
    • Phase I
    • Phase IIa
    • Phase IIb
    • Phase IIIa
    • Phase IIIb
    • Phase IIIc
    • Phase IVa
    • Phase IVb
    • Phase V
    • Phase VI
    • Phase VII