2017 Field Season

2017 field season

In the fourth season of the Erbil Plain Archaeological Survey (EPAS), our goals were:

  1. Expand the region of intensive investigation to the nahiya (district) of Qushtapa, with particular attention to the hinterland of the important Bronze Age site of Bashtapa (EPAS Site 384), currently under excavation by a French archaeological mission;
  2. Complete the field collection of the region of Shamamok nahiya around the important Chalcolithic site of Girdi Helawa (EPAS Site 272), currently under excavation by an Italian archaeological mission;
  3. Improve and expand our field protocol for using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or drones to record archaeological sites and features, with particular attention to the use of GPS-collected Ground Control Points (GCPs);
  4. Expand drone coverage to include sites in Gwer and Shamamok nahiya that were collected in 2012-2013, before our drone program began;
  5. Develop a new protocol for sharing our spatial data with the entire team via online web mapping apps (especially ArcGIS Explorer and ArcGIS Collector).

EPAS successfully completed these goals in our 2017 field season, which included 30 field days between 29 August and 28 September 2017.  Read the Kurdish language end-of-season report.

لێرە ڕاپۆرتی وەرزی 2017 بخوێنەوە بە کوردی

Results of the 2017 Field Season

  • 184 archaeological sites covering 906 hectares (for a total of 516 sites documented since 2012);
  • 516 artifact lots, including:
    • 452 lots of pottery, totaling 12,049 sherds (511.9 kilograms)
    • 40 lots of lithics, totaling 72 pieces
    • 8 objects
  • Drone flights over 101 archaeological sites and features, covering 49.5 square kilometers, 39,804 aerial photographs, and over 250 GB of files.
2017 results qushtapa

Team Members of EPAS 2017

Foreign Project Staff:

  • Prof. Jason Ur, Harvard University, USA (Project Director)
  • Dr. Augusta McMahon, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom (Professor of Mesopotamian Archaeology)
  • Dr. Lidewijde de Jong, Groningen University, Netherlands (Professor of Classical Archaeology)
  • Dr. Karel Novacek, Palacky University Olomouc, Chechiya (Professor of Islamic Archaeology)
  • Dr. Rocco Palermo, Groningen University, Netherlands (Postdoctoral Fellow in Classical Archaeology)
  • Ms. Shilan Ramadan, University of Paris, France (graduate student in Archaeology)
  • Ms. Kate Rose, Harvard University, USA (graduate student in Archaeology)
  • Ms. Petra Creamer, University of Pennsylvania (graduate student in Archaeology)

Kurdistan Region Project Staff:

  • Mr. Nader Babakr, Directorate of Antiquities, Erbil (Director of Antiquities and Archaeologist)
  • Mr. Khalil Barzanji, Directorate of Antiquities, Erbil (Archaeologist and drone pilot)
  • Mr. Pshtiwan Ahmed, Directorate of Antiquties, Erbil (Archaeologist)
  • Mr. Aram Amin, Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage (IICAH), Erbil (Archaeologist)
  • Mr. Mohammed Lashkri, General Directorate of Antiquities, KRG (Archaeologist)
  • Mr. Bapir Rashid Bawel (Interpreter, Liason, and Driver)