Nothing will stop a scientist who needs to know because it goes beyond curiosity to life's mission to find out and this may be the most extraordinary example of that I will ever see. There is no concern in this article for the politics of the circumstance, it's just that circumstance existed and these scientists were in the center of it. (Science Daily: Significant Bronze Age city discovered in Northern Iraq)
Archeologists from the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies (IANES) at the University of Tübingen have uncovered a large Bronze Age city not far from the town of Dohuk in northern Iraq. The excavation work has demonstrated that the settlement, which is now home to the small Kurdish village of Bassetki in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan, was established in about 3000 BC and was able to flourish for more than 1200 years. The archeologists also discovered settlement layers dating from the Akkadian Empire period (2340-2200 BC), which is regarded as the first world empire in human history.
- Science Daily
Excavating down to the Bronze Age layers in the upper part of Bassetki.
Credit: P. Pfälzner
These periods in history weren't much in my studies but the period of them so long ago becomes immediately intriguing. The researchers seem well-pleased with the result so it's goodness all around but there's more to this.
Although the excavation site is only 45 kilometers from territory controlled by the Islamic State (IS), it was possible to conduct the archeological work without any disturbances. "The protection of our employees is always our top priority. Despite the geographical proximity to IS, there's a great deal of security and stability in the Kurdish autonomous areas in Iraq," said Professor Peter Pfälzner, Director of the Department of Near Eastern Archaeology at the IANES of the University of Tübingen. The research team consisting of 30 people lived in the city of Dohuk, which is only 60 kilometers north of Mosul, during the excavation work.
- Science Daily
In English, that's not even thirty miles away from a force which is known to destroy antiquities at every opportunity and to be highly public about it. Other than doing your research inside an active volcano, there may not be a more dangerous place and yet they did it anyway.
Whew ...
They found all kinds of scientifically cool things and here's an excerpt.
Scientists headed by Professor Peter Pfälzner from the University of Tübingen and Dr. Hasan Qasim from the Directorate of Antiquities in Dohuk conducted the excavation work in Bassetki between August and October 2016. As a result, they were able to preempt the construction work on a highway on this land. The former significance of the settlement can be seen from the finds discovered during the excavation work. The city already had a wall running around the upper part of the town from approx. 2700 BC onwards in order to protect its residents from invaders. Large stone structures were erected there in about 1800 BC. The researchers also found fragments of Assyrian cuneiform tablets dating from about 1300 BC, which suggested the existence of a temple dedicated to the Mesopotamian weather god Adad on this site. There was a lower town about one kilometer long outside the city center. Using geomagnetic resistance measurements, the archeologists discovered indications of an extensive road network, various residential districts, grand houses and a kind of palatial building dating from the Bronze Age. The residents buried their dead at a cemetery outside the city. The settlement was connected to the neighboring regions of Mesopotamia and Anatolia via an overland roadway dating from about 1800 BC.
- Science Daily
We don't know the significance of these things in the History of Things but they had high significance to these scientists and a large team of them. This dig must have been like something out of an Indiana Jones movie.
Even though the science has little personal relevance, I have enormous admiration for their willingness to do anything to get it even when they're probably well aware assurances of security in such an area mean almost nothing, yet still they went and they were successful.
Respect.
Archeologists from the Institute for Ancient Near Eastern Studies (IANES) at the University of Tübingen have uncovered a large Bronze Age city not far from the town of Dohuk in northern Iraq. The excavation work has demonstrated that the settlement, which is now home to the small Kurdish village of Bassetki in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan, was established in about 3000 BC and was able to flourish for more than 1200 years. The archeologists also discovered settlement layers dating from the Akkadian Empire period (2340-2200 BC), which is regarded as the first world empire in human history.
- Science Daily
Excavating down to the Bronze Age layers in the upper part of Bassetki.
Credit: P. Pfälzner
These periods in history weren't much in my studies but the period of them so long ago becomes immediately intriguing. The researchers seem well-pleased with the result so it's goodness all around but there's more to this.
Although the excavation site is only 45 kilometers from territory controlled by the Islamic State (IS), it was possible to conduct the archeological work without any disturbances. "The protection of our employees is always our top priority. Despite the geographical proximity to IS, there's a great deal of security and stability in the Kurdish autonomous areas in Iraq," said Professor Peter Pfälzner, Director of the Department of Near Eastern Archaeology at the IANES of the University of Tübingen. The research team consisting of 30 people lived in the city of Dohuk, which is only 60 kilometers north of Mosul, during the excavation work.
- Science Daily
In English, that's not even thirty miles away from a force which is known to destroy antiquities at every opportunity and to be highly public about it. Other than doing your research inside an active volcano, there may not be a more dangerous place and yet they did it anyway.
Whew ...
They found all kinds of scientifically cool things and here's an excerpt.
Scientists headed by Professor Peter Pfälzner from the University of Tübingen and Dr. Hasan Qasim from the Directorate of Antiquities in Dohuk conducted the excavation work in Bassetki between August and October 2016. As a result, they were able to preempt the construction work on a highway on this land. The former significance of the settlement can be seen from the finds discovered during the excavation work. The city already had a wall running around the upper part of the town from approx. 2700 BC onwards in order to protect its residents from invaders. Large stone structures were erected there in about 1800 BC. The researchers also found fragments of Assyrian cuneiform tablets dating from about 1300 BC, which suggested the existence of a temple dedicated to the Mesopotamian weather god Adad on this site. There was a lower town about one kilometer long outside the city center. Using geomagnetic resistance measurements, the archeologists discovered indications of an extensive road network, various residential districts, grand houses and a kind of palatial building dating from the Bronze Age. The residents buried their dead at a cemetery outside the city. The settlement was connected to the neighboring regions of Mesopotamia and Anatolia via an overland roadway dating from about 1800 BC.
- Science Daily
We don't know the significance of these things in the History of Things but they had high significance to these scientists and a large team of them. This dig must have been like something out of an Indiana Jones movie.
Even though the science has little personal relevance, I have enormous admiration for their willingness to do anything to get it even when they're probably well aware assurances of security in such an area mean almost nothing, yet still they went and they were successful.
Respect.
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