Deltaic Resilience and the Genesis of Mesopotamian Cities (Iraq)

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With National Science Foundation support Drs. Jennifer Pournelle, Carrie Hritz and Jennifer Smith will undertake a three year program of archaeological, geoarchaeological and geomorphological research in southern Iraq. The focus is on wetland regions which the investigators believe may have played a major role in the rise of Mesopotamian civilization. These marshlands were originally difficult to survey but draining in recent years has provided a unique opportunity - a window which likely will soon be closed - as the region is restored to its prior state. The Tigris-Euphrates delta of southern Iraq has been the locus of a continuous urban presence for over five millennia. The height of early Sumerian civilization there at the onset of the 4th millennium BC marked a degree of economic differentiation, socio-political complexity and urbanization theretofore unseen anywhere in the world. While the Sumerians made use of irrigable plains and pasture lands in the surrounding regions, it is also postulated that the society drew significant wealth and transportation advantage from their situation in a deltaic system that provided varied and abundant resources even through cycles of dramatic climatic fluctuation. The investigators believe that this "deltaic resiliency" sustained the urbanizing processes through multiple systemic changes involving both social and environmental change. Compared with adjacent environments relatively little is known about this deltaic component and the investigators will collect relevant archaeological, geological and paleoenvironmental data. They will both reconstruct past environmental patterns and examine human responses within this context.One important practical result of this project will be the strengthening of archaeological ties between the US and Iraq and the opportunity this research may provide for future archaeological projects in the country. The results of the work may also guide projects to restore environmental resources to Iraq's southern cities, promote resilient environmental management strategies, and support sustainable lifeways for the future. Both American and Iraqi students will be involved in the research.