High-Density Urban Living at Middle Bronze Age Kurd Qaburstan, Iraq

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

In Upper Mesopotamia the Middle Bronze Age (2000 – 1600 B.C.E.) marked the regrowth of cities following the decline or collapse of cities at the end of the Early Bronze Age. Researchers question the degree of continuity in urban space across these periods and some have suggested that Middle Bronze Age cities were "hollow," containing relatively small built-up areas alongside large areas of unbuilt space. In this model, powerful rulers with great aspirations built city walls around vast areas but urban growth failed to fill the space. The present study tested this model with a magnetometer survey at Middle Bronze Age Kurd Qaburstan near Erbil, Iraq. The results reveal a high density built environment with a semi-structured street plan, systematic fortifications, and a range of public and private, small-scale and monumental structures scattered throughout the city. These spatial characteristics echo Early Bronze Age urban planning, and suggest that there was socio-political, economic, and demographic continuity across time in the Bronze Age. This poster offers a tour of the Kurd Qaburstan magnetometry data that illustrates urban form, planning principles, and selected structures.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24018