Ricerc@Sapienza

The first nine years of excavations (2011-2019) revealed the site of Abu Tbeirah as basically an Early Dynastic settlement whose life ended during the Ur III period (2900-2000 BC)/beginning of the 2nd mill. BC.
The activities of the 10th campaign foresee the pursuance of the excavation of Building E (Area 6, NE of the site) and of the 3rd millennium harbor (Area 5, NW), the first port excavated in contemporary Mesopotamian sites for the period involved. The analysis of the material culture will be carried on in order to define, together with 14C analysis of shortlived stratified archaeo-botanical remains, the chronology of the settlement. aDNA (in cooperation with the School of Genetics of the Harvard University) and isotope analysis will be carried on as well on both human and animal bones, together with archaeometric studies on pottery, lithic industries and other findings such as bitumen. We also foresee, on the basis of the funding, the realization of further soundings inside and outside the tell in order to reconstruct the paleo-environment and paleo-climate, the geomorphology and the geological setting of AbT area. The 10th excavation campaign will be subdivided in 2 different periods (winter 2020 and spring 2021, for a total of ca. 3 months - see Concession of excavation section) and will involve at least 12 archaeologists and specialists from Sapienza and other Institutions. Researches and analyses will be carried out during all the 12 month of the 2020/2021 academic year.