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Department of Archaeology |
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Excavation at Chagar Bazar, northeast Syria
The site of Chagar Bazar is 12 hectares at maximum, which is
small in the context of northern Mesopotamia. It lies in the
dry-farming region of the upper Habur drainage basin, with an
unrestricted hinterland for agricultural and pastoral use, and
with easy access to the reseources of the Taurus Mou ntains in
Turkey. The excavation explores the long-term biography of the
site, which has occupations from the 6th through the early 2nd
millennium BC . So far, we have focussed on the 4th, 3rd, and
early 2nd millennia BC occupations, investigating the reaction of
the site to regional political and economic changes. During this
span of time, the region saw at least two influxes of southern
Mesopotamian populations; and the settlement pattern saw the
development of urbanism, followed by a cycle of deurbanization
and reurbanization. This reurbanization was accompanied by the
development of a t erritorial state with which Chagar Bazar was
directly linked. These regional trends have until now been
primarily investigated at urban sites, and th e aim of the
excavation is to focus on smaller site dynamics.
The excavation is sponsored by the British School of
Archaeology in Iraq (Co-Director: Dr Augusta McMahon), in
collaboration with the University of Li ège in Belgium
(Co-Director: Prof. Önhan Tunca) and the Department of
Antiquities and Museums in Syria (Co-Director: Mr Abdul-massih
Bagdo). The project began in 1999 and should continue for at
least four more years.
