There and back again: local institutions, an Uruk expansion and the rejection of centralisation in the Sirwan/Upper Diyala region
During the fourth millennium BC, public institutions developed at several large settlements across greater Mesopotamia. These are widely acknowledged as the first cities and states, yet surprisingly little is known about their emergence, functioning and demise. Here, the authors present new evidence of public institutions at the site of Shakhi Kora in the lower Sirwan/upper Diyala river valley of north-east Iraq. A sequence of four Late Chalcolithic institutional households precedes population dispersal and the apparent regional rejection of centralised social forms of organisation that were not then revisited for almost 1500 years.
Authors
- Francesca Chelazzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8439-0776)
- Francesco Del Bravo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8633-5326)
- Mette Marie Hald (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3610-332X)
- Daniel Calderbank (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8273-526X)
- Synnøve Gravdal Heimvik
- Robin Bendrey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5286-1601)
- Claudia Glatz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5346-1255)
- Apostolos Sarris (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6071-4767)
- Michael P. Lewis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6998-9257)
- Salah Mohammed Sameen
- Aris Palyvos
Institutions
- Kurdistan Regional Government (IQ)
- University of Cyprus (CY)
- National Museum of Denmark (DK)
- Direção Geral do Património Cultural (PT)
- Freie Universität Berlin (DE)
- University of Coimbra (PT)
- University of Glasgow (GB)
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Antiquity
- Published
- 2024-12-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.189
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Ancient Near East History
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 11.70
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- British Academy
- British Institute for the Study of Iraq
- Gerda Henkel Foundation