Continuity and Change in the Town Planning and Material Culture of Iron Age II and III Mishrifeh, Central Syria

Cet article présente les découvertes archéologiques, relatives à l’âge du Fer II‑III sur le site de Mishrifeh, faites par la partie italienne de la mission syro-italienne. Les données obtenues au cours de neuf campagnes de fouille seront exposées conjointement aux résultats déjà publiés afin de présenter les différents aspects (urbanisme, architecture résidentielle, activités artisanales et industrielles, pratiques funéraires, organisation administrative, culture matérielle et fonction du site) de Mishrifeh entre le ixe et le milieu du vie siècle av. J.‑C. On abordera ensuite la question des ruptures et des continuités sur cet important site de Syrie centrale au temps des principautés louvito-araméennes et de la domination assyrienne.The paper presents the archaeological evidence concerning the Iron Age II and III from the excavations conducted at Mishrifeh by the Italian component of the joint Syrian-Italian mission. The archaeological data excavated in nine years of archaeological exploration will be surveyed and integrated with data already published from the site so as to permit a brief discussion of the different types of evidence (town planning, residential architecture, craft and productive activities, funerary practices, administration patterns, material culture, site function) obtained from Mishrifeh from the 9th to the mid 6th century bc and an exploration of the “continuity and change” issue in this important site of Central Syria at the time of the Luwian-Aramaean principalities and the Assyrian domination.خلاصة – تعرض هذه المقالة الإكتشافات الأثرية المتعلّقة بالعصر الحديدي الثاني والثالث التي قام بها القسم الإيطالي للبعثة السورية ـ الإيطالية لموقع المشرفة. سوف تُشرح معطيات تسع حملات تنقيبية ومسح أثري مع النتائج التي كانت قد نُشرت سابقاً، وذلك بغية إظهار الجوانب المختلفة للمشرفة، ما بين القرن التاسع ومنتصف السادس ق.م. : (تنظيم المدن، هندسة سكنية، نشاطات حرفيّة وصناعية، العادات الجنائزية، تنظيم إداري، ثقافة ماديّة ودور الموقع آنذاك). من ثمّ تُعرض مسألة الهجرات أو الإستقرار السكني في هذا الموقع المهم من سورية الوسطى إبّان الإمارات Louvito-Araméennes والهيمنة الأشورية

The Early History of the Western Palmyra Desert region. The Change in the Settlement patterns and the Adaptation of subsistence Strategies to encroaching Aridity: a first Assessment of the Desert-Kite and Tumulus cultural Horizons

À la suite de la reconnaissance menée par la mission syro-italienne dans l’oasis de Palmyre et les zones désertiques situées au sud et à l’ouest, les données paléo-environnementales indiquent une discontinuité entre une période humide Tardi-glaciaire/Holocène ancien et une période suivante sèche. Cette dernière, dont on suppose qu’elle a débuté au cours du Néolithique précéramique final-Néolithique céramique ancien, voit la nucléation progressive de l’oasis de Palmyre et un changement dans les modes d’occupation et l’exploitation des ressources naturelles de la région. L’article étudie cette adaptation, dans l’occupation et l’exploitation des territoires, contemporaine de l’apparition d’un paysage de desert-kites et de cairns.Palaeoenvironmental proxies from geoarchaeological survey work conducted by a Syrian-Italian mission in the Palmyra oasis and the desert areas to the south and west of it indicate a discontinuity between a wet Lateglacial/Early Holocene and a later dry period. The latter, which is presumed to have started during the final PPNB-early Pottery Neolithic, resulted in the progressive nucleation of the Palmyra oasis and in a major change in settlement patterns and the exploitation of natural resources on a regional scale. The paper explores this major adaptive shift in settlement patterns and economic strategies in the region, which is paralleled by the emergence of a distinctive archaeological landscape characterized by desert-kites and cairns.في أعقاب اعمال المسح التي قامت بها البعثة السورية- الايطالية في واحة تدمر والمناطق الصحراوية الواقعة الى الجنوب والغرب، تشير بيانات البيئة القديمة الى انقطاع بين العصر المتأخر الجليدي الرطب - عصر الهولوسين المبكر و فترة جفاف في وقت لاحق. هذه الأخيرة، التي يفترض أنها قد بدأت في خلال العصر الحجري الحديث نهاية فترة ما قبل الخزف - العصر الحجري الخزفي القديم، رى ظهور نواة تدريجية لواحة تدمر و والتغيير في أنماط الإستيطان و إستغلال الموارد الطبيعية على المستوى الإقليمي. يتناول المقال هذا التكيف ، في أنماط الإستيطان و الإستراتيجيات الإقتصادية في المنطقة، و التي هي معاصرة لظهور منظر طبيعي يحوي مخططات أو فسيفساء جلمودية و تراكمات حجرية

Geomorphology of the northwestern Kurdistan Region of Iraq: landscapes of the Zagros Mountains drained by the Tigris and Great Zab Rivers

We present the geomorphological map of the northwestern part of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where the landscape expresses the tectonic activity associated with the Arabia-Eurasia convergence and Neogene climate change. These processes influenced the evolution of landforms and fluvial pathways, where major rivers Tigris, Khabur, and Great Zab incise the landscape of Northeastern Mesopotamia Anticlinal ridges and syncline trough compose the Zagros orogen. The development of water and wind gaps, slope, and karsts processes in the highlands and the tilting of fluvial terraces in the flat areas are the main evidence of the relationship between tectonics, climate variations and geomorphological processes. During the Quaternary, especially after the Last Glacial Maximum, fluctuating arid and wet periods also influenced local landforms and fluvial patterns of the area. Finally, the intensified Holocene human occupation and agricultural activities during the passage to more complex societies over time impacted the evolution of the landscape in this part of Mesopotamia

Geomorphology of the northwestern Kurdistan Region of Iraq: landscapes of the Zagros Mountains drained by the Tigris and Great Zab Rivers

We present the geomorphological map of the northwestern part of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where the landscape expresses the tectonic activity associated with the Arabia-Eurasia convergence and Neogene climate change. These processes influenced the evolution of landforms and fluvial pathways, where major rivers Tigris, Khabur, and Great Zab incise the landscape of Northeastern Mesopotamia Anticlinal ridges and syncline trough compose the Zagros orogen. The development of water and wind gaps, slope, and karsts processes in the highlands and the tilting of fluvial terraces in the flat areas are the main evidence of the relationship between tectonics, climate variations and geomorphological processes. During the Quaternary, especially after the Last Glacial Maximum, fluctuating arid and wet periods also influenced local landforms and fluvial patterns of the area. Finally, the intensified Holocene human occupation and agricultural activities during the passage to more complex societies over time impacted the evolution of the landscape in this part of Mesopotamia

Geomorphology of the northwestern Kurdistan Region of Iraq: landscapes of the Zagros Mountains drained by the Tigris and Great Zab Rivers

We present the geomorphological map of the northwestern part of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where the landscape expresses the tectonic activity associated with the Arabia-Eurasia convergence and Neogene climate change. These processes influenced the evolution of landforms and fluvial pathways, where major rivers Tigris, Khabur, and Great Zab incise the landscape of Northeastern Mesopotamia Anticlinal ridges and syncline trough compose the Zagros orogen. The development of water and wind gaps, slope, and karsts processes in the highlands and the tilting of fluvial terraces in the flat areas are the main evidence of the relationship between tectonics, climate variations and geomorphological processes. During the Quaternary, especially after the Last Glacial Maximum, fluctuating arid and wet periods also influenced local landforms and fluvial patterns of the area. Finally, the intensified Holocene human occupation and agricultural activities during the passage to more complex societies over time impacted the evolution of the landscape in this part of Mesopotamia