Michael Danti, Boston University
“The Rowanduz Archaeological Program in Iraqi Kurdistan”
Sponsored by Archaeological Institute of America

Abstract: The Rowanduz Archaeological Program (RAP) seeks to revitalize archaeology in Iraqi Kurdistan through the implementation of a long-term, integrative program of multidisciplinary archaeological research projects and cultural heritage management initiatives. The area represents one of the most compelling and unknown corners of the Near East — over a century of warfare and political strife have prevented most archaeological research. In 2013, the Department of Antiquities of the Kurdistan Regional Government granted RAP a five-year permit to conduct archaeological surveys and excavations in the Soran District of northeastern Erbil Province. The surrounding mountain ranges of the western Zagros have been renowned for millennia for their scenic wonders and strategically prized as a natural stronghold controlling the mountain routes afforded by the erosional forces of the Greater Zab and its tributaries, especially the immense Rowanduz Gorge and the passes at Kel-i Shin and Gawra Shinka. The high valleys provide summer pastures for herders and tracts of arable land that supported prosperous highland settlements as early as the Pre-pottery Neolithic.