Tell Rashid is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in

Diyala Governorate Diyala Governorate ( ) or Diyala Province is a Governorates of Iraq, governorate in northeastern Iraq. Provincial Government *Governor: Muthanna al-Tamimi *Deputy Governor: Mohammed Jassim al-Jubouri Council Geography Diyala Governorate ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. The site lies in the foothills of the

Zagros Mountains The Zagros Mountains are a mountain range in Iran, northern Iraq, and southeastern Turkey. The mountain range has a total length of . The Zagros range begins in northwestern Iran and roughly follows Iran's western border while covering much of s ...

, some south of

Tell Abada Tell Abada is a Tell (archaeology), tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in Diyala Governorate (Iraq). Abada was excavated as part of the Rescue archaeology, archaeological salvage operation to excavate sites that would be flooded by the rese ...

, another

Ubaid period The Ubaid period (c. 5500–3700 BC) is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The name derives from Tell al-'Ubaid where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid period material was conducted initially in 1919 by Henry Hall, Leonard Woolley in 19 ...

site. It measures 54 by 30 m and extends 2.5 m above the surrounding plain. Tell Rashid was excavated for a single season in 1978 under the direction of Sabah Abboud Jasim as part of the archaeological salvage work being done for the construction of the Hemrin Dam. The excavation trench reached a depth of 5 m, at which point virgin soil (undisturbed by human activity) was reached. Four different occupation levels were recognised, all dating to the Ubaid period.

Occupation history

The oldest level, IV, consists of some

mudbrick Mudbrick or mud-brick, also known as unfired brick, is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of mud (containing loam, clay, sand and water) mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE. From ...

foundations that were part of a larger building that extended beyond the excavated area. Based on the

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...

, the level could be dated to Ubaid 2. Level III yielded significant architectural remains, consisting of at least three separate buildings. Two of these were examples of the typical tripartite Ubaid house with a central hall or courtyard with smaller rooms on either long side. One of the buildings contained two child

burials Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and object ...

. The smaller of these two buildings had a facade adorned with

buttresses A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act a ...

, suggesting that this building may have had a special purpose, for example, as a guest house. In level II, parts of a single building with several rooms were excavated. The youngest level I was severely damaged and only some wall fragments and hearths were found.

Material culture

Artefacts recovered from the excavation included clay

animal figurines Animal figurines are figurines that represent animals, either as decorative pieces, toys or collectibles. They are often made of plastic, ceramics, or metal. The earthenware Staffordshire figures of the 18th and 19th centuries were enormously p ...

and spindle whorls, undefined tokens, and sling bullets. Small cones found at the site have been interpreted as labrets. Stone blades were also found, some of which still had pieces of

bitumen Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscosity, viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American Engl ...

sticking to them, indicating that they were probably inserted in a wooden shaft, for example, to create a

sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting or reaping grain crops, or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feedi ...

. Recovered pottery consisted mostly of painted, incised, or impressed ware and could be dated to the Ubaid 2-3 periods. Parallels for the so-called Fine Painted Ware at Tell Rashid have been found as far away as

Yumuktepe Yumuktepe, also known as Yümüktepe, is a tell (ruin mound) within the city borders of Mersin, Turkey. In 1936, the mound was on the outskirts of Mersin, but after a rapid increase of population, the mound was surrounded by the Toroslar munic ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Occupation history

Material culture

See also

References

Further reading