Excavations at Tell Brak. Vol. 4 Exploring an upper Mesopotamian regional centre, 1994-1996 - Roger Matthews

Tell Brak in Syria is one of the largest and most important
multi-period sites in northern Mesopotamia. Excavations in
1994-1996 cast new light on everyday life at the settlement
through several phases of occupation from the early 4th
millennium BC to the 2nd millennium BC. Volume 4 in the Tell Brak
Monograph series provides an account of the architecture,
artefacts, and environmental evidence, supported by a program of
radiocarbon dating. The results emphasize the indigenous nature
of cultural development in Upper Mesopotamia during these
millennia. Among the highlights are a small temple dating to the
Ninevite 5 period (earlier 3rd millennium BC), which provides new
insights into a phenomenon that has hitherto been little
explored; and an exceptional hoard of precious materials and
artefacts that underlines the importance of Tell Brak in the
later 3rd millennium BC. The report is completed by studies of
subsistence, diet, economy, use of space, and craft activities,
which focus on the variabilities and continuities in daily life
that underlay the shifting political and cultural forces. These
studies highlight the unique position of Tell Brak in the
long-term ebb and flow of regional interactions across
Mesopotamia.