On the Edge of the Empire - Riverine Landscape and Settlement Patterns in the Haditha Dam Region during the Iron Age.

Abstract

Many recent studies have dealt with the nature of the assyrian settlement patterns and landscape, demonstrating how diversified the former have been through time and space, adapting themselves at to the changes of the latter, with cases such as Khabur and Upper Tigris regions. On the other hand, the Haditha Dam region - ancient lands of Hindanu and Suhu - is archaeologically less known. It was the target of the Assyrian expansionism under Assurnasirpal II and the seat of semi-independent governors who claimed to descend directly from Hammurabi. The archaeological investigations prior to the construction of the Haditha Dam, offered an opportunity to understand the nature of the landscape and revealed many sites datable to the Early I millennium B.C., some of which seemed to have a marked military nature. The region was therefore seen as a seat for fortresses and temporary encampments of the Assyrian Empire, without properly considering the environment surrounding the sites themselves. The present paper, through preliminary analysis of the material culture of the sites, the settlement pattern and surrounding landscape using GIS and satellite images, aim to suggest a diversified nature of both the region and archaeological sites.

Andrea Titolo

Research Fellow

My research interests include Settlement Pattern Analysis, Remote Sensing, GIS, and mapping.