The Regional Relationship between the Fertile Crescent and Mesopotamia during the Urbanization Process

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26870644
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: History of Asia and Africa; Archaeology
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Odaka Takahiro 東京大学, 総合研究博物館, 特任助教 (70350379)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 都市化 / 地域性 / 土器 / 編年

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The Shahrizor Plain is situated within the so-called Fertile Crescent, the land of the oldest Neolithization, while the location opens to the Mesopotamia Lowland. Focusing on the time from the dispersal into the lowland to the Urbanization, this study proposed an archaeological chronology in this plain from the late 7th to the 4th millennium BC. The examinations of the archaeological evidences demonstrated the continuous influences of various regions including the Mesopotamia Lowland and the surrounding areas in the Fertile Crescent. Consequently such influences had been mixed and generated a peculiar character of the material culture in the Shahrizor Plain. This phenomenon indicates that the Mesopotamia Lowland had kept the relationship to various directions in the Fertile Crescent through the Shahrizor Plain. In addition, it strongly suggests that the Urbanization in the Mesopotamia Lowland had been supported by the social foundation built in much larger area including the periphery.

Free Research Field

近東考古学