PAGINA IN INGLESE

 Step Trench B

The Settlement’s Prehistoric and Protohistoric Occupation Between the 7th and 4th millennia BCE.  

In the excavation trench located on the southern slope of the site, we documented a very long and continuous occupational sequence from the 7th to the 4th millennia BC which allows the exploration of the crucial transition in the Erbil Plain from Neolithic agricultural villages to the first urban structures in Northern Mesopotamia. The most ancient levels were reached in 2019 and belong to the Halaf period (end of 7th-6th millennia BC), when the Erbil plain underwent a demographic growth with groups of farmers and herders exploiting the available web of water canals. During this time frame, communities were well-connected and shared a number of similar cultural traits, such as fine painted pottery and circular dwellings, traits which are recurrent in a vast area ranging from Anatolia to Syria and in Northern Mesopotamia. At Helawa, the village was probably no larger than 2-3 hectares and different phases with associated pressed clay (pisé) structures were exposed, together with installations made of ovoidal bricks, fireplaces, ovens for food preparation and a pebble platform. The pottery of this period (Late Halaf) features polychromic decorations with geometric designs and the most popular shapes include small jars and cups with flaring walls. 
View of the southern slope with Step Trench B 
The following phase relates to the Ubaid period, dated to the end of the 6th and the first half of the 5th millennium BC. The settled area is still rather limited, however new elements which suggest a more visible degree of social and economic complexity are present. A structure composed of single cell-like rooms associated to a pottery kiln probably belongs to a production area in the village. After the abandonment of the production complex, the area was utilized as a dump, as the ashy levels and the great amount of pottery, small objects, animal bones and botanical remains suggest. This level yielded numerous poorly baked ovoidal clay objects (interpreted as projectile points), a number of ceramic cones, spindle whorls and modified pebbles which were utilized as percussion and smoothing tools. Awls, bone implements and ornaments including a stone pendant with decorative incisions were also found. The painted monochrome pottery comprises typical late Ubaid shapes including bowls and small jars and features a number of decorative patterns ranging from linear designs to parallel bands and checkerboard motifs. Human figures and animals are very rarely depicted, and the jar fragment with the goat with backward-bent horns in combination with a stylized profile of the site was chosen as MAIPE’s logo.
The Ubaid production area with the pottery kiln 
Stone and clay tools from the Ubaid pottery workshop area
Painted fragment from a jar with a stylized goat that inspired MAIPE’s logo
Decorated stone pendant dated to the Halaf period
Decorated stone pendant dated to the Ubaid period
The evidence of the Late Chalcolithic 1 (4800/4500-4200 BC) settlement includes a number of dumps probably belonging to a furnace (which suggests a continued artisanal vocation of the area), and a workshop for the processing of obsidian imported from eastern Anatolia. Just above these levels, an early LC 2 (4200-4000 BC) building with quadrangular rooms connected by stairs was revealed. The building was flanked to the East and West by circular ovens likely devoted to food production activities. Within the structure itself, numerous vessels, stone objects and a copper pin were found. Typical LC 2 pottery types comprise serially produced conical bowls with fabrics rich in vegetal inclusions (the so-called ‘Wide Flower Pot’) and jars with flaring necks and specimens with a grey fabric. Both the construction materials and the building technique suggest that this structure was of some prominence, supporting the hypothesis of a certain degree of socio-economic complexity at the site. The building was later obliterated by a number of LC 2 silos which were utilized for the storage of foodstuffs. Archaeobotanical analyses have demonstrated that barley and cereals were predominant among the remains both in the installations and in their associated levels. Thus, it is clear that in the village, which the survey has shown to have been larger than 5 hectares, centralized storage operations were being performed. Three infant jar burials are also associated with this phase. The final Late Chalcolithic (final 2 and early 3) occupation (ca. 4000-3700 BC) is characterized by restored and modified walls together with a series of raised floors. The administrative building exposed in Area B1, just to the west of the Step Trench, belongs to the early part of this period.
The technological analysis of flint and obsidian stone tools provides interesting data regarding the changes which occurred between the most ancient periods (Ubaid and LC 1) and the more recent occupations (LC 2-3). In the earliest phase (Ubaid), lithics were worked exclusively inside the domestic units and in the identified functional areas. Most of the reduction processes aimed at obtaining small flakes through non-specialized techniques in order to achieve specific tools and sickles to harvest wheat. During the LC 1, alongside the continued presence of the Ubaid lithic tradition, more elaborate methods which made use of more regular bladelets were also adopted. At Helawa, this phase coincides with the peak of imported Anatolian obsidian which was worked locally for the production of bladelets in the identified artisanal area. During the more recent periods (LC 2-3), socio-economic changes took place. Lithic production only involved the realization of domestic tools, while sickles were now made from large blades of good quality flint. These instruments were produced by specialized and independent artisans who were most likely active in specific workshops situated close to the raw material extraction sites.
Obsidian bladelets from a Late Chalcolithic 1 workshop
Lame in selce risalenti al Tardo Calcolitico 3
Flint blades dated to the Late Chalcolithic 3 
The bio-archaeological data collected from the levels of the Step Trench have enabled an initial reconstruction of the exploitation of the local natural resources and have shed light on the environmental changes that took place during the prehistoric and protohistoric occupation of the site. The faunal remains revealed in the most ancient phases (Halaf and Ubaid) belong both to domesticated (goats, cattle, pigs) and wild (gazelles) species. The richest documentation derives from the various phases of the Late Chalcolithic (LC 1-3). In addition to the domesticated species found in the earlier periods, the gazelle is still recurrent together with other wild animals (deer, fox). The analyzed botanical materials (carbonized seeds, charcoals) span the chronological range between the Ubaid and the LC 3. Cereals include the cultivation of barley (Hordeum vulgare), spelled (Triticum dicoccum) and naked wheats (Triticum aestivum/durum/turgidum). Barley is the most abundant and frequently cultivated and recurs throughout all periods, although a high amount of quantitative data is available especially for the LC 2 phase where an almost entirely full silos was excavated. Spelt is always associated to barley but it is less abundant. Naked wheats appear to be a secondary cultivation, acquiring importance only later during the Bronze Age. Among legumes, a few lentil seeds (Lens culinaris), southern vetch (Vicia ervilia), white pea (Lathyrus sativus) and peas (Pisum sativum) were found only in the earlier phases (Ubaid 4 and LC 1).
Faunal remains relating to pigs, bovines and goats from Step Trench B
Kernels of Hordeum vulgare from the Late Chalcolithic 2 silos 

Area C

The 4th millenniun B.C. settlement– Public and administrative buildings (Helawa IVB-C) 

The 6th millennium village – Halaf and Ubaid phases at Helawa (Helawa II-III) 

At Helawa, the earliest occupational phases were unearthed on the southeastern slope of the mound. While the chronological sequence has been defined through the excavation of Step Trench B, the late Halaf settlement (5500-5300 BC) has been investigated on a still limited area (10 x 5 m) and is characterized by the presence of several circular buildings, the so-called tholoi-like structures, built in pisé (pressed clay) and with a diameter varying between one and four meters. These structures were equipped with hearths, furnaces, and various installations. This area had a residential function, and it was located on the southern limits of the prehistoric village, on the banks of the river where the first inhabitants settled during the Neolithic period.  These phases are characterized by the presence of the typical Halaf painted pottery, with the most recurring shapes being bowls with rounded profiles and globular jars with flaring rims, usually manufactured from purified pinkish clay. Painted decorations are red, brown and black in color, and recur both on internal and external surfaces of the vessels, while designs encompass both geometric and naturalistic motifs. This type of ceramic production is found throughout northern Mesopotamia, with direct comparisons at sites in the Mosul area, such as Tepe Gawra and Tell Arpachiyah.   
General view of the Halaf and Ubaid structures in Area C
Detail of circular dwellings (tholoi) of the Halaf period 
Late Halaf pottery
In the following period, there was a complete change in the settlement organization, with the appearance of more complex rectangular domestic buildings built with the mudbrick technique. One of these was very well preserved and was excavated in Area C: it consisted of small square rooms and larger rectangular spaces, and is dated to the end of the 6th millennium BC (Ubaid period). Various installations were found in the rooms alongside numerous flint tools, pestles and stone implements, terracotta objects, and the characteristic clay “clay bullets” which were recovered from the filling layers above the floors. These objects are referred to as projectiles as they were initially interpreted as offensive weapons. However, since they are often found in the premises of fire installations, it has been proposed that they might have been used also as heat collectors.  The pottery of this period is characterized by the typical green-grayish fabric with black painted geometric decorations which include horizontal and wavy bands, festoons, and triangles. The Ubaid horizon from Helawa finds precise comparisons throughout the eastern Tigris region, within neighboring sites in the Erbil and Mosul plains. More generally, it may also be inserted in the wider Ubaid interaction sphere documented ifrom the Iranian plateau to the Mediterranean Sea and from the Persian-Arabic Gulf to the Anatolian peninsula, in the area that from this moment on may be called “Greater Mesopotamia”.   The discovery of the prehistoric village is of great interest for the reconstruction of the development of farming and herding communities in northern Mesopotamia. The stratigraphic sequence unearthed in Area C at Helawa and now exposed for the first time in an extensive manner in the Erbil Plain allows us t to investigate the changes in material culture and in the socio-economic organization of prehistoric communities in a diachronic perspective over the long term. 
Detail of the rooms in the Ubaid building 
The typical “clay bullets” found in situ close to installations of the Ubaid period

Area B1

The 4th millenniun B.C. settlement– Public and administrative buildings (Helawa IVB-C) 

On the mound’s summit, the enlargement of the stratigraphic trench in Area B allowed for the further investigation of the latest occupational phase of the Late Chalcolithic period at Helawa. Excavations uncovered a tripartite building, composed of a central rectangular room and two side wings, located at the southern margins of the site on elevated terrain created through terracing operations at the end of the LC 2 phase above the previous levels. The structure was destroyed by a fire, as evidenced by the thick layers of ash in the collapse of the mudbrick structures. The walls were preserved to a maximum height of one and a half meters and were 60 cm thick, constructed with rows of rectangular bricks. The tripartite building covers an area of over 100 m2 and is oriented north-west/south-east. The southern wing consists of three rooms, the westernmost of which is internally divided, and is equipped with benches and fire installations. The central hall, which was accessed through transverse entrances, had a fireplace in the eastern area and two spaces created on the short eastern side through thin partitions which were built against the back wall of the room. The northern wing of the building, except for the square north-eastern room equipped with a fireplace, was severely damaged by the construction of a residence of the 2nd millennium BC as well as by a series of burials from the same phase. This tripartite architectural type is very common in northern Mesopotamian and Syro-Iraqi Jezirah sites (Tell Brak, Hamoukar, Grai Resh, Gawra, Qalinj Agha) and the materials found inside suggest an administrative-economic function
Building with a tripartite plan dated to the beginning of the 4th millennium BCE
Detail of some rooms of the tripartite building
In the quadrangular room located in the south-eastern corner, numerous objects were found, including a series of cretulae with stamped seal impressions. This room was utilized as a storage area where various products were kept in different containers (vessels, sacks, baskets), which were closed and sealed using cretulae, according to a system that was controlled and centralized. Along with about twenty sealings, the material recovered from the room includes various stone tools, flint and obsidian blades, an obsidian core for the production of blades (indicating that the volcanic glass was locally knapped after being imported from eastern Anatolia), spindle whorls, and a calcite tile. Additional sealings were found in the central room and scattered in the more ruined northern wing, along with a fragment of a steatite stamped seal, indicating that activities related to redistribution were not limited to the storage room. The seals were circular or lenticular in shape and featured images of quadrupeds in various compositions, schematic plant motifs, and geometric designs. The glyptic art of Helawa is similar to that of the period VIII of Tepe Gawra, but comparisons can also be made with Hamoukar in north-eastern Syria and Hacinebi in south-eastern Turkey. This is a discovery of great importance, as there are still very few Late Chalcolithic sites in northern Mesopotamia where cretulae have been found.
General view of the tripartite building of the Late Chalcolithic
Cretulae with stamped seal impressions, originally utilized for the sealing of baskets and sacks
Cretula with stamped seal impression depicting two quadrupeds in a specular position
The extension of the excavation area on both sides of the mound at Helawa allowed for the reconstruction of the site’s topographic layout during the Late Chalcolithic 2/3 phases. To the West, the tripartite building faces a large open area, probably a courtyard (12 m²), paved with numerous compacted ceramic fragments and pebbles of various sizes. To the east, a series of small square rooms containing hearths, ovens, benches, and plastered basins separate the tripartite building from another large bipartite, mud brick structure.   This second structure covers c. 75 m² and extends along the southern side of the mound’s summit. The building consists of a large rectangular room with quadrangular rooms flanking it to the north and to the west, while its southern extent has been lost to the slope’s erosion.  The western rooms are characterized by a continuous sequence of fire installations associated with cooking wares and lithic tools. In the northern rooms of the building, an installation consisting of two mud brick walls was uncovered, containing a large number of clay animal figurines, likely representing different caprid or bovids.
Aerial view of the paved Late Chalcolithic square and tripartite building
Detail of the paved floor dated to the LC 2/3 
Aerial view of the current extension of excavations on top of the mound 
Aerial view of the Eastern Late Chalcolithic 3 building
Animal figurines, probably representing various caprids

The restoration of the Tripartite Building

An architectural restoration project was carried out on the structures from the Late Chalcolithic period on the summit of the artificial hill at Helawa, as these were most exposed to weathering events. A conservative approach was therefore adopted for the mud brick constructions: the walls, already damaged by erosion, were raised using modern mud bricks and subsequently plastered. The restoration, carried out over two excavation campaigns, involved several local participants: the mud bricks were purchased from one of the nearby villages and then laid and plastered by a small group of local builders skilled in mud brick construction. The result of the restoration, in addition to making the site visually more accessible to non-experts, protects the original Late Chalcolithic walls without the use of plastics or textiles while remaining clearly distinguishable from the underlying archaeological remains. 

Restoration of the LC paved street

Local Kurdish workers restoring the Late Chalcolithic walls
Aerial view of the restored tripartite building

Area E

A productive area of the Late Chalcolithic at the base of the mound 

Survey work at Helawa shows that the site reached its maximum extent during the 4th millennium BC. To investigate this phenomenon, a small trench (7 x 5 m) was opened along the northern slopes of the mound. This revealed an occupation phase dated to the Late Chalcolithic period, characterized by three installations likely related to ceramic production. These were constructed with mud bricks, with pressed clay along the outer perimeter.
Panoramic view of Area E

Area A

Area A – A Late Bronze Age residential building atop the mound at Helawa (Halawa VI)

Excavations carried out in the upper part of the mound have led to the identification of a large building dating back to the Early Late Bronze Age, built around 1600 BC after almost two millennia of site abandonment. Two sectors of this structure have been excavated: one consists of four rooms, delimited by mudbrick walls, while the other includes a large open courtyard paved with beaten earth which housed artisanal installations and a water drainage system, as well as ovens for food preparation. The building, perhaps the residence of a high-ranking figure, has at least three phases of use and was built by removing part of the earlier Late Chalcolithic levels. To the north of the open courtyard, there are rooms belonging to a production complex dedicated to ceramic manufacturing. This production sector remained in use throughout all three phases of the courtyard’s occupation, characterized by a sequence of overlapping kilns and installations built for ceramic processing. These structures were enclosed within quadrangular rooms, which were modified and adapted during the different phases of use. In the earliest phase, two large adjacent kilns were in activity: one rectangular in shape, exceptionally well-preserved in elevation, with supporting walls made of mudbricks, part of the vault still in situ, and firing platforms made of pebbles; and a circular kiln, later reused as a refuse pit. Additionally, within a semicircular installation built in the corner formed by two thick mudbrick walls, a fragment of a potter’s wheel was discovered. This find supports the interpretation of the complex as a true ceramic workshop. A large amount of dispersed pottery in the levels above the floors testifies to the typical ceramic repertoire of this period in northern Mesopotamia. Several vessels have been reconstructed, including a globular bottle with a narrow neck, a flared rim cup, a large basin decorated with incised wavy motifs, and several cylindrical elements known in literature as “piecrust pot-stands”. These are characterized by an expanded rim and a hand-pinch base forming a kind of corolla. They have been interpreted as supports for vases or baskets, but certainly had a different function as well, since they were found positioned to form conduits for the flow of water or for air circulation within domestic buildings. The ceramic repertoire from this context can be compared to the materials found in nearby sites (Kurd Qaburstan), Yorgan Tepe/Nuzi, and in the Middle Tigris area sites (Bassetki, Kemune, Nemrik).
General view of the Late Bronze Age building
General view of the pottery workshop
Detail of the rectangular kiln for pottery
Detail of an installation with recesses in the production area
Cylindrical and globular beakers dating to the Late Bronze Age
The typical “piecrust pot stands”
Three burials, one of an adult and two of sub-adults, were identified beneath the floor levels of the residential building. In addition to the traditional ceramic shapes, finely finished cups and bone pins, the body of a woman approximately 35 years old was adorned with two pairs of crescent-shaped silver earrings and a necklace with glass paste, carnelian, agate, and lapis lazuli beads. The richness of this jewelry indicates a relatively high social position of the deceased. Therefore, the settlement of the mid-second millennium BC was characterized by internal differentiation and had a significant role in the socio-economic context of the Erbil plain region.
Child burial from Area A    
Female burial from Area A
Grave goods from Area A at the moment of their discovery
Recontruction of the necklace of the female burial 
Area A – The Islamic period occupation (Helawa VII)  The most recent phase found at Helawa corresponds to the digging of large circular pits from the early Islamic period (7th century AD). These pits, which often contain ash fillings, sometimes also contained complete specimens of globular pots with handles and ovoid amphorae with a narrow neck and double handles, decorated with wavy and horizontal incisions. The amphorae, lined with a layer of bitumen on the inside, were used for the transportation and preservation of food liquids, wine in particular.   Image: Amphora internally coated with bitumen   

Area D

A Production and Residential Complex from the Middle of the 2nd Millennium BCE

This operation was opened on top of a raised area located north-east of the main mound. mound. Excavations in this sector provide the occupational sequence of the site in this area. Just below the sub-surface, a compelling phase dating to the mid 2nd millennium BC emerged, characterised by three different building sub-phases. The last 2nd millennium occupation before the site was abandoned consisted of partially preserved domestic installations like floors, hearths, and razed walls associated with eroded layers. The floors featured small canals for water drainage which were covered by pebbles and re-utilized pottery sherds. These structures lied directly over a building discovered in the north-eastern side of the trench, which was characterized by mudbrick walls, ca. 70 cm thick, by small-size squared rooms, and by a mudbrick paved courtyard. The oldest subphase relates to domestic structures and to a wide production complex dating to the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. This structure features storage rooms, ovens for food preparation and underwent various re-building phases and restoration operations. Such a discovery is extremely significant since the beginning of the Late Bronze Age is poorly documented in Northern Mesopotamia, and especially, in the Trans-Tigridian area.  
Dettaglio dei tre forni circolari nel settore meridionale dell’edificio
The pottery from this period is for the most part achromatic, its fabrics range in color between beige and light pink and recurring types include carinated bowls, basins and jars with modified rims. In addition to common ware, Grey Ware and painted “Late Khabur” ware, which are both popular in Northern Mesopotamia and in the Syro-Iraqi Jazira, are also attested. The analyses of the fills from the kitchen installations and of the strata covering the floors have provided interesting data on fuels and on the types of plants which were consumed at the time, suggesting that barley, spelled and other cereals were among the most utilized. The identified animal remains from the period mainly belong to domestic species (goats, cattle and pigs), but traces of gazelle and hare are also present. Beneath the early Late Bronze Age building a thick layer rich with Late Chalcolithic 3 materials demonstrates that the site was abandoned between the 4th and the 2nd millennia BC, confirming the occupational sequence hypothesized after analyzing the materials collected during the survey.  
Typical pottery from the mid-2nd millennium BC
Objects found in the Late Chalcolithic 3 abandonment layers