Fig. 1 – Picture of Zeytinli Bahçe from the West

Congratulations to Andrea Ricci, scientific coordinator of the Cluster of Excellence ROOTS, who was awarded, together with Marcella Frangipane, a grant by the Shelby White and Leon Levy Program for Archaeological Publications at Harvard University for the project “Zeytinli Bahçe: the 1999-2007 Excavations. The long history of a site at the crossroads of Mesopotamia and Anatolia”.

The prestigious Shelby White-Leon Levy program supports the publication of the results of completed archaeological projects that have only been partially published or not published at all.

The grant will lead to the final publication on the results of the field activities carried out on the multi-layered mound of Zeytinli Bahçe (Şanlıurfa, Turkey) between the late 1990s and the early 2000s. At the site, seven seasons of excavations and research conducted under the scientific direction of Marcella Frangipane, director at that time of the Missione Archeologica Italiana nell’Anatolia Orientale (MAIAO) of Sapienza University of Rome, documented substantial evidence of a long and complex history punctuated by significant phenomena and processes of socio-cultural changes over several millennia from the Late Chalcolithic (early 4th Mill. BCE) to the Medieval period (13th century AD).

“The project aims to present the overall research results of the archaeological investigations at Zeytinli Bahçe in a coherent picture, highlighting both the fractures and changing trajectories in the local and regional developments, as well as the impressive continuity manifested in some periods,” remarks Andrea Ricci, the PI of the project. With contributions by various specialists, this study will encompass the analysis of the stratigraphy, the architectural remains, associated remains, a systematic and critical study of the absolute and relative chronology, as well as a comparative analysis of the archaeological evidence at the site in the context of regional developments.

“We expect that the presentation of the overall life of the site will provide an original perspective, contributing to the thorough reconstruction of a long and important historical sequence in a region of intensive cultural contact. This will shed light on crucial long-term socio-cultural developments along the Middle Euphrates Region, which was the scene of key events in the history of Southwestern Asia,” adds Marcella Frangipane (Fondazione Roma Sapienza and Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei), co-PI of the project and responsible for the scientific investigations at the site.

The project is planned to run for three years and will officially start in spring 2023, in conjunction with Marcella Frangipane’s position in Kiel as a ROOTS JMA-Chair holder.

Fig. 2 – Middle Bronze Age fortification tower

Fig. 3 – Zeytinli Bahçe. Examples of artefact assemblages of the beginning of the Early Bronze Age (EBA Ib)