Archaeology Lecture with Rocco Palermo

Rocco Palermo will speak on "From the Emergence of Complexity to Large Scale Empires. Four Seasons of Excavation at Gird-I Matrab (Iraqi Kurdistan)". Lunch will be served at 12:00pm and the lecture will begin at 12:30pm.

Lecture abstract:

The Gird-i Matrab Archaeological Project (GMAP) explores the long-term development of rural communities during periods of profound socio-cultural transformation in Mesopotamia. Since 2021, excavations and surveys on the Erbil Plain (Kurdistan Region of Iraq) have revealed a continuous occupation spanning from the Late Chalcolithic (5th–4th millennia BCE) to the Parthian–Roman periods (early 1st millennium CE). By integrating careful stratigraphic excavation, pottery studies, and remote sensing, GMAP examines how local communities negotiated shifting imperial powers, how rural agency shaped the countryside, and to what extent material culture reflects both trans-regional inputs and local resilience. The project underscores rurality as an active and generative sphere, offering new perspectives on the role of Mesopotamian communities within expansive polities and highlighting the interplay of connectivity, adaptation, and localism.