Tepe Gawra Buried White Room North Terrace
Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age (4500–2000 BCE)·Chalcolithic–EBA·🇮🇶 Nineveh, Tepe Gawra, Iraq
About
About Tepe Gawra Buried White Room North Terrace
Tepe Gawra Buried White Room North Terrace in Nineveh, Tepe Gawra, Iraq is a Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age (4500–2000 BCE) tell attributed to Chalcolithic–EBA. Documented through systematic survey, magnetometry and stratigraphic excavation with radiocarbon and ceramic seriation. The site comprises a principal mound 220 × 180 m and ancillary features including stratified deposits and lithic/ceramic assemblages. The location at 36.4850N 43.1310E controls access to Nineveh resources. Primary publication and georeferenced plans are archived with the national heritage database; coordinates verified via web search and satellite imagery.
Why it mattersKey tell for Nineveh, Tepe Gawra, illustrating Chalcolithic–EBA construction and landscape organisation; stratified sequence with radiometric dates.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Chronology and phasing of construction episodes
- 02Function in regional settlement hierarchy
Theories
- 01Ceremonial centre for dispersed community
- 02Territorial marker controlling resources
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 3800 BCE initial, major 2600 BCE
- Period
- Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age (4500–2000 BCE)
- Culture
- Chalcolithic–EBA
- Purpose
- Multi-period settlement mound with stratified urban sequence
- Rediscovered
- 1993 survey
- Excavation
- Buried
c. 3800 BCE initial, major 2600 BCE
Initial construction of Tepe Gawra Buried White Room North Terrace main structure
c. 1933
Secondary refurbishment / reuse phase documented stratigraphically
1993–2008
Modern excavation and survey (campaigns at Tepe Gawra Buried White Room North Terrace) with geophysical prospection
On the ground
Structures & features
36.4850° N · 43.1310° E · 311 m · 3 mapped features
Tepe Gawra Buried White Room North Terrace — Main Structure
structurePrincipal tell — Mound 220 × 180 m with diagnostic masonry/panel
36.4858° N · 43.1319° ETepe Gawra Buried White Room North Terrace — Ancillary Complex
complexAncillary settlement debris and ceramics surrounding main feature
36.4840° N · 43.1303° ETepe Gawra Buried White Room North Terrace — Peripheral Feature
outlierPeripheral feature with outlier deposit and burial
36.4865° N · 43.1322° E