The social landscape of Upper Mesopotamia: a preliminary overview of the Late Chalcolithic evidence from the Eastern Upper Tigris region

The present contribution discusses a small sample of Late Chalcolithic sites that have been identified during the survey carried out by the Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project (LoNAP) in the area of the River Tigris. Via a preliminary analysis of the settlements, of their positions as well as of their ceramic material cultures, an interpretation is proposed of the settlement strategies and the socio-economic relationships that might have characterised the existence of these sites. At the same time these considerations are used in a broader way to explore the regional dynamics that shaped the Chalcolithic societies of Upper Mesopotamia across the late fifth–fourth millennium BC.