The Cradle of Civilization

In the Kurdistan region of Iraq, pieces of the past are being uncovered by a UCF-led research team. Their latest excavation at Kurd Qaburstan, an ancient Mesopotamian site, reveals traces of a vibrant city — each artifact a clue to life during the Middle Bronze Age.

Between 2000 and 1600 BCE the Middle Bronze Age was a time of competing city-states, elaborate trade networks and cultural exchange. Located in the Middle East, the Mesopotamian rulers of this era navigated war, diplomacy and shifting alliances.

“When people think about Mesopotamia, they imagine early southern cities like Uruk. But we know almost nothing about northern cities like Kurd Qaburstan, one of the first Middle Bronze Age cities to be investigated,” says Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, associate professor of history and director of the project.

What was daily life like in this region — considered the birthplace of urban civilization — more than 4,000 years ago? These new discoveries may finally provide answers.

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Cuneiform Tablets

Kurd Qaburstan Lower Town East Palace

Ancient Mesopotamians used a script called cuneiform to write on clay tablets. While the history of writing is well-documented in Southern Iraq, northern cities like Kurd Qaburstan remain more of a mystery. Historians often rely on records from rival kingdoms, leaving gaps in our knowledge. These tablets could reveal the city’s connections with its neighbors during the Middle Bronze Age and offer insight into its cultural identity through names, word choices and writing styles. One tablet’s content, found among building rubble and human remains, hints at dramatic events — or possibly ancient warfare.

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Pottery Fragments

Kurd Qaburstan Lower Town East Palace

Pottery pieces, both plain and decorated, showcase artistic craftsmanship and daily life. Studying them can reveal what people ate, how they stored goods and even their cultural influences. This intricate and carefully made pottery suggests private wealth was likely more common than historians may have expected. Animal bones found nearby reflect residents’ surprisingly varied diet of domesticated meat and wild game, challenging assumptions about non-elite populations in Mesopotamian cities.

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Residential Architecture

Northwest neighborhoods in the Lower Town East area

A magnetometry survey, led by team member Andy Creekmore, allowed researchers to see buried architecture before excavating. Streets converging near a possible city gate suggest organized urban planning. Evidence of a second monumental structure on the high mound — believed to be another Middle Bronze Age palace — reinforces Kurd Qaburstan’s status as a major center of power.

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Standing Mudbrick Architecture

Northern and southern sectors of the Kurd Qaburstan Lower Town East Palace

A nearly 13-foot-wide wall defines a series of storage rooms to the east, which contain artifacts like door and jar sealings, pot-marked ceramics and two cuneiform tablets, highlighting the palace’s role as an administrative hub. To the north, more monumental mudbrick rooms and a third tablet lie buried under layers of rubble, destroyed pottery and scattered human remains. These findings provide crucial insight into the palace’s political and economic functions, while clear signs of destruction suggest a major historical event — potentially warfare or a catastrophic collapse — that may have shaped the palace’s fate.

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Excavation Backstory

The Project

Exploration of a 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian site, Kurd Qaburstan, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. This site is believed to be the ancient city-state of Qabra, a regional capital whose location was previously unknown.

The Purpose

“We believed [Kurd Qaburstan] would be an interesting place to investigate what it was like to be an everyday person in a Middle Bronze Age city, which has been an understudied topic,” Earley-Spadoni says.

The Support

The U.S. National Science Foundation, in partnership with the Directorate-General of Antiquities in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

The Impact

“We’re studying this ancient city to learn … to what degree did [its ancient inhabitants] plan their environment, or was it the result of an organic process?” Earley-Spadoni says. “We also want to [understand the] social differences. Were there very poor and rich people? Or was there possibly a middle class?”