Kani Shaie is a small ancient Near East archaeological site located within the Sulaymaniyah Governorate in the Kurdistan Region of northeast Iraq in the Basian Basin at the western edge of the Zagros Mountains. It lies about 23 kilometers west of modern Sulaymaniyah and to the northeast of the ancient site of Girdi Qala and Logardan.
Its main period of occupation was from the 5th millennium BC Chalcolithic period until the middle of the 3rd millennium BC Early Bronze Age, roughly 5000 BC until 2500 BC, encompassing the Ubaid period, Uruk period and Early Dynastic period. Minor occupation was noted in the lower town from the Halaf, Ubaid, Neo-Assyrian, Parthian, and Islamic periods, along with an Ottoman period cemetery.[[1]Ahmad, Mustafa, and Steve Renette, "Middle Islamic Rural Occupation at Kani Shaie in Iraqi Kurdistan", Bulletin of the American Society of Overseas Research 389.1, pp. 35-64, 2023]
Archaeology
The site covers an area of about 3 hectares (with the main mound being about 0.5 hectares and with a diameter of 75 meters at the base) and rises to a height of about 15 meters, including 4 meters of Early Bronze Age deposits. A "lower town" extends northward from the base of the mound. It was first noted by E.A. Speiser in the 1920s during a regional survey and again by Braidwood in 1960.
[Speiser, E. A., "Southern Kurdistan in the Annals of Ashurnasirpal and Today", Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research 8, pp. 1–41, 1926–27][[2]Braidwood, R. J. and B. Howe, "Prehistoric Investigations in Iraqi Kurdistan", Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilization 31 Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1960 ] After a brief survey in March 2012, in 2013, 2015, and 2016 the site was excavated by a team from the Research Centre in Archaeology, Arts and Heritage Sciences (CEAACP) of the University of Coimbra and one from the University of Cambridge as part of the Kani Shaie Archaeological Project (KSAP). The team was led by Maria da Conceição Lopes, André Tomé, and Steve Renette. A step trench (Area B) was excavated on the south slope of the main mound to determine the stratigraphy, and a 15 by 15 meter excavation (Area A) was placed in the northeast quadrant of the main mound. A site survey was conducted in 2018. The publication of a final report for this excavation is currently in the publication process.
[ Archaeological Excavations at Kani Shaie, Iraqi Kurdistan, 2013–2016 Campaigns - The Shelby White and Leon Levy - 2024][Tomé, A., R. Cabral, and S. Renette. "Kani Shaie archaeological excavations." Archaeological projects in the Kurdistan region in Iraq 24 (2015).][[4]Kopanias, K., J. MacGinnis, and J. Ur, eds., "Archaeological Projects in the Kurdistan Region in Iraq", The Directorate of Antiquities of Kurdistan, 2015][Tomé A., Cabral R. and Renette S., "The Kani Shaie Archaeological Project", in Kopanias K. and Ginnis J. (eds.), The archaeology of the Kurdistan region of Iraq and the adjacent area. Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 427-434, 2016] Fifteen occupational layers were defined and three radiocarbon dates were obtained using the IntCal13 calibration curve:
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Level 8 - Late Chalcolithic 2 (LC 2) - 4065–3959 cal BC (jar burial)
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Level 6 - Late Chalcolithic 3 (LC 3) - 3770–3665 cal BC
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Level 4 - Late Chalcolithic 4 (LC 4) - 3530–3370 cal BC (two samples)
Markers of Uruk culture appear late in LC 2 and extend through LC 4, including numerous beveled rim bowls. This occupation layer ends in destruction by conflagration. The top of the mound was then leveled, and an Early Bronze Age settlement built.[[5]Ira Renette, Steve; Khaled Abu Jayyab; Gibbon, Elizabeth; Lewis, Michael P; Qadir, Zana Abdullkarim; et al., "Late Chalcolithic ceramic development in southern Iraqi Kurdistan: the stratigraphic sounding at Kani Shaie", Iraq, vol. 83, pp. 119-166, Dec 2021 DOI:10.1017/irq.2021.1][Jayyab, Khaled Abu, et al., "Late Chalcolithic Occupation at Tell Er-Ramadi (Syria): Results of the 2004-2006 Salvage Excavations", Paléorient, vol. 46, no. 1/2, pp. 133–60, 2020][Wengrow, David, et al., "Gurga Chiya and Tepe Marani: new excavations in the Shahrizor plain, Iraqi Kurdistan", Iraq, vol. 78, pp. 253–84, 2016] A single clay numerical tablet, heavily sealed, was found associated with the Uruk destruction level, though out of context.[Curry, Andrew, "Kurdistan Offers an Open Window on The Ancient Fertile Crescent", Science, vol. 344, no. 6179, pp. 18–19, 2014]
Subsequently 10 samples have been AMS radiocarbon dated (using the IntCal20 calibration curve) and have generally confirmed the stratigraphy.[[6]Renette, S., et al., "Establishing an Absolute Chronological Framework for the Late Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age in Iraqi Kurdistan: Radiocarbon Dates from Kani Shaie", Radiocarbon 65.1, pp. 209-231, 2023] Resumed excavations in 2024 on the main mound uncovered part of a large Early Bronze Age circular building designed to hold grain. An architectural complex appeared to be a food distribution operation. In room A of that building, 28 clay sealings were found, and in Room B, another 34 sealings. Plant remains in the complex came from barley, emmer wheat, lentil, chickpea, and pea. Small finds included two cylinder seals dated to the end of the 4th millennium BC.[[7]Catarina Ribeiro, "University of Coimbra researchers return from Iraq with new unpublished archaeological finds", University of Coimbra, 11 October, 2024][[8]Joka, Karolina. "Plant commodification in Northern Mesopotamia: evidence from the Early Bronze Age site of Kani Shaie, Iraqi Kurdistan." Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology 3 (2025): 1529459][Renette, Steve, "The 2024 Excavation Campaign at Kani Shaie: new data on the earliest Early Bronze Age and the Hellenistic-Parthian occupations", Journal of Archaeological Studies 16.2, pp. 1-1, 2024]
In the 2025 season a monumental Late Uruk period (c. 3300-3100) building was uncovered. It was associated
with decorative clay cones, typical of Uruk Culture construction. Finds included a fragment of a gold pendant
and a Uruk period cylinder seal.[ University of Coimbra team discovers monumental building shedding new light on the origins of civilisation - 15 october, 2025]
History
After some modest use in the Halaf and Ubaid periods, the site of Kani Shaie was fully settled in the Uruk Period (2nd half of the 4th millennium BC), which was destroyed in a conflagration, then after a hiatus in the Early Dynastic period (early 3rd millennium BC). Some modest settlement activity occurred in the later Neo-Assyrian, Parthian, and Ottoman periods.
See also
Further reading
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Algaze, G., B. Brenties, A. Bernard Knapp, P. Khol, W.R. Kotler, C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, M. Altaweel, A. Marsh, S. Mühl, O. Nieuwenhuyse, K. Radner, K. Rasheed, and S.A. Saber, "New Investigations in the Environment, History, and Archaeology of the Iraqi Hilly Flanks: Shahrizor Survey Project 2009–2011", Iraq 74, pp. 1–35, 2012
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[10]Baldi, Johnny Samuele, "Chalcolithic Ceramics from Logardan Trench D and Girdi Qala Northern Mound: Technical Features", 2016
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Catanzariti, A., T. Tanaka and A. Maskevich, "Ban Qala: A Late Chalcolithic Site in the Qara Dagh Valley of Iraqi Kurdistan", in A. Otto, M. Herles and K. Kaniuth, eds. Proceedings of the 11th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Vol. 2 Field Reports, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, pp. 43–54, 2020
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Farahani, A., "Analysis of Long Term Changes in Agricultural Practice at Kani Shaie, Iraqi Kurdistan", Munich, 2018
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Renette, S., "Sealings and Seal Impressions from Kani Shaie"
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Jason Ur, "The Archaeological Renaissance in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq", Near Eastern Archaeology, vol. 80, no. 3, pp. 176–87, 2017
External links
