Descrizione

By means of multidisciplinary research that moves from archaeological practice and intercepts anthropological, ethnographic and human geography approaches, the project intends on the one hand to investigate the as yet unexplored archaeological landscape of the foothills of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and on the other hand to make a contribution to the identity reconstruction of the communities that inhabit this highly threatened and unprotected territory today. In recent decades, the area that today corresponds to Iraqi Kurdistan has undergone a very rapid transformation - physical, social and economic - that has compromised the survival of traces of the past. Some areas have been partially spared, such as the Zagros foothill belt, the scene of the interaction of pastoral, nomadic and sedentary communities over a long period of time. Remaining on the margins of archaeological research, this area, rich in multi-layered evidence in the landscape, constitutes an extraordinary observatory for understanding the agropastoral societies of the past and their methods of land management and use in the longue durée (from prehistory to the Ottoman era). The reconstruction of the characters of these societies and the recovery of a millenary heritage of interaction with the land takes on a particular significance in the arduous process of identity research that today's communities are experiencing. In fact, we recall how the bond between this territory and its population was severed by the brutal deportation policy implemented since the 1980s by Saddam Husayn's regime, and further compromised by the establishment of the so-called 'Islamic State' that affected part of the region. The project therefore aims to document and investigate the foothills by experimenting with new methodologies for the effective identification, recording and description of a rich palimpsest of archaeological traces (burial mounds, enclosures, encampments, terraces, etc.) densely concentrated over hundreds of square kilometres of territory and still largely unmapped and consequently protected from the dangers deriving mainly from uncontrolled economic development. At the same time, making use of the practices of cultural anthropology, the various communities that populate the region today (Yezidi, Muslims, Christians) will be mapped and studied in order to understand their relationship with today's territory and recover, where possible, the memory of their relationship with yesterday's territory. Interviews, community maps and other crowdsourcing activities will be carried out in order to experiment with various measures of community interaction and involvement that can lead to the identification of innovative policies capable of repositioning the territorial component in today's identity, and of enabling the community to re-appropriate it and take an active part in its protection.

Partenariato

• Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia (PI)

Importo del progetto

Importo totale del progetto        Euro   129.911,00
Importo del progetto Uniud        Euro   129.911,00
Finanziamento Uniud                Euro

Durata

• Data avvio progetto: 30 novembre 2023
• Data conclusione progetto: 29 novembre 2025

Link

https://www.mur.gov.it/it/atti-e-normativa/decreto-direttoriale-n-1409-del-14-9-2022