Mesopotamia Beyond Tells: Documenting Agro-Pastoral Landscapes in the Zagros Piedmont (Kurdistan Region of Iraq)

Abstract

Agro-pastoral landscapes have long shaped Upper Mesopotamia, yet their dispersed, low-visibility, and often feature-dense archaeological traces remain poorly documented, especially in upland and piedmont zones beyond tell-centred research traditions. This article presents the methodological framework developed by the CArE Project of the Universities Ca’ Foscari Venice and Udine for documenting the rich, endangered agro-pastoral landscapes recorded in the Zagros piedmont of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Conceived as a two-year pilot project, CArE integrates diachronic remote sensing, UAV photogrammetry, pedestrian survey, feature-level geodatabase recording, heritage-risk assessment, and targeted OSL sampling. Applied to the area between the towns of Faida and Sheikhan, this workflow enabled the systematic documentation of cairns, enclosures, terraces, walled fields, and modern conflict-related features within a multi-period archaeological continuum. CArE offers a scalable and reproducible model for recording, analysing, and protecting agro-pastoral landscapes increasingly threatened by agriculture, settlement, infrastructure, and extractive development.