New Data at Open Context: Kenan Tepe

Publishing Kenan Tepe with Open Context

We’re very pleased to announce the publication of a significant portion of the Kenan Tepe excavations. Excavations at Kenan Tepe, directed by Bradley Parker (University of Utah) and co-directed by Lynn Swartz Dodd (University of Southern California), represent part of the investigations of the  Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP). UTARP organized major excavation and survey programs aimed at defining archaeological correlates of ancient imperialism, colonialism and culture contact in an area that was, for much of Mesopotamian history, a frontier zone between the centralized states of Mesopotamia and the much less centralized cultures of its Anatolian periphery.

This initial release of Kenan Tepe data in Open Context represents the first installment of data and includes all Area F records where UTARP team members excavated twenty-two trenches of various sizes and depths in an effort to illuminate remains dating to the Late Chalcolithic period and Early Bronze Age at the site. Excavation records from further areas will be added in the near future to Open context and will be followed by the print publication of several final report volumes in the next few years.

UTARP’s  Area F data from Kenan Tepe can be accessed at the Alexandria Archive Institute’s Open Context website.


Because the UTARP team had excellent data management, it was possible to more fully use many of Open Context’s features not commonly used in other projects. Archaeological documentation draws upon diverse structured data (esp. tabular data), less structured texts (diaries, journals), and media (drawings, photos, and other media types). The UTARP team kept excellent records and had very clear file-naming conventions that allowed us to link all of these different types of documentation together. This makes it easier to organize and navigate this large body of content. For example, one can follow links from top-plans to see day-to-day progress in excavation. See this example.

All Projects in Open Context

Project	Description	Primary People	Keywords
Kenan Tepe	The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project’s Excavations at Kenan Tepe in Southeastern Turkey	Bradley Parker, Peter Cobb	Ubaid Period, Late Chalcolithic Period, Anatolia, Northern Mesopotamia, Middle Bronze Age, Early Iron Age, Tigris River, Archaeology
Dhiban Excavation and Development Project	[Forthcoming Project] Archaeology of an Early Bronze through Islamic settlement south of Amman, Jordan	Benjamin Porter, Bruce Routledge, Danielle S. Fatkin, Katherine Adelsberger	Archaeology, Jordan, Early Bronze Age, Iron Age, Nabataean, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, geology, anthropology, tourism studies, history
Tal-e Malyan Zooarchaeology	Zooarchaeology of Tel-e Malyan	Melinda A. Zeder	Zooarchaeology, subsistence, economy, Early Bronze Age, Iranian Plateau, Elamite, Anshan, Middle Elamite
Zooarchaeology of Medieval Emden	Animal Bone Analysis in medieval Emden, Germany	Jessica Grimm	zooarchaeology, medieval, Lower Saxony, Germany, subsistence,
Chogha Mish Fauna	Zooarchaeological observations from Prehistoric and Achaemenid levels at Chogha Mish, Iran.	Levent Atici, Justin S.E. Lev-Tov, Sarah Whitcher Kansa	Zooarchaeology, subsistence, economy, Early Bronze Age, Iranian Plateau, Elamite
Khirbat al-Mudayna al-Aliya	Investigations of an Early Iron Age site in a semi-arid zone in west-central Jordan	Bruce Routledge, Benjamin Porter	pastoralism, economy, agriculture, Southern Levant, Semi-Arid, Kerak Plateau, Jordan, Iron I, Early Iron Age, subsistence
Dove Mountain Groundstone	Analysis of groundstone finds from the Dove Mountain Project in the Tucson Basin	Jenny Adams	Southwest, Pioneer Period, Sedentary Period, Hohokam, Early Agricultural, Groundstone, Arizona, Archaeology
Bade Museum	Tell en-Nasbeh Collection at the Badè Museum of Biblical Archaeology	Aaron Brody	Israel, Palestine, Southern Levant, Judah, Near East, Biblical Archaeology, Archaeology, Iron Age, 1st Millennium, 4th Millennium, Early Bronze, Town, Tomb, Babylonian, Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine
San Diego Archaeological Center	Collections maintained by the San Diego Archaeological Center	San Diego Archaeological Center	historical archaeology, San Diego, California, Spanish colonial, Mexican, finds catalog, education, cultural resource management, archaeological collections
Presidio of San Francisco	Ongoing investigations of El Presidio de San Francisco and other archaeological resources at the Presidio of San Francisco	Presidio Archaeology Lab (Presidio Trust)	historical archaeology, presidio, San Francisco, California, Spanish colonial, Mexican, US Army, education
Aegean Archaeomalacology	Mollusk Shells in Troia, Yenibademli, and Ulucak: An Archaeomalacological Approach to Environment and Economy in the Aegean	Canan Çakırlar	Anatolia, Aegean, bronze age, chalcolithic, mollusks, Archaeomalacology, subsistence, economy, environment
Petra Great Temple Excavations	Brown University Excavations at the Great Temple of Petra, Jordan	Martha Sharp Joukowsky	Religion, Hellenistic, Jordan, Roman, Roman Empire, Archaeology, Architecture, Nabateans, Nabatean, Petra
Iraq Heritage Program	Overview of the Global Heritage Fund's conservation work in Iraq	Global Heritage Fund, Alexandria Archive Institute	Meopotamia, Cultural Heritage, Conservation, Assyria, Sumer, Babylonia, Documentation, Sumer, Archaeology, Iron Age, Early Bronze Age, Early Dynastic, World Heritage
Lake Carlos Beach Site, 1992 and 1996	Descriptions and provenience information for 7837 artifacts	State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation, Minnesota State Parks Cultural Resource Management Program staff, State of Minnesota, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Recreation
Corneal Ulceration in South East Asia	Epidemiology and Etiology of Corneal Ulcers in South India	Mathuiah Srinivasan, John P. Whitcher	ophthalmology, India, public health, infections disease, eye, public health, developing world
Harvard Peabody Mus. Zooarchaeology	Harvard Peabody Museum Zooarchaeology Laboratory Reference Collection	Richard Meadow, Levent Atici	archaeology, reference collection, zoology, zooarchaeology, archaeology, specimen, bone
Hazor: Zooarchaeology	Zooarchaeological observations for Late Bronze Age and Iron Age Hazor, Israel	Justin Lev-Tov	archaeology, Iron Age, Late Bronze Age, Near East, Excavations, Hazor, Biblical archaeology, subsistence
Hayonim: Micromorphology		Paul Goldberg	archaeology, Mousterian, geology, Middle Paleolithic, Kebaran, Epi-Paleolithic, Israel, Levant, Micromorphology, Geology, Cave, Deposition
Geissenklosterle: Micromorphology		Paul Goldberg	archaeology, Aurignation, geology, Upper Paleolithic, Europe, Germany
Pınarbaşı 1994: Animal Bones	Analysis of faunal remains from prehistoric contexts at Pınarbaşı in central Turkey	Denise Carruthers	archaeology, Epi-Paleolithic, Neolithic, Near East, Anatolia, Turkey, zooarchaeology, Pinarbasi, 9th millennium, agriculture, foraging, hunting
Domuztepe Excavations	Excavations of a Late Neolithic site in south-central Turkey	Stuart Campbell, Elizabeth Carter	Archaeology, Halaf, Neolithic, Near East, Excavations, Domuztepe, 7th millennium, Village