The production of Ottoman smoking pipes: the evidence from Tell Zeyd, Northern Iraq

In 2022 a new research programme was launched by the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, in cooperation with the Dohuk Directorate of Antiquities and Heritage, Kurdistan Region, Iraq: Zeyd Archaeological Project (ZAP). Focusing on the sample-site of Tell Zeyd, this project aims at investigating settlement dynamics, land use, resource management, material culture, production, and trade in the northern hinterland of Mosul in a long dureée perspective, with a specific focus on the Islamic period (7th-early 20th c.). A first season of excavations was carried out in autumn, 2022. This article presents the evidence that emerged with the excavation of a test trench (S1) that testifies to manufacturing activities for the production of clay smoking pipes at the site in the Ottoman period.