The Ottoman Ruralscape: New Data from Tell Zeyd (Iraq)

Tell Zeyd Archaeological Project is a recently launched programme of research that aims at exploring settlement, land use, and material culture in the rural world of the historical Mosul province in the long Islamic period (7th-early 20th c.) focusing on a highly representative site of the area, Tell Zeyd. Excavations carried out in 2022 and 2023 made it possible to acquire a rich documentation on the Ottoman period occupation, organised in a sequence that comprises four major Periods within this chronological horizon. Results concerning occupation patterns, material culture (pottery) and crops are offered in this paper. A rich picture of the Ottoman rural word emerges from this research; the study of the pottery finds makes it possible, for the first time, to establish a chrono-typology for a number of wares previously poorly understood in the area, thus creating new tools for further research.