2023-2024 Excavations at Boğaziye Höyüğü: a Recently Discovered Mound Settlement in the Upper Khabur Region

Abstract

Boğaziye Höyük lies at the northwestern end of the vast and fertile Upper Khabur Region, which stretches along the southern foothills of the Kašiari Mountains. Material culture remains unearthed at the mound by two seasons of excavations (2023-2024) shows significant similarities to assemblages known from other Upper Khabur sites. Our excavations in Trenches BE18-BE17 and BF18 on the northern slope of the mound focused on revealing the stratigraphic sequence in this area. Architectural remains of Building Levels I and II and finds from these contexts in Trench BE18 are dateable to the mid-3rd millennium BC. In Trench BE17, Building Level I also revealed finds that can be dated to the 3rd (especially mid-3rd) millennium BC, and in Trench BF18, ceramic sherds dateable to the 3rd millennium BC were found in Building Level III. This article presents new findings from Boğaziye Höyük and discusses their significance in comparison with the results of surveys and excavations in the Upper Khabur Region, which have continued increasingly since the mid-1930s. We evaluate the significance of Boğaziye Höyük as a regional center within the Upper Khabur basin, and we elucidate its habitation sequence and building levels in the light of our recent excavations. Based on a comparative evaluation of its material culture remains within a regional perspective, we contextualize Boğaziye Höyük in relationship to the cultural horizons of the early and mid-3rd millennium BC in the Upper Khabur Valley.