Iraq - Bestansur Neolithic settlement

Representing one of the world’s earliest built settlements, the archaeological site of Bestansur is a unique attestation of a vitally important period in the cultural heritage of Iraq, the Middle East and the World. Bestansur is located in the Zagros foothills on the edge of the Shahrizor Plain, 30 km southeast of Sulaimaniyah city in Sulaimaniyah province, Kurdistan Regional Government, Iraq. The site consists of a mound of intact archaeological layers covering 2.5 hectares, close to a large natural spring by the modern village of Bestansur (‘Red Garden’). Excavations at Bestansur since spring 2012 by a joint Iraqi-UK team have established the presence of rectilinear buildings constructed of mud-bricks and pisé (pressed clay and earth), which have been radiocarbon dated to 7700 to 7100 BC, the Early Neolithic period. These are the earliest rectilinear structures ever found in Iraqi Kurdistan and they represent the first stages of village life in the region. Associated with the buildings are thousands of artefacts of stone, clay and bone, as well as human burials under the plaster floors of one of the buildings. There are traces of red-painted plaster on the walls of the buildings.