The Site
The small site of Gird Bardastee is located just west of the other Shemshara Hills, across the seasonal Wadi Boskin. It features a tall oval hill with a steep north slope but otherwise gentler inclinations. The site lies within the drawdown zone of Lake Dokan and is subject to periodic flooding, though its slightly higher elevation means it is often the last of the Shemshara hills to be submerged.
General view from Bardastee, looking east towards Shemshara (October 2025).
Unlike the other hills of the Shemshara complex, which preserve long sequences of occupation from the Neolithic to the Medieval period, Bardastee was occupied only briefly, during two short phases around 3000–2900 BCE. This makes it a rare single-period site on the Rania Plain, offering an unusually clear window into a specific moment of regional history.
History of Investigations
The Iraqi Excavation (1959)
Gird Bardastee was first investigated in 1959 by an Iraqi team directed by Abd al-Qadir al-Tikriti, as part of the broader Dokan Dam salvage project. The site had not been mapped or described by the earlier 1955 survey, and al-Haik's classification assigned it to "period 8" (Early Dynastic). Little is known about the results of these excavations, and the findings remain largely unpublished.
The NINO & Pisa Investigations (2013, 2019)
New investigations by our project in 2013 and 2019 have demonstrated that Bardastee was occupied only briefly, twice, in the period ca. 3000–2900 BCE (Early Tigridian 2), characterised by very distinctive early Painted Ninevite 5 ceramics. Our surveys on the Rania Plain have identified evidence for contemporary occupation on several other sites, including Basmusian, Dugirdkan 1, and Araban.
Map of Gird Bardastee with excavated areas (map by E. Mariotti).
Stratigraphy & Occupation
Excavations at Gird Bardastee have revealed two consecutive levels of occupation, both dating to the early Painted Ninevite 5 period (ca. 3000–2900 BCE). The site was founded on virgin soil and abandoned after a relatively short lifespan, perhaps only a few decades.
Stone foundations for terracing on the south slope of Bardastee, excavated 2019.
Following an apparent abandonment, a new phase (Level II) was constructed on the clearly levelled structures of Level III. This phase featured extensive terracing of the site: excavation on the south slope has revealed stone foundations of a terrace overlying Level III occupation.
Little trace of occupation was found on the eroded terraces, and the site was subsequently abandoned and never reoccupied. The relative success of the earlier occupation, or possibly threats to it, may have inspired these more substantial terraced structures, but the subsequent abandonment indicates a final failure of the attempt.
General view of Bardastee from south. Level III structures under Level II terrace foundations.
In the first phase of occupation (Level III), structures—perhaps of terre pisé—were erected on shallow footings of medium-sized river pebbles, with regular streets using the natural pebble surface. These small houses covered the summit and gentler southern slope of the natural hill, representing the first settled occupation on a previously unoccupied site.
Regional Significance
Bardastee represents a rare example of how the local population on the Rania Plain attempted to reorganise settlement on a fresh site after the waning of external Uruk-related "dominance". While most contemporary settlements in the region were established on tells already occupied during the Uruk period, Bardastee was founded ex novo on virgin soil—a unique case on the Rania Plain.
The site's ceramics belong to the early Painted Ninevite 5 tradition, a distinctive cultural horizon that marks the beginning of a new phase of local development across northern Mesopotamia in the late fourth and early third millennium BCE. Our surveys have identified similar material on several other sites in the Rania Plain, including Basmusian, Dugirdkan 1, and Araban, suggesting a broader pattern of attempted resettlement.
Early Painted Ninevite 5 ceramics from Bardastee.
Early Painted Ninevite 5 ceramics from Bardastee.
Early Painted Ninevite 5 ceramics from Bardastee.
The whole process of occupation at Bardastee would seem to have lasted only some decades, and its failure was apparently followed by a long period of very limited settled occupation on the Rania Plain. The almost total absence of late Ninevite 5 ceramics (in the incised and excised varieties) at Bardastee and across the plain suggests that the attempted resettlement did not succeed, contributing to the picture of a prolonged crisis in stable occupation during much of the third millennium BCE.