6 July 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Excavations at a 4th millennium BC settlement uncover evidence for the emergence and rejection of the earliest state institutions in Iraq

New excavations of the 4th-millennium B.C settlement at the archaeological site of Shakhi Kora, located in the Iraqi Kurdistan region uncover evidence for the earliest state institutions, but suggest that they were later abandoned, implying people deliberately rejected centralized forms of government.

Under the direction of Professor Claudia Glatz of the University of Glasgow, an international team has discovered artifacts and structures that demonstrate the emergence and decline of centralized organizational structures, providing crucial proof of how these societies handled hierarchical power.

Excavations at the site have taken place since 2019, as part of the Sirwan Regional Project, in collaboration with the Garmian Directorate of Antiquities, Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The site, is located southwest of Kalar in Kurdistan.

Among the findings are clay bowls used to serve large-scale communal meals, likely as payment for workers associated with these institutions. Archaeologists determined that they once contained protein-rich stews, which in turn suggests that people possibly gathered at the site as workers.

Additionally, the site shows evidence of a major cultural shift from local customs to influences from Uruk, one of the first cities in history and renowned for its monumental complexes and the earliest written texts on clay tablets.

Stacks of upturned beveled rim bowls on the floor of the Phase 3 space in Area I. Credit: Antiquity, https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.189
Stacks of upturned beveled rim bowls on the floor of the Phase 3 space in Area I. Credit: Antiquity, https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.189

However, the most surprising finding is the deliberate abandonment of the final institutional structures. There is no evidence of violent destruction or environmental stress, implying that local communities deliberately chose to dismantle this centralized system of authority. They had apparently decided to “reject” centralized government, the likes of which did not reappear in the region again for almost 1,500 years.

“Our excavations at Shakhi Kora provide a unique, new regional window into the development, and ultimately the rejection, of some of the earliest experiments with centralized, and perhaps state-like, organization,” the study’s lead author Professor Claudia Glatz of the University of Glasgow, remarked in an Antiquity Facebook post. She added: “This reaffirms that top-down, hierarchical forms of government were not inevitable in the development of early complex societies. Local communities found ways to resist and reject tendencies towards centralized power.”

This challenges the idea that the development of powerful, hierarchical governments was an inevitable outcome or took place unopposed in early complex societies. Societies and governments formed in fits and starts, and rather than increasingly congregate in one place, at least some ancient people chose to return to a different way of living their lives.

A pillared structure unearthed at Shakhi Kora. Credit: Antiquity, https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.189
A pillared structure unearthed at Shakhi Kora. Credit: Antiquity, https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.189

Director of the Garmian Department of Antiquities and Heritage Salah Mohammed Sameen, emphasized that the findings at Shakhi Kora provide crucial data for understanding this key period in the history of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Antiquity

Glatz C, Del Bravo F, Chelazzi F, et al. There and back again: local institutions, an Uruk expansion and the rejection of centralisation in the Sirwan/Upper Diyala region. Antiquity. Published online 2024:1-16. doi:10.15184/aqy.2024.189

Cover Image Credit: Antiquity, https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.189

Related Articles

Places to Visit in Oman

6 February 2021

6 February 2021

There are many places to visit in Oman. In this article, we wanted to talk about a wonderful country that...

1900 years old funerary altar of a teenage girl discovered in Rome

9 May 2022

9 May 2022

A funerary altar indicating the location of the remains of Valeria, a 13-year-old girl who died in the 2nd century...

Marmore, the Highest and Oldest Artificial Waterfall in Europe, Created by the Romans

4 March 2024

4 March 2024

Approximately eight kilometers away from the town of Terni in Umbria, Italy, there is a waterfall that is one of...

History, geography, and evolution are rewrites thanks to an incredible dinosaur trove discovered in Italy

2 December 2021

2 December 2021

A dinosaur trove in Italy rewrites the history, geography, and evolution of the ancient Mediterranean area. Italy is not exactly...

Gaza bulldozers unearth Roman-era a burial site

1 February 2022

1 February 2022

Bulldozers digging for an Egyptian-funded housing project in the Gaza Strip have unearthed the ruins of a tomb dating back...

A Large Roman Building Discovered on the Limmat

13 April 2024

13 April 2024

In the Steinacher area (Canton of Aargau) on the Limmat there was a Roman settlement that was significantly larger than...

Roman road network spanning the South West of England identified in new research

7 August 2023

7 August 2023

A Roman road network spanning across Devon and Cornwall has been discovered by the University of Exeter archaeologists. A Roman...

7,000-Year-Old Alutiiq Villages Discovered on Alaska’s Shuyak Island

3 July 2025

3 July 2025

A recent archaeological survey led by the Alutiiq Museum has revealed significant discoveries on Shuyak Island, part of the Kodiak...

Artificial intelligence is Detecting New Archaeological Sites in the Arabian desert

5 October 2024

5 October 2024

A team of researchers at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi has developed a machine-learning algorithm to help them trawl vast...

‘Astonishingly Preserved’ Ancient Roman Well Found in Cambridgeshire was An Engineering Failure

22 August 2024

22 August 2024

In an excavation at the site of future highway improvements in Cambridgeshire, the team from MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology)...

The earliest known depiction of biblical heroines Jael and Deborah was discovered at a Jewish synagogue in Israel

8 August 2022

8 August 2022

The earliest known depiction of biblical heroines Jael and Deborah was discovered at a Jewish synagogue at Huqoq in Israel,...

5,200-year-old stone carving silkworm chrysalis discovered in north China

19 July 2022

19 July 2022

According to the provincial archaeological research institute, archaeologists discovered a stone-carved silkworm chrysalis dating back at least 5,200 years in...

A woman who had brain surgery 9500 years ago will be brought revived

12 September 2021

12 September 2021

A “revival” effort is underway on a woman’s skull unearthed in 1989 during archaeological digs at the Aşıklı Mound in...

Paleontologists have discovered a new species of giant rhino

18 June 2021

18 June 2021

Paleontologists studying in China have found a new species of gigantic rhinoceros, the world’s biggest land animal. According to a...

2,000-Year-Old Artifacts Found at Swat’s Butkara Site in Pakistan, Including Coins and Kharosthi Inscriptions

14 February 2025

14 February 2025

Excavations at the Butkara Stupa, located near Mingora in Swat, Pakistan, have uncovered significant findings, including two-thousand-year-old coins, pottery, and...