German, Kurdish archaeologists discover ancient site in Soran

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A team of German archaeologists from the University of Kiel, in collaboration with Kurdish archaeologists, have found several pieces of ancient artifacts dating back to the year 4,500 BC at a site in the Soran independent administration.

“Archaeology is important for Kurdistan because it gives the time of death to the history of the Kurdish people. So only archeology can tell you about the times when no written sources are available,”  Tim Kerig, a research assistant at Kiel University's Institute of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, told Kurdistan 24.

Kerig added that “Archaeology can show you how those people actually lived who are not mentioned in the texts of the kings. So the kings may be written in chronicles, but the common people have written themselves by the actions in those layers.”

Hidayat Hussein, a Kurdish archaeologist at the site, told Kurdistan 24 that "we are now in the Chalcolithic and Neolithic periods from about 4,500 years BC. [...] We have discovered very interesting examples of stones, such as oxides, that were brought here from Anatolia."

Soran has more than 1,200 archaeological sites. Foreign teams from various international universities regularly work in collaboration with local experts.

In May 2022, German and Kurdish archaeologists revealed their findings in their examination of a 3,400-year-old Mitanni Empire-era city three kilometers from Duhok province's Sumel district.

Read More: A 3,400-year-old city resurfaces from the Tigris River in the Kurdistan Region

The Kurdistan Region has many archaeological sites. Most of these sites include ruins from ancient Assyrian, Babylonian, and Sumerian civilizations, among others. The region is also home to many ancient cave dwellings, most notably the Shanidar Cave in the Barzan district of Erbil.