MiSAK, the ISMEO-IICK Italian Historical and Archaeological Mission in Kurdistan (Missione Storico Archeologica Italiana nel Kurdistan di ISMEO e IICK), with the support of ISMEO – the International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies (Associazione Internazionale di Studi sul Mediterraneo e l’Oriente), and IICK, the International Institute of Kurdish Culture of Rome (Istituto Internazionale di Cultura Kurda di Roma), has signed in December 2021 a three-year renewable agreement with the KRG General Directorate of Antiquities to carry out an archaeological project concerning the historical and archaeological study, protection and enhancement of the Sarqala archaeological site (KRG, Iraq) that includes a possible necropolis of the Parthian period, the so called Parthian Vault tomb area, and the tell of Qalla Kon, a probable multi-phase site, possibly part of the settlement connected with the nearby necropolis.
The Sarqala project envisages a first phase of topographic survey, geophysical prospecting, and collection, documentation, and study of the surface archaeological material (2022), followed by stratigraphic excavations, both in the necropolis and in the settlement area (2022-2024), selected on the basis of the data collected during the first phase.
The project, which will officially start in January 2022, has been preceded by a two-week preliminary campaign in December 2021, authorised by the KRG General Directorate of Antiquities, which aims to collect archaeological, topographic, and photographic data on the site.
All the project activities, including the preliminary mission in December 2021, are carried out with the support of the KRG General Directorate of Antiquities; the General Director, Kaifi Mustafa Ali; the Garmian Directorate of Antiquities and its Director, Salih Mohammed Sameen.
