Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of an ancient tavern that’s nearly 5,000 years old in southern Iraq, the University of Pennsylvania announced last week. The find offers insight into the lives of everyday people who lived in a non-elite urban neighborhood in southwest Asia around 2700 B.C.E.
Inside the public eating space—which included an open-air area and a kitchen—researchers with the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pisa found an oven, a type of clay refrigerator called a zeer, benches and storage containers that still held food. They also found dozens of conical-shaped bowls that contained the remains of fish, reports CNN’s Issy Ronald.
The tavern was discovered at Lagash, a 1,000-acre archaeological site that was a bustling industrial hub with many inhabitants during the Early Dynastic period. Researchers say Lagash was one of the largest and oldest cities in all of southern Mesopotamia.
“The site was of major political, economic and religious importance,” says Holly Pittman, an archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania and the Lagash project director, in a statement from the university. “However, we also think that Lagash was a significant population center that had ready access to fertile land and people dedicated to intensive craft production.”
Researchers have been conducting the most recent round of Lagash excavations since 2019, but work at the site dates back to the 1930s. Over the past four years, researchers have used an array of high-tech techniques to better understand the site, including capturing drone imagery and conducting magnetometry analysis. They’ve also collected and studied sediment samples from as deep as 80 feet below the surface to understand the site’s geological and geophysical evolution over the years.
“It’s not like old-time archaeology in Iraq,” says Zaid Alrawi, project manager for the Lagash project at the Penn Museum, in the statement. “We’re not going after big mounds expecting to find an old temple. We use our techniques and then, based on scientific priority, go after what we think will yield important information to close knowledge gaps in the field.”
To investigate the ancient tavern just 19 inches below the surface, the archaeologists used a technique that involves excavating thin horizontal sections one by one. Discovering the tavern suggests that the society at Lagash included a middle class, in addition to enslaved individuals and elites.
“The fact that you have a public gathering place where people can sit down and have a pint and have their fish stew, they’re not laboring under the tyranny of kings,” says Reed Goodman, an archaeologist at the University of Pennsylvania, to CNN. “Right there, there is already something that is giving us a much more colorful history of the city.”
The researchers’ other discoveries at the site include an area where the city’s ancient inhabitants once made pottery, complete with six ceramic kilns, benches and a table. They also found a domestic dwelling that contained a toilet and a kitchen.
“As you excavate, you analyze and create a story that we hope gets closer and closer to the reality of the past,” says Alrawi in the statement.
Wataalamu wa vitu vya kale wamegundua mabaki ya nyumba ya wageni ya kale iliyokuwa na umri wa miaka 5,000 katika eneo la kusini mwa Iraq, Chuo Kikuu cha Pennsylvania kilitangaza wiki iliyopita. Utafiti huo unaonyesha jinsi watu wa kawaida walivyoishi katika eneo la kusini-magharibi mwa Asia karibu na mwaka 2700 K.K.K. Ndani ya chumba cha chakula cha umma, ambacho kilikuwa na eneo la wazi na jikoni, watafiti wa Chuo Kikuu cha Pennsylvania na Chuo Kikuu cha Pisa walipata tanuru, aina ya friji ya udongo inayoitwa zeer, benchi na vyombo vya kuhifadhi ambavyo bado vilikuwa na chakula. "Kulingana na ripoti ya CNN, ""Watu wengi walipata vyombo vya kuhifadhia samaki, na baadhi ya vifuko vya samaki vilikuwa na mabaki ya samaki,"" alisema Issy Ronald, mwandishi wa CNN." Jumba hilo la majumba la majumba la majumba la majumba la majumba la majumba la majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba ya majumba. Kulingana na watafiti, mji wa Lagash ulikuwa mojawapo ya miji mikubwa na ya kale zaidi kusini mwa Mesopotamia. "Mahali hapo palikuwa na umuhimu mkubwa wa kisiasa, kiuchumi na kidini", anasema Holly Pittman, mtaalamu wa akiolojia katika Chuo Kikuu cha Pennsylvania na mkurugenzi wa mradi wa Lagash, katika taarifa kutoka chuo kikuu hicho. "Lagash ilikuwa kituo muhimu cha watu ambao walikuwa na upatikanaji wa ardhi ya rutuba na watu waliojitolea kwa uzalishaji wa ufundi wa kina. ""Watafiti wamekuwa wakifanya mzunguko wa hivi karibuni wa uchimbaji wa Lagash tangu 2019, lakini kazi katika tovuti hiyo ni ya miaka ya 1930." Katika miaka minne iliyopita, watafiti wametumia mbinu mbalimbali za teknolojia ya hali ya juu kuelewa vizuri tovuti, ikiwa ni pamoja na kukamata picha za drone na kufanya uchambuzi wa magnetometry. Pia wamekusanya na kuchunguza sampuli za matope kutoka kina cha mita 80 chini ya uso wa ardhi ili kuelewa mageuzi ya kijiolojia na kijiolojia ya eneo hilo kwa miaka mingi. "Si kama akiolojia ya zamani nchini Iraq", anasema Zaid Alrawi, meneja wa mradi wa Lagash katika Jumba la Makumbusho la Penn, katika taarifa hiyo. <unk>Hatukuenda baada ya milima mikubwa tukitarajia kupata hekalu la zamani. "Tunatumia mbinu zetu na kisha, kulingana na kipaumbele cha kisayansi, kwenda baada ya kile tunachofikiri kitatoa habari muhimu ili kufunga mapungufu ya maarifa katika uwanja. ""Kuchunguza tavern ya kale inchi 19 tu chini ya uso, wataalamu wa akiolojia walitumia mbinu ambayo inahusisha kuchimba sehemu nyembamba za usawa moja kwa moja." Ugunduzi wa tavern unaonyesha kwamba jamii ya Lagash ilitia ndani tabaka la kati, pamoja na watu waliotumwa na watu mashuhuri. """Ukubwa wa eneo la makumbusho ni kwamba watu wanaweza kukaa na kunywa na kula samaki wao, hawafanyi kazi chini ya udhalimu wa wafalme,"" anasema Reed Goodman, mtaalamu wa akiolojia katika Chuo Kikuu cha Pennsylvania." "Hapa tayari kuna kitu ambacho kinatupa historia yenye rangi nyingi zaidi ya mji huo. ""Ugunduzi mwingine wa watafiti katika eneo hilo ni pamoja na eneo ambapo wakazi wa kale wa mji huo wakati mmoja walifanya udongo, kamili na tanuru sita za kauri, benchi na meza." Pia walipata nyumba ya nyumbani iliyokuwa na choo na jikoni. "Unapochimba, unachambua na kuunda hadithi ambayo tunatumaini inakaribia zaidi na zaidi ukweli wa zamani", anasema Alrawi katika taarifa hiyo.