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Published in Origini n. XXXIX/2016. Rivista annuale del Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità – “Sapienza” Università di Roma | Preistoria e protostoria delle civiltà antiche – Prehistory and protohistory of ancient civilizations | In February 2015 a joint archaeological expedition of Sapienza Università di Roma and Perugia University started excavations of the site of Tell Zurghul, in the Dhi-Qar, Iraq. The site, briefly investigated by R. Koldewey in 1887, has been identified with the Sumerian city of Nigin, the third city of the State of Lagash, mentioned in many inscriptions of Gudea as the place of the main III millennium BC temple of the goddess Nanshe, the Sirara. The first survey and excavations of two areas in 2015, Area A and Area B respectively, suggest that the foundation of the city can be dated back at least to the Ubaid Period. The article presents the results of the first campaign analysing the archaeological context and materials from Area B: the recent archaeological activities at Tell Zurghul are therefore presented and contextualized within the regional framework of the ancient State of Lagash, focusing on the development of urbanization and settlement patterns in Southern Mesopotamia.

THIS ISSUE CONTAINS THE ROLE OF BURINS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH ART THROUGH TRACE ANALYSIS AT THE UPPER PALAEOLITHIC SITE OF POLESINI CAVE (LATIUM, ITALY) Flavia Venditti, Cristina Lemorini, Magda Bordigoni, Daniela Zampetti, Mario Amore, Antonio Tagliacozzo THE STATE OF THE LATE NEOLITHIC POTTERY OF DOMUZTEPE IN THE TURKISH EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN Halil Tekin SIGN AND IMAGE: REPRESENTATIONS OF PLANTS ON THE WARKA VASE OF EARLY MESOPOTAMIA Naomi F. Miller, Philip Jones, Holly Pittman THE EARLY STAGES OF THE SUMERIAN CITY AT TELL ZURGHUL: NEW RESULTS FROM RECENT EXCAVATIONS Davide Nadali, Andrea Polcaro DOMESTIC LIVESTOCK, PASTORAL NOMADISM AND COMPLEX SOCIETIES IN THE NILE VALLEY: REFLECTIONS ON OLD QUESTIONS Isabella Caneva THE FONDARCA CAVE AND CAVITIES USED AS A CULT PLACE DURING THE BRONZE AGE IN CENTRAL ITALY Gian Maria Di Nocera – POTTERY IN GROTTA DELLE NOTTOLE Patrizia Costa, Francesco Marano, Elena Pizzo, Fabio Rossi – GEOLOGY AND TOPOGRAPHY AT GROTTA DELLE NOTTOLE Giorgio Brocato, Filippo Bozzo, Federico Moresi, Giancarlo Pastura, Emilia Gallo – FAUNAL ANALYSIS Azzurra Mascelloni – SPECTROSCOPIC INVESTIGATION OF METAL AND AMBER OBJECTS FROM THE BRONZE AGE SITE OF FONDARCA Giorgia Agresti, Claudia Pelosi, Ulderico Santamaria THE EARLIEST PROCESSES TOWARD CITY-STATES, POLITICAL POWER AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION IN MIDDLE TYRRHENIAN ITALY Marco Pacciarelli “THE KING AT THE GATE”. MONUMENTAL FORTIFICATIONS AND THE RISE OF LOCAL ELITES AT ARSLANTEPE AT THE END OF THE 2ND MILLENNIUM BCE Federico Manuelli, Lucia Mori THE ELEPHANT REMAINS FROM GAVUR LAKE (SOUTH-EASTERN TURKEY). RESTORATION AND DISPLAY Nadire Mine Yar, Fabio Parenti, Ebru Albayrak, Coskun Köysu – SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GAVUR LAKE ELEPHANT FOR THE HISTORY OF BRONZE AND IRON AGE ANATOLIA Silvia Alaura