Rewinding Traditions: An Ethnoarchaeological Enquiry on Ceramic Manufacturing in the Erbil Plain, Iraqi Kurdistan

Since Prehistory, the south-western Erbil Plain has been an important area of ceramic manufacturing. The discovery by the Italian Archaeological Expedition in the Erbil Plain (MAIPE) of production facilities dating back to the 5th and 3rd millennia BC at the sites of Helawa and Aliawa, together with the wide availability of clay sources in the landscape and the presence of nearby modern brick factories and pottery ateliers, indeed testifies to the persistence of this tradition since ancient times. The aim of this paper is to reflect on the results of the first pilot season of MAIPE’s ethnoarchaeological project which aims at documenting contemporary practices of brick and pottery making through a bottom-up approach.Thanks to the interaction with local actors (potters, brick workers) who are active in the neighboring area, we explore the artisans’ knowledge and their perception of the archaeological landscape in relation to ancient traditions, co-establishing a new narrative which sees cooperation and intangible heritage as pivotal to the reconstruction of the history of this area.