The paleoenvironment and depositional context of the Sumerian site of Abu Tbeirah (Nasiriyah, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq)

The Sumerian culture flourished within the Tigris and Euphrates rivers floodplains and along their deltaic systems, which ca. 6000 yr werelocated ~250-260 km inland from the present Persian Gulf. Here, large floodplains and marshes were crossed by an intricate network ofchannels where several human settlements developed. In this paper, we describe in detail the paleoenvironmental context where the site ofAbu Tbeirah (third millennium BC) developed, near the Sumerian capital of Ur. Our interdisciplinary approach, based on remote sensingand the geomorphological study of the area, as well as on sedimentological, paleontological, and paleobotanical analyses of trenches andboreholes deposits, reveals that the site developed along a sinuous channel in a floodplain and marshy environment, where several crevassesplays occurred. This channel was cut off following a flood event. The abandoned portion of the channel was exploited by residents and usedas a small river harbor. Our research contributes to better define how the landscape of the site changed over the course of its history andhow humans exploited water resources of the area during occupation of the site, a process that was pivotal for the development of theSumerian culture.