Systematic Versus Random Sampling in Approaches to Landscape Archaeology: The Umma Survey Project in Southern Mesopotamia

Archaeological research in Iraq of the past three decades emphasized landscape archaeology with many newly initiated survey projects next to the more traditional excavations of archaeological sites. The utility of survey data, collected in the 1950–1980s, to address specific historical questions has been impaired by the lack of a representative and sufficiently detailed pottery chronology, particularly for southern Mesopotamia. Based on the initial results of the Umma Survey Project, we argue that systematic sampling strategies have the potential to reduce or overcome those limitations and contribute to building a representative pottery typology of the region with a higher chronological resolution. We argue that landscape archaeology’s contribution to the reconstruction of Mesopotamian history can only be fully realized by considerably improving the existing pottery sequences. Furthermore, the systematic mapping of occupation areas on the sites provides important insights into settlement behavior responding to changing environments.