OLD WORLD PREHISTORY — MacCURDY 507 



ment in two colors. A description of one of the vases will suffice 

 to give a fair idea of the <;roup as a whole. The horizontal bands 

 dividing the vase into zones are reddish brown, whereas the zonal 

 decorations are in red. The principal panel (at the shoulder) car- 

 ries on one side a binl with outstretched wings, on the other a 

 carnivore witli open mouth revealing teetli and tongue. Beneatli 

 the bird on one side and the carnivore on the other there are in 

 each case a lone elevated bird's wing and a fish. The rest of the 

 ground in each panel is appropriately decorated with plantlike 

 motives. Of the other narrower zones, the middle one is filled by 

 means of a series of S-shaj>ed figures, while each of the two zones 

 below carries a series of concentric half circles. The vase has a 

 j)air of vertically placed handles on the .'^boulder sei)arating the two 

 panels of the principal zone. The ceramic art of xVrchena is in all 

 respects similar to that in the neighboring region of Elche. 



Iraq and Palestine. — In closing this account of progress, it is 

 fitting that mention be made of the work being carried on by the 

 American School of Prelnstoric Research, especially that in coopera- 

 tion with the British in Iraq and Palestine. The first joint expedi- 

 tion wtis in that part of the hill country of southern Kurdistan now 

 included in the Kingdom of Iraq. This region is called Sulaiinani 

 and the town of Sulaimani, which lies 265 km. northeast of Bagdad 

 and 45 km. west of the Persian border, has sometimes been called 

 the capital of Southern Kurdistan. Nearly eight weeks in the au- 

 tumn of 1928 were devoted to reconnaissance and digging. 



The cave of 2^rzi, 50 km. northwest of Sulaimani, was completely 

 excavated. (PI. 5.) The chief culture-bearing level at Zarzi is Upper 

 Paleolithic, the equivalent of the Upper Aurignacian at such stations 

 in Europe as Willendorf and Krems in lower Austria and the caves 

 of Grimaldi in Italy. (PI. 6.) At the top of this level there were 

 found true Tardenoisian types of the Mesolithic Period. Tlic layer 

 directly above this was mixed and yielded crude pottery as well as 

 flint implements similar to those found below. 



Work was continued at the caves of Hazar INIerd. about S km. 

 southwest of Sulaimani. One of these — the Dark Cave (Ashkot-i- 

 Tarik) — was partially excavated. (PI. 7.) Here three levels were 

 encountered in the floor deposits, the sequence from above down- 

 wards being: (a) Bronze Age to recent, (6) Upper Paleolithic (simi- 

 lar to that at Zarzi), {c) Mousterian. 



Miss Dorothy A. E. Garrod, representing the Percy Sladen Memo- 

 rial Fund, was in charge of the expedition. Her report * has just 

 been published in bulletin Xo. of the American School of Prehis- 

 toric Research (New Haven, Conn., March, 1930). 



*The Palaeolithic of Southern Kurdlstnn : Excavations In the caves of Zarzi and Ilazar 

 Merd. 



