Early Bronze Age Houses in Upper Mesopotamia: Evidence of Dwellings or Private Enterprises?

This paper deals with the research I carried out on domestic architecture and private economy during Early Bronze Age in Upper-Mesopotamia. Archaeological records, as well as textual evidence, has been used to try to define private households activities and their relationships with official institutions. Households were the main source of production, distribution and consumption during the Early Bronze Age. As it seems that these private economic entities produced goods and crafts in their own houses, analyzing domestic architecture could be a way to approach Mesopotamian economic activities. In Northern Mesopotamia the economic system was already strongly articulated; beyond palatial organizations it was also largely based on private group activities, often structured by kinship.