Archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pisa, working in the ancient city of Lagash in southern Iraq, have uncovered an almost 5,000-year-old tavern.
Lagash was one of the largest cities in southern Mesopotamia, occupied c.4,900-3,600 years ago, and is known to have been an important political, industrial, and religious centre, but until now not much evidence has been uncovered of the everyday lives of ‘ordinary’ people there.
The recently discovered tavern, dating to c.2,700 BC, consisted of an open-air public eating area and a kitchen, with an oven, benches, a type of clay refrigerator called a zeer, and storage containers and bowls still holding the remains of food.
The latest season of excavations also uncovered an area of ceramic production with several kilns, as well as a domestic building with a toilet and kitchen.
