The collection of pottery fragments on the surface is very partial, as it was carried out exclusively along the west side, along half of the north side and in the corner occupied by the outer wall of Fort Shalmaneser. It has anyhow allowed us to establish that the settlement was extremely long-lived: from the Halaf period to the Sasanian and Early Islamic periods. The presence of painted Halaf pottery is attested by monochrome sherds, found during the excavation along the fort’s outer walls; the presence of Obeid 4 pottery is more evident, as fragments were found, along with painted Nineveh 5 sherds, in the central part of the city.
While it is still difficult to define an overall chronological assessment, century by century, of the Neo-Assyrian pottery scattered throughout the urban area, it is now easier to date the Neo-Babylonian ceramics found in a stratification during soundings carried out in Fort Shalmaneser, at the corner of its outer walls and at the entrance gate to the plateau around the fort. This type of pottery is sporadically present in some of the areas in which the survey was carried out. The Hellenistic period attests to a contraction of the urban area. A further contraction is attested by the concentration of Sasanian and Early Islamic fragments on the large tell at the eastern base of the acropolis.