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is stili not well understood. In anticipation of starting excavation in this area of the highmound in a future season, it was declded to re-survey that portion of the western highmound first examined in 1998. In the lower town, earlier geophysical survey was verysuccessful and had allowed for the location of the city wall on the eastern and southernedges of the city, the delineation of three gates or towers, several large fired installations(one of which was excavated in Operation D and proved to be a ceramic kiln) anda number of large rectilinear constructions within the lower town (Matneyand Somers1999).Geophysical subsurface mapping was employed at Ziyaret Tepe following a carefulsurfaee survey of ceramics conducted in 1997 which suggested that the bulk ofmaterials in the lower town dated to the Middle and Late Assyrian periods, and that therewas no significant later re-use of the lower town. Furthermore, there were no significantindicators of extensive post-Assyrian occupation on the high mound. These circumstancesprovided the possibility of mapping extensive remains from the Late Assyriancity since they were closest to the surface. Indeed, the majority of geophysical surveytechniques are unable to delineate different strata within a site and are best appliedat single-period sites. While Ziyaret Tepe hardly constitutes a single-period site, thepresence of Late Assyrian sherdage over the entire site, and especially the paucity oflater materials, were promising for large-scale mapping of the Late Assyrian city.Fieldwork during the 2002 season was conducted with a GeoScan FM-36 fluxgategradiometer collecting data at an ideal sample density of 8 samples per meteremploying one meter transects. At the beginning of the season, we experimented withlower and higher sampling densities (the latter achieved with narrower transects) andfound that this density was a reasonable compromise between speed and resolution.Data were eollected in 20 m. by 20 m. grids using a zig-zag collection path. This samplingdensity meant that 3200 data points were collected for each survey square. Thegradiometer required frequent rebalancing as the intense summer heat caused a significantchange in temperature during the working day. Data were downloaded into alaptop computer and initial processing and filtering was accomplished using GeoPlot3.0, a proprietary software package designed for use with the FM-36. Noise was removedusing a variety of filtering techniques, and composites were created for each largesurvey area.As with the 1997 gradiometry survey, theresults on the high mound were disappointing,due in part to later debris (as seen in the excavations of Operations B and Cduring the 2000 season) sitting on top of the Late Assyrian architecture and in part toa large metal irrigation pipe that was laid across the high mound by local villagers inorder to provide water to an adjacent cotton field to the south (Fig. 2). The irrigation pipe,seen c/early as an alternating band of very strong positive and negative values,obscures a/l ancient magnetic anomalies for 10 to 12 meters on either side of the pipe,making survey of the mound adjacent to the pipe impossible. As one moves awayfrom the pipeline, the results are stili difficult to read, with one exception. At the southemedge of the high mound, a series of weakly magnetic, parallel linear features runnorthwest to southeast, These features are at the edge of the teli where, in a smail cutmade by a modern track, we can observe what looks Iike a loose cobble paving or possiblyeven wall foundations erodingout of the mound. These Iinear features are intriguingand warrant further investigation. Unfortunately, even at the high sample den sitiesutilizedin 2002, the.nature of the architecture and the thickness of the overburdenelsewhere on the western high mound left us with unsatisfactory results.Results from the magnetic gradiometry survey in the western portion of the 10­wer town were, in contrast, very good (Fig. 3). Along the northern edge of the gradiometrymap for this area, a sharp Iinear feature with adjacent high positive and negativereadings marks the beginning of the modern slope of the teli. Asimilar curving lineat.the extreme southwestern corner of the map also marks the top of the mound's sı0­pe. Finally, a regularly spaced set of strong dipoles along the eastern edge of the map99