Since 20012, a team led by Gil Stein and Abbas Alizadeh has been exploring the site of Surezha, on the Erbil Plain of northern Irag-Kurdistan. The project is focused on the Chalcolithic occupation of the high mound, and it employs 3-D laser scan mapping of the site, controlled surface collections, and excavations. The goal of the project is to improve understanding of the distinctive nature of the Chalcolithic culture and the process of urbanization in this region, which has been subjected to little archaeological work in the past.