From the Prehistoric Village to Early States in Ancient Near East & The Chalcolithic in the Near East: Mesopotamia and the Levant Prof. Susan Pollock Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie, Freie Universität Berlin Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University Chronological and Geographic Framework • Ancient Near East, but specifically Mesopotamia and the southern Levant • Early Chalcolithic in Mesopotamia: the Ubaid Period – 6th-5th millennia BCE • Late Chalcolithic in Mesopotamia: the Uruk Period – 4th millennia BCE • Chalcolithic Levant (mostly Late Chalcolithic) – 5th-4th millennia BCE The Chalcolithic: an ‘in-between’ time? • after the “Neolithic Revolution”, before the “Urban Revolution” (in V.G. Childe’s terms) • this is our perspective, not that of people at the time • we should also try to understand what this time was for people in past – not only thinking about what came after it, what it led to (teleology) • Chalcolithic means “copper (stone) age” – as we will see, little copper in Mesopotamia for most of this time, but a lot in the Levant – for many archaeologists these days, Chalcolithic refers primarily to socioeconomic situation, not use of particular raw material Structure of the course • Lectures: culture historical background; introduction to material culture; subjects of research and debate • Seminar: reports on readings – deepen understanding of subjects – discussion of lecture material • Seminar presentations: approx. 15 minutes – basic structure of author’s argument – evidence to support arguments – questions you have • Seminar discussion – how do readings relate to lecture material? to other readings? Early Chalcolithic in Mesopotamia: the Ubaid period Topic 1. Ubaid Period: cultural-historical overview History of research • Tell al-’Ubaid: excavated just after WW I by H. Hall & C.L. Woolley (1919) – initially designated distinctive pottery style: black-on-buff painted (the defining characteristic because found in all contexts called Ubaid) – soon thereafter similar pottery found at Ur – Ubaid as designation for a time period came into use ca. 1930 – along with it the notion of an Ubaid ‘culture’, implying also a ‘people’ • Eridu: excavated around WW II by S. Lloyd & F. Safar – sequence of temples, Ubaid cemetery, ‘Hut sounding’ • Southern Mesopotamia assumed to be the core area – question became how, when, where and why did Ubaid ‘culture’ ‘spread’ – to northern Mesopotamia (Gawra), to the east (Susa), to the Arabian shores of the Persian Gulf (work in the 1970s) History of research: Chronology • Oates’ chronology (1960): based on Eridu in southern Mesopotamia – Ubaid 1: Eridu – Ubaid 2: Hajji Mohammad – Ubaid 3: Early Ubaid – Ubaid 4: Late Ubaid • Chronology subsequently extended: – Ubaid 0: Oueili (Samarran) – Ubaid 5: Terminal Ubaid • Calendrical dates – problematic – southern Mesopotamia Ubaid 0 – 5: c. 6500 – 4200/4100 BCE • Ubaid 1 begins c. 5750 BCE – elsewhere Ubaid designates a shorter period of time: • in northern Mesopotamia, adoption of Ubaid features in Ubaid 2 or 3 (c. 5300- 4300 BCE) • replaces Halaf • Arabian shores of Gulf – Ubaid 2-3, some Ubaid 4 • i.e. assumption of ceramic continuity in south; break and introduction of new (Ubaid) pottery in north and along western shores of Persian Gulf Kosak Shamali Environmental issues • From 7th-4th mill. BCE moister climate than today – some indications of summer monsoons in 5th mill. • Recent work by Jennifer Pournelle using satellite imagery – marine transgression in 5th millennium BCE into southern alluvial lowlands – villages in this region in Ubaid times were concentrated on levees and ‘turtlebacks’ bordering marshes – dry land was relatively limited – Pournelle concludes that Ubaid villagers in southernmost Mesopotamia emphasized exploitation of riverine and marsh resources: reeds, fish, tubers, birds, pig, etc. Southern Iraqi marshes in the 1980s Incursion of Gulf waters into southern Mesopotamia Examples of sites on “turtlebacks” Uruk survey area: Sites occupied during the Ubaid 4–Early Uruk periods. Legend indicates earliest settlement period (Pournelle 2003: Fig. 8) Pournelle 2007: Fig. 18 Characteristic Ubaid features • Pottery – black-on-buff painted ware – high-fired – decoration tends to become simpler over time – use of tournette in later Ubaid – shapes: deep bowls, shallow bowls, deep basins, squat and globular jars earlier Ubaid pottery later Ubaid pottery Roaf 1989; Safar et al. 1981; Wright 1981 Exceptions Late Ubaid pottery from the Eridu temple and the Susa Necropole Susa Eridu Safar et al. 1981; Harper et al. 1992 Characteristic Ubaid features Tell Abada, Level II Tell Madhhur • Tripartite mudbrick architecture – long, often T-shaped central halls – freestanding • Temples – plans similar to houses – but with niched and buttressed facades – altars and ‘offering tables’ – corners oriented to cardinal directions – sometimes built on platforms – often not much bigger than houses Roaf 1989; Pollock 1999 Eridu temple sequence Eridu Temple XVI Gawra L. XIII Safar et al. 1981; Roaf 1991 Characteristic Ubaid features Tools – ‘bent clay nails’ or clay mullers – weights: for nets, looms – hoes – clay sickles (also later) Lloyd 1978; Wright 1981; Coqueugniot 1996; Anderson & Formenti 1996; Characteristic Ubaid features • Figurines – conical heads, coffee-bean eyes • Labrets and flanged disks • Seals and sealings – predominantly in northern Mesopotamia (Gawra, Kosak Shomali, Değirmentepe) and southwestern Iran (Susiana) • Cemetery burial Susa Gawra Tobler 1950; Woolley 1955; Safar et al. 1981; Harper et al. 1992; Coqueugniot, 1996 Other Ubaid features • Copper metallurgy and copper objects – principally in northern Mesopotamia – smelting installations common at Değirmentepe – copper tools at Gawra, as early as L. XVII • Exchange goods – lapis lazuli, turquoise, carnelian at Gawra – bitumen from Hit at Kosak Shamali – Mesopotamian pottery along Arabian shores of Gulf • Boats for transportation clay model boat from Eridu clay model boat from H3, Kuwait Safar et al. 1981; Carter & Crawford 2010