Beyond the Ubaid: Transformation and Integration in the Late Prehistoric Societies of the Middle East (Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilizations)

404 Pages·2010·9.9 MB·English

by  Robert A. Carter

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Beyond the UBaid
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iii
Beyond the UBaid
TransformaTion and inTegraTion in The laTe
prehisToric socieTies of The middle easT
edited by
RobeRt A. CARteR and GRAhAm PhiliP
papers from
the UbAid exPAnsion?
CUltURAl m eAninG, identity And the leAd-UP to URbAnism
International Workshop held at Grey College, University of Durham,
20–22 April 2006
stUdies in AnCient oRientAl CivilizAtion • nUmbeR 63
the oRientAl institUte of the UniveRsity of ChiCAGo
ChiCAGo • illinois
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library of congress control number: 2010926811
isBn-10: 1-885923-66-X
isBn-13: 978-1-885923-66-0
issn: 0081-7554
The Oriental Institute, Chicago
©2010 by The University of chicago. all rights reserved.
published 2010. printed in the United states of america.
sTUdies in ancienT orienTal civilizaTion • nUmBer 63
The orienTal insTiTUTe of The UniversiTy of chicago
chicago • illinois
Series Editors
leslie schramer
and
Thomas g. Urban
with the assistance of
rebecca cain
Series Editors’ Acknowledgments
felicia Whitcomb and natalie Whiting assisted in the production
of this volume.
Cover Illustration
selection of pottery vessels from burial 115. darre-ye Bolaghi, site 131 (figure 17.9)
Printed by Edwards Brothers, Ann Arbor, Michigan
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of american
national standard for information services — permanence of paper for printed
library materials, ansi z39.48-1984.
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v
Table of ConTenTs
acknoWledgmenTs ............................................................................................................................ vii
parT 1: TheoreTical frameWorks
1. deconstructing the ubaid. Robert A. Carter and Graham Philip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2. local identities and interaction spheres: modeling regional variation
in the ubaid horizon. Gil J. Stein. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3. more thoughts on the ubaid period. Joan Oates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4. the halaf-ubaid transition: a transformation without a center? Philip Karsgaard. . . . 51
5. questioning the halaf-ubaid transition. Stuart Campbell and Alexandra Fletcher. . . . . . . . . 69
6. the dead hand of deimel. McGuire Gibson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
parT 2: idenTiTy and maTerial cUlTUre
7. practices of daily life in fifth-millennium b.c. iran and mesopotamia.
Susan Pollock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 93
8. figuring out identity: the body and identity in the ubaid. Karina Croucher . . . . . . . . . . . 113
9. ubaid headshaping: negotiations of identity through physical appearance?
Kirsi O. Lorentz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 125
10. a snake in the grass: reassessing the ever-intriguing ophidian figurines.
Aurelie Daems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
11. the term “hajji muhammad”: a re-evaluation. Harriet Crawford . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
12. the development of wool exploitation in ubaid-period settlements of north
mesopotamia. Hiroshi Sudo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
13. ubaid lithics revisited: their significance for the interpretation of ubaid
society. Elizabeth Healey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
14. buttress-recess architecture and status symbolism in the ubaid period.
Uwe Sievertsen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 201
parT 3: comparaTive analyses and regional perspecTives
15. a monumental failure: the collapse of susa. Frank Hole. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
16. ubaid-related-related? the “black-on-buff” ceramic traditions of highland
southwest iran. Lloyd Weeks, Cameron A. Petrie, and Daniel T. Potts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
-
17. bakun-period sites in darre-ye bolaghi, fars. Barbara Helwing and Mojgan Seyedin . . . . . . 277
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v i tAble of Contents
18. the emergence of ubaid styles at tell kurdu: a local perspective. Rana Özbal . . . . . . . 293
19. an aspect of the ubaid intrusion in the syrian upper euphrates valley.
Yayoi Yamazaki . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
20. the ubaid in the balikh valley, northern syria: balikh periods iv–v.
Maria Giuseppina Trentin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
21. networks of interregional interaction during mesopotamia’s ubaid period.
Bradley J. Parker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 339
22. exploring social organizational aspects of the ubaid communities: a case study
of de˝irmentepe in eastern turkey. Bekir Gurdil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
23. godedzor, a late ubaid-related settlement in the southern caucasus.
Christine Chataigner, Pavel Avetisyan, Giulio Palumbi, and Hans-Peter Uerpmann . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
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lIst of AbbrevIAtIons vii
aCknowledgmenTs
firstly, we would like to acknowledge all our sponsors, without whose support the conference would not have
taken place. These include the British academy, the British school of archaeology in iraq (now the British institute
for the study of iraq), the council for British research in the levant, and the archaeology department of durham
University. special thanks are due to our key speaker, gil stein, who willingly undertook the daunting task of offer-
ing a broad overview of the Ubaid phenomenon; and to derek kennet, liam cooney, and matt Whincop for helping
with the logistics of the conference. appreciation is also due to all our anonymous referees, whose insightful com-
ments made such a difference to the quality of this publication. We thank them for their time and dedication.
RobeRt A. CARteR, oxford brookes University,
and GRAhAm PhiliP, Durham University
vii
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Godedzor
Caspian Sea
Lake Vaan
Arslantepe ASHGGAABBAT
Deg˘irmentepe
TAURUS Kenan Tepe Lake
Domuztepe Urmia
MOUNTAINS
Chagar Bazar
Fistikli Höyük
Tell Beydar Hajji Firuz
Tell Hamoukar
Kosak Shamali Tell Brak Tepe Gawra
Tell Kurdu Tell al-’Abr Hammamet-Turkman Teluleth-Thalathat
Tell Sheikh Hassan
MOSUL Tell
ALEPPO Tell Ziyadeh Arpachiyah
TEHRAN
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Tell es-Sawwan Tappeh Sialk
BEIRUT Tell Abada
Choga Mami
Mediterranean DAMASCUS Tell Asmar
BAGHDAD
Sea Tell Agrab
Tell Uqair
Choga Sefid Choga Bonut
Susa Choga Mish
JERUSALEM AMMAN
Uruk
Hajji Mohammad
‘Oueili
Ur
al-’Ubaid
Eridu
Do Tulan and Tol-e Nokhodi
BASRA Tol-e Spid
Tall-i Bakun
Tall-i Gap
AQABA
as-Sabiyah
SHIRAZ
KUWAIT
Halili

MODERN CITY
Abu Khamis
Persian Gulf
Ancient Site
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Red
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Ain Qannas
General map of the Near East with principal Ubaid-period sites indicated
Dalma
Arab
Gulf of Aden
2009 “Religion, Function, and Social Networks: Tepe Gawra in the Late Fifth and Early Fourth Millennia BC.”, in A
propos de Tepe Gawra, le monde proto-urbain de Mésopotamie, edited by P. Butterlin, pp. 15–39, Subartu 23.
Turnhout: Brepols
oi.uchicago.edu
Godedzor
Caspian Sea
Lake Vaan
Arslantepe ASHGGAABBAT
Deg˘irmentepe
TAURUS Kenan Tepe Lake
Domuztepe Urmia
MOUNTAINS
Chagar Bazar
Fistikli Höyük
Tell Beydar Hajji Firuz
Tell Hamoukar
Kosak Shamali Tell Brak Tepe Gawra
Tell Kurdu Tell al-’Abr Hammamet-Turkman Teluleth-Thalathat
Tell Sheikh Hassan
MOSUL Tell
ALEPPO Tell Ziyadeh Arpachiyah
TEHRAN
E
u
Arjoune phr
ates TigKIRKUK
River ris Ri Ganj Dareh
v
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r
Tell Madhhur
Tell es-Sawwan Tappeh Sialk
BEIRUT Tell Abada
Choga Mami
Mediterranean DAMASCUS Tell Asmar
BAGHDAD
Sea Tell Agrab
Tell Uqair
Choga Sefid Choga Bonut
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JERUSALEM AMMAN
Uruk
Hajji Mohammad
‘Oueili
Ur
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Eridu
Do Tulan and Tol-e Nokhodi
BASRA Tol-e Spid
Tall-i Bakun
Tall-i Gap
AQABA
as-Sabiyah
SHIRAZ
KUWAIT
Halili

MODERN CITY
Abu Khamis
Persian Gulf
Ancient Site
Dosariyah
Red
0 ca. 300 km
Sea
Ain Qannas
Dalma
Arab
Gulf of Aden
2009 “Religion, Function, and Social Networks: Tepe Gawra in the Late Fifth and Early Fourth Millennia BC.”, in A
propos de Tepe Gawra, le monde proto-urbain de Mésopotamie, edited by P. Butterlin, pp. 15–39, Subartu 23.
Turnhout: Brepols
oi.uchicago.edu
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