Ubaid Period Research Articles

URUK SEALS OF EASTERN ANATOLIA: ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATIONS

The phase after the Ubaid Period in Mesopotamia is called the Uruk Period. This culture coincides with the Chalcolithic Period of Eastern Anatolia. During the Uruk Period, Mesopotamia developed agriculturally. However, due to its insufficiency in terms of natural resources such as minerals and timber, they established a trade strategy centered on Eastern Anatolia, especially in the 4th millennium BC. One of the most important evidences of this trade system is seals. Made of various materials such as stone, metal, wood, glass, bone, faience and clay, seals can be of various types including stamp, cylinder and stamp-cylinder. Seals with functions such as ornamentation, protection from evil forces, confirmation and security were unearthed at Çatalhöyük in the Neolithic Period in Anatolia. Seals from the Uruk Period were also found in centers such as Elazığ-Norşuntepe and Çınaz Höyük and Malatya-Arslantepe in the Eastern Anatolia Region. While the seals of Elazığ-Norşuntepe and Çınaz Höyük consist of stamp seals, Malatya-Arslantepe has cylinder seals as well as stamp seals. The stamp seals found at Norşuntepe and Çınaz Höyük are predominantly round stamps, but there are also square stamps. Geometric motifs and stylized animal figures were used as decoration elements. They usually have round rope holes on the back. The stamp seals from Malatya-Arslantepe are round in shape. Geometric motifs and stylized depictions of humans, snakes, rams, deer and mixed creatures are found on this type of seals. In addition to stamp seals, there are also cylinder seals at Arslantepe. This type of seals mostly depict agricultural activities. They depict people plowing fields with oxen pulling the plow. Although the seals found in the mentioned centers are similar in form, they show some differences in terms of decoration. However, it is possible to say that all the examples are influenced by the seals of the Uruk Period in terms of decoration and subject matter.

Komparasi Sistem Perpajakan pada Masa Abu Ubaid dengan Sistem Perpajakan di Indonesia

This article aims to find out the comparison of the tax system during the Abu Ubaid period with the tax system in Indonesia. Abu Ubaid firmly believes that the principle of justice in the economy is very important to achieve economic and social welfare. Therefore, Abu 'Ubaid's Kitab al Amwal is an economic masterpiece that addresses pressing issues in the fields of law, politics, and international relations. The Islamic public financial system, especially with regard to government administration, is explained in great detail in Al-Amwal. Since taxes are a major source of revenue for the government, any reform must be carried out in a method with clear goals and benchmarks. Tax reform must also pay attention to the sustainability of the economy both domestically and internationally, the ease of implementation, and the efficiency of the resulting payments. The tax reforms of 1983, 1994 and 1997 were widely successful and widely criticized by politicians. In keeping with the reformist spirit, the government does not need to tighten its grip on power. The government has identified the Head of the Ministry of Finance's Budget Analysis Section as an appropriate point of contact for questions about how Indonesia's tax strategy is being implemented.
 Keywords: Comparison, Taxation during the Abu Ubaid period, Indonesian Taxation.

Intrasite Variability and Changing Social Practices during the Ubaid-Late Chalcolithic Transition at Tell Zeidan, Syria

By the mid-5th millennium BCE, the dark-on-light painted pottery style common to Ubaid societies across Greater Mesopotamia was slowly becoming less prominent relative to unpainted wares made using new, faster technologies. While this shift has helped identify the development of a Late Chalcolithic cultural complex, the material culture, polity types, and rates of change in the LC1 period are also characterised by both regional variation and local variability. Indeed, a gradual transformation belies an identifiable distinction between socially structuring elements of the Ubaid and LC1 periods. To explore the nature of this distinction, this paper considers artefact distribution, spatial function, and intrasite dynamics at Tell Zeidan, Syria. The latest Ubaid and earliest Late Chalcolithic levels at Zeidan reveal a course of development from an economically centralised society into an economically decentralised town marked by sociocultural variation. This dataset viewed in the broader regional context illustrates both LC1 variability and a commonality of socio-organisational departure from the Ubaid period. The paper concludes by proposing a theoretical model of sociopolitical change that highlights instrumental variability in craft production as a key factor.

The End of the Ubaid Period in the Upper Tigris River Valley

Excavations at Kenan Tepe by the Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP) revealed four phases of Ubaid period occupation. The goal of this paper is to place the final phase of occupation at the site, Kenan Tepe Ubaid phase 4 (KTU phase 4), into a broader regional context, and to situate the KTU phase 4 ceramic assemblage within the Ubaid to post-Ubaid transition (Late Chalcolithic 1) of greater Mesopotamia. Recent excavations and studies from throughout Greater Mesopotamia have highlighted the local variation of this transition. This paper will compare the materials from KTU phase 4 to other sites in the Upper Tigris region to provide an overview of regional character during this time in the Tigris Valley in southeastern Turkey. Additionally, I will present the results of the use-alteration analysis from the KTU phase 4 occupation to outline the function of ceramics and the daily practices of the inhabitants of Kenan Tepe. This analysis could aid in identifying regional variations of ceramic use that can highlight differences in social and economic organizations within communities during the Ubaid to post-Ubaid transition.

Characterization of the Obsidian Used in the Chipped Stone Industry in Kendale Hecala

Kendale Hecala is located on the Ambar River in the Upper Tigris Basin, province of Diyarbakır in Southeast Anatolia. Various raw materials, including obsidian, radiolarite, chert, jasper, chalcedony, and quartzite, were used in the lithic industry. Obsidian artefacts constitute an average of 64% of the chipped stone assemblage. Technological analysis reveals that obsidian was brought to the settlement as nodules and chipped into various tools at the settlement. Understanding the operational sequence of the lithic industry, chaîne opératoire, including the distribution of raw material from source to site, is important to demonstrate the socio-cultural organization of the settlement in Southeastern Anatolia during the Ubaid period. In order to identify source varieties, the obsidian artefacts uncovered from Ubaid layers of Kendale Hecala were analyzed by macro-observations, and the characterization of archaeological samples was performed using a handheld XRF. Multivariate analysis of the data indicates the use of obsidian from different resources at the settlement, including Nemrut Dağ, Bingöl B, and Group 3d.

The Sickle Industry Developed In Ancient Iraq During The Mesolithic To The End Of Chalcolithic

During the Prehistoric period, Human is used tools that helped him in the process of cutting plants or hunting animals, and then he developed his tools in a manner suitable for their use and became a variety, and among those tools is the sickle that he used even after emergence of agriculture. It continued to be used despite the different available raw materials throughout the chronology ages. Sickles began to be used since the stone ages before the emergence of agriculture until now. As for the industry materials for the blade, it was made according to the availability of raw materials, including bones and types of stones during the stone ages, and then the clay was used during the Ubaid period, and this is according to what the excavations revealed in the archaeological sites.

Iconographic Similarities Between Permian “Goddess Plaques” (Ural Region, 7-8th Centuries CE) and Horus Cippi (Egypt, 8th Century BCE - 2nd Century CE)

The iconography of the Horus cippus, an amulet popular in Egypt from the late Third Intermediate Period to Roman times (8thcentury BCE - 2nd century CE), is unexpectedly recapitulated in bronze “goddess plaques” of the 7-8th centuries CE made by Permian peoples – Finno-Ugric groups from the Ural region of northern Eurasia. The likely explanation is that both templates are descendants of the widely-diffused “Master of Animals” motif, which originated in Mesopotamia during the Ubaid period (6-5thmillennium BCE). Transfer of the Master/Mistress of Animals motif from the Near East to the Ural region probably occurred via the Scythians of the 1st millennium BCE.

Chalcolithic settlement of Bahra 1 and its possible functions

Excavations of the Kuwaiti–Polish Archaeological Mission at the site of Bahra 1 in Kuwait uncovered the remains of a large settlement from the sixth millennium BC, associated with the Mesopotamian Ubaid culture. This connection is made clear by the presence of Ubaid Ware from the Ubaid 2/3 phase that appears alongside Red Coarse Ware typical for the Arabian Neolithic. Architecture of the settlement resembled the Ubaid one with orthogonal, multi‐chambered houses. In one part of the site they form a dense block with traits that indicate some degree of spatial planning. This type of spatial arrangement is absent in Arabian Neolithic settlements and is also unknown from Ubaid settlements in Mesopotamia. One of the buildings discovered at Bahra 1 has a ground plan reminiscent of a sanctuary from Eridu XVI and was probably associated with cultic activities, as was a circular stone enclosure (Unit 6), representing local building traditions. The character of Bahra 1 architecture and the presence of cultic buildings at the site suggest that the settlements served as a local ceremonial and/or cultic centre.

UBAID CERAMIC PRODUCTION IN THE HILLY FLANKS OF NORTHWESTERN POSHT-I KUH (ILAM - WEST IRAN)

This paper examines discoveries made during the survey of Kall Karim and presents a chronological framework for this site based on ceramic decorative styles and forms. This site was first identified during archaeological survey of the northwestern part of the Posht-i Kuh area in Ilam province (west Iran) in the winter of 2016. Kall Karim is located in a rugged area on the northern slopes of Seh Kurvand Mountain in the Bawlly region, which is used for winter pastures of nomadic tribes. According to surface remains, the ancient use of Kall Karim is entirely related to pottery production activities. All the surface sherds belong to the Ubaid period; according to typological studies and comparison of motifs and forms, we propose that Kall Karim belongs to Ubaid 2-3. It seems that both abundance of necessary materials and the accessibility of fuel for kilns caused the formation of Kall Karim in this location, far from residential centers.

The burning issue of dung in archaeobotanical samples: a case-study integrating macro-botanical remains, dung spherulites, and phytoliths to assess sample origin and fuel use at Tell Zeidan, Syria

Since Naomi Miller’s first discussion of dung fuel within macro-botanical samples from Malyan, Iran, considerations of dung fuel across Southwest Asia have become commonplace, yet archaeobotanists remain divided on: (1) the extent to which dung fuel contributed to archaeobotanical assemblages relative to remnants of repeated crop processing and household activities; and (2) the plant-based, middle-range theories that should be used to infer the presence of dung within macro-botanical assemblages. Here we present a case-study integrating a simple, well-established geo-archaeological approach to assess the presence and relative abundance of dung spherulites within paired sediment and flotation samples from Ubaid period Tell Zeidan, Syria (5300–5100 bc). Spherulite data generated from “sediment smears” are integrated with macro-botanical and phytolith data to assess elevated concentrations of dung within samples. Our analyses demonstrate that plant-based depositional processes across a site are complex, reflecting the rich nature of plant use in antiquity. By using a multi-proxy approach, it is possible to differentiate between predominantly fuel-based deposits and those resulting from predominantly crop-processing processes with greater resolution. This study documents the use of wood fuels in hearths and dung fuel within pyrotechnic features and an oven during the Ubaid period, thereby contributing to discussions of fuel selection and the Secondary Products Revolution. When spherulites are preserved within sediment in abundance, they are also present in floated material, so it is possible to use this approach to consider the presence of dung within archived macro-botanical samples and resolve decade-old debates.

Tel Tsaf and the Impact of the Ubaid Culture on the Southern Levant: Interpreting the Radiocarbon Evidence

A data set of 18 radiocarbon dates from the domestic quarter and the well at Tel Tsaf provide conclusive evidence for the absolute dating of this Middle Chalcolithic site. Bayesian modeling suggests that the site was occupied in the last quarter of the 6th millennium BC and abandoned in the first quarter of the 5th millennium. The absolute dating of Tel Tsaf has further implications for the synchronization of the protohistory of the Levant. The ceramic assemblage of Tel Tsaf included delicately painted ceramic sherds (so-called Tel Tsaf ware), which are distinct from the common plain ware. Comparable motifs have been identified in ceramic assemblages of contemporary Ubaid sites such as Tell Mashnaqa, Tell Zeidan, Tell el-Abr, and Hammam et-Turkan IV in northern Mesopotamia. Tel Tsaf is a rare example of a little researched connection between the Ubaid culture and the Middle Chalcolithic of the southern Levant. The findings of Tel Tsaf expand the southwestern border of the Ubaid sphere of influence and shed new light on long-distance interaction in protohistory. DOI: 10.2458/azu_rc.57.18200

Tel Tsaf and the Impact of the Ubaid Culture on the Southern Levant: Interpreting the Radiocarbon Evidence

A data set of 18 radiocarbon dates from the domestic quarter and the well at Tel Tsaf provide conclusive evidence for the absolute dating of this Middle Chalcolithic site. Bayesian modeling suggests that the site was occupied in the last quarter of the 6th millennium BC and abandoned in the first quarter of the 5th millennium. The absolute dating of Tel Tsaf has further implications for the synchronization of the protohistory of the Levant. The ceramic assemblage of Tel Tsaf included delicately painted ceramic sherds (so-called Tel Tsaf ware), which are distinct from the common plain ware. Comparable motifs have been identified in ceramic assemblages of contemporary Ubaid sites such as Tell Mashnaqa, Tell Zeidan, Tell el-Abr, and Hammam et-Turkan IV in northern Mesopotamia. Tel Tsaf is a rare example of a little researched connection between the Ubaid culture and the Middle Chalcolithic of the southern Levant. The findings of Tel Tsaf expand the southwestern border of the Ubaid sphere of influence and shed new light on long-distance interaction in protohistory.

Ubaid plant use at Tell Zeidan, Syria

Cet article présente les données de 47 échantillons archéobotaniques collectés dans des zones domestiques et non domestiques à Tell Zeidan, large site de l’Obeïd en Syrie, à la confluence de l’Euphrate et du Balikh. De nombreuses structures pyrotechniques indiquent une production artisanale intensive et répétée. Alors que les restes de bois carbonisés sont très bien représentés dans toutes les structures de combustion les traces de fumier sont rares, ce qui suggère l’utilisation prédominante du bois comme combustible. Les plantes cultivées attestées sur le site comprennent Hordeum vulgare subsp. distichum, Triticum dicoccum, free-threshing T. durum/ aestivum, Lens culinaris, Vicia ervilia, cf. Pisum sp. et Linum usitatissimum. Des différences entre les échantillons provenant des zones domestiques et industrielles sont statistiquement significatives. En général, la préservation des plantes et la diversité de leur utilisation sont plus élevées dans les zones domestiques que dans la zone de production, même si des plantes cultivées sont attestées dans les deux espaces. Les données relatives à la balle des céréales et aux espèces adventices indiquent que les premières étapes du traitement des récoltes se déroulaient hors du site et que le blé vêtu était stocké sous la forme d’épillets nettoyés pour des besoins ultérieurs. Il est possible que ce traitement des récoltes ait été effectué en commun juste après la moisson. Les habitants de Tell Zeidan ont pu pratiquer une agriculture utilisant les eaux de décrue et la nature imprévisible de ce système peut avoir suscité une réponse sociale qui a conduit au développement d’une complexité sociale accrue.

A day in the life of an Ubaid household: archaeobotanical investigations at Kenan Tepe, south-eastern Turkey

The Ubaid period in south-west Asia constitutes a key period of social and political change anticipating the emergence of complex societies in the following millennium. Well-preserved archaeobotanical assemblages have enormous potential to document these changes at both the site and individual household levels. The conflagration that consumed Structure 4 at the Ubaid settlement of Kenan Tepe in south-eastern Turkey provides a case study through the analysis of almost 70 000 charred macrobotanical remains. The results suggest that labour may have been pooled between households to process emmer wheat to spikelet stage after harvesting. Final processing was conducted on the roof of the house by members of the individual household as need arose. The pooling of resources may reflect the intensification of production and the emergence of elites during the Ubaid period in this region.

Rethinking Halaf and Ubaid animal economies: Hunting and Herding at Tell Zeidan (Syria)

This study re-evaluates current models of Halaf and northern Ubaid subsistence strategies in light of new faunal data recovered from Tell Zeidan, a prehistoric settlement at the confluence of the Balikh and Euphrates rivers in Northern Syria. Our data indicates that a major shift in the animal economy at Zeidan took place between the Halaf and Ubaid periods. The Halaf period faunal assemblage from Tell Zeidan includes more than 50% wild game. Faunal data from other Halaf sites show that, while a heavy reliance on wild game was common, Zeidan was the only large, permanent settlement with a faunal assemblage that included more than 50% wild game. During the Ubaid period, the animal economy at Zeidan shifted to focus on the exploitation of domesticated taxa (90% of the assemblage), an intensifi cation probably driven by population increase at the site. This increasing use of domesticates does not, however, appear to have been a regional trend, as many Ubaid settlements continued to exploit high percentages of wild game. This study of faunal remains from Tell Zeidan presents a valuable new corpus of zooarchaeological data from a large, permanent settlement in Northern Mesopotamia and provides useful insights into changing regional patterns of animal exploitation during the Halaf and Ubaid periods.

Eating at Home and "Dining" Out? Commensalities in the Neolithic and Late Chalcolithic in the Near East

This paper attempts to draw a picture of different kinds of commensalities in the Near Eastern Pottery Neolithic (7th millennium BC) through an analysis of consumption vessels. The case study will be the Syrian and Turkish regions of the Northern Levant. I shall underline the strong symbolic function of vessels in distinguishing commensal events and argue that the basic role of commensality remains largely unmodified until the end of the Ubaid period (2nd half of 5th millennium BC). The beginning of the Late Chalcolithic then marks a major change. At this point, the development of different types of commensalities leads to a decrease in the role of pottery as symbolic marker of commensal events. Near Eastern Archaeology; Commensality; Near East; Neolithic; Chalcolithic; Consumption Vessels; Status

The Ubaid Period In The Urbanisation Process; The Birth Of Urbanism In The Near East (5500-3800 B.C.)

The Ubaid culture, which takes its name from Tell-al Ubaid, plays a crucial role in the process of urbanization in the Near East. Surviving for more than 1500 years (5500-3800 BC), it was characterised by important social, economic and political developments which influenced the development of urban polities both the Near East and the East and Southeastern Anatolia Regions. With this culture, certain radical structural changes peculiar to complex societies, urban societies, such as political and economic centralisation based on control over product, production and labor organisation with sealing practices, socio-economic differences, a high degree of economic specialisation and technological development, indicate that a complex economy, and organised trade had begun to take place in the social, political and economical organisations of the societies of the Near East. This paper is concerned with enlightening the role of the Ubaid Culture in the development of urban societies in the Near East. With this aim, this culture will be analyzed from the viewpoint of those characteristics peculiar to urban societies mentioned above.

Early State Formation in Southern Mesopotamia: Sea Levels, Shorelines, and Climate Change

ABSTRACT The evolution of the earliest complex state-level societies and cities from small sedentary communities took place in southern Mesopotamia between 8000 and 5000 cal yrs BP during the ‘Ubaid and Uruk periods. Attempts to explain this transition often discount the role of environmental change and tend to evaluate available archaeological evidence for urban-based state development either within a static environmental context or assuming conditions similar to those of the present. This practice is no longer tenable given newly available paleoenvironmental records for the region. Post-glacial sea-level rise resulted in the inundation and creation of the Arabo-Persian Gulf, and, as the marine transgression slowed in the Middle Holocene, rich coastal and aquatic habitats formed in southern Mesopotamia. These habitats favored the establishment and growth of ‘Ubaid Period communities and the efficient transport of goods, ideas, and people throughout the region. High water tables also promoted early experimentation with irrigation agriculture and the expansion of these systems as populations grew and the humid conditions of the Early Holocene gave way to increasing aridity. We argue that the critical confluence of eustatic and climatic changes unique to this circumscribed region favored the emergence of highly centralized, urban-based states.

The Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP)

Introduction During the summer of 2005 members of the Upper Tigris Archaeological Research Project (UTARP) undertook a sixth season of archaeological field work at the site of Kenan Tepe in the Upper Tigris River region of southeastern Turkey. This research took place between May 13 and July 4, 2005. Research was funded by generous grants from the Curtiss T. and Mary G. Brennan Foundation in collaboration with the University of Utah and the United States National Endowment for the Humanities. Funding from NEH covered the project infrastructure (including rent for the project dighouse, the cost of the project van and driver and the project cook) and costs associated with the excavation of trenches where we expected to discover remains dating to the Late Chalcolithic period. Funds from the Brennan Foundation and the University of Utah were directed exclusively to trenches that we expected to yield data from the Ubaid period. In this report to the Curtiss T. and Mary G. Brennan Foundation and the College of Humanities at the University of Utah, I will briefly outline the Ubaid research conducted during the 2005 field season. After a short introduction I will discuss each of the Ubaid excavation units. I will conclude with a few preliminary observations about the nature of Ubaid occupation at Kenan Tepe. First I would like to make a few remarks about the both the research and the logistics of UTARP’s 2005 field season. In archaeological terms the 2005 field season was perhaps our most productive and most interesting season yet. We excavated two superimposed domestic structures, found part

Pottery kiln sites at al 'Ubaid and Eridu

The two sites of Al 'Ubaid and Eridu in southern Iraq are among the most significant historically for our understanding of the 'Ubaid culture. Al 'Ubaid is the type site while Eridu has yielded, not only the best known 'Ubaid occupation sequence, but also evidence of the development of the settlement from its beginnings as a village to its later floruit as a town, complete with a temple and an extensive extra-mural cemetery. Both sites have been partially excavated, Al 'Ubaid on two occasions and Eridu by at least four expeditions. The results of all these various explorations have been published so that we have a good idea of the nature of both sites. I was able, with T. J. Wilkinson, to visit Al 'Ubaid and Eridu in June 1990 (Fig. 1). During our visits we found indications of the firing of 'Ubaid pottery on the surfaces of both sites; this discovery was unexpected since the existence of pottery kilns had not been mentioned in the published accounts. The purpose of this note is to draw the attention of archaeologists to these remains, to describe them briefly and to discuss their significance.The opportunity to visit Al 'Ubaid and Eridu came during a reconnaissance of prehistoric sites in Iraq carried out with the encouragement of Dr Muayad Said Damerji, then Director General of the State Organization of Antiquities and Heritage in Iraq. I wish to thank Dr Damerji and his staff for the welcome they extended on that occasion and the assistance they provided. I also wish to express appreciation and thanks to T. J. Wilkinson, then the Assistant Director of the British Archaeological Expedition in Iraq and an old friend and colleague, who accompanied me on the reconnaissance and gave valuable help throughout.