Abstract. About three decades after the last prehistoric excavations in southern Mesopotamia, the new excavations in Area B of Tell Zurghul/Nigin have revealed a series of overlapped structures dated to the 5th millennium BCE (Ubaid 4 phase). Based on a typochronological approach, the paper provides an updated overview of the ceramic materials collected in the 2015-2019 campaigns at the site, together with a reanalysis of ceramic materials and contexts from coeval sites in southern Mesopotamia (in particular from Tell al-Muqayyar/Ur). The obtained results partially challenge the previously proposed phase classification (Ubaid 0-5) based on a stylistic approach and are intended as a first step towards the realisation of a ceramic periodisation focused on morphological aspects and strictly anchored to stratigraphy.