Beyond the Ubaid: Transformation and Integration in the Late Prehistoric Societies of the Middle East

Originally coined to signify a style of pottery in southern Iraq, and by extension an associated people and a chronological period, the term "Ubaid" is now often used loosely to denote a vast Near Eastern interaction zone, characterized by similarities in material culture, particularly ceramic styles, which existed during the sixth and fifth millennia B.C. This zone extended over 2,000 km from the shores of the Mediterranean to the Straits of Hormuz, including parts of Anatolia and perhaps even the Caucasus. The volume contains twenty-three papers that explore what the "Ubaid" is, how it is identified, and how the Ubaid in one location compares to another in a distant location. The papers are the result of "The Ubaid Expansion? Cultural Meaning, Identity and the Lead-up to Urbanism," an International Workshop held at Grey College, University of Durham, 20-22 April 2006.

Table of Contents

PART 1: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS:

1. DECONSTRUCTING THE UBAID. Robert A. Carter and Graham Philip

2. LOCAL IDENTITIES AND INTERACTION SPHERES: MODELING REGIONAL VARIATION IN THE UBAID HORIZON. Gil J. Stein

3. MORE THOUGHTS ON THE UBAID PERIOD. Joan Oates

4. THE HALAF-UBAID TRANSITION: A TRANSFORMATION WITHOUT A CENTER? Philip Karsgaard

5. QUESTIONING THE HALAF-UBAID TRANSITION. Stuart Campbell and Alexandra Fletcher

6. THE DEAD HAND OF DEIMEL. McGuire Gibson

PART 2: IDENTITY AND MATERIAL CULTURE:

7. PRACTICES OF DAILY LIFE IN FIFTH-MILLENNIUM B.C. IRAN AND MESOPOTAMIA. Susan Pollock

8. FIGURING OUT IDENTITY: THE BODY AND IDENTITY IN THE UBAID. Karina Croucher

9. UBAID HEADSHAPING: NEGOTIATIONS OF IDENTITY THROUGH PHYSICAL APPEARANCE? Kirsi O. Lorentz

10. A SNAKE IN THE GRASS: REASSESSING THE EVER-INTRIGUING OPHIDIAN FIGURINES. Aurelie Daems

11. THE TERM “HAJJI MUHAMMAD”: A RE-EVALUATION. Harriet Crawford

12. THE DEVELOPMENT OF WOOL EXPLOITATION IN UBAID-PERIOD SETTLEMENTS OF NORTH MESOPOTAMIA. Hiroshi Sudo

13. UBAID LITHICS REVISITED: THEIR SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF UBAID SOCIETY. Elizabeth Healey

14. BUTTRESS-RECESS ARCHITECTURE AND STATUS SYMBOLISM IN THE UBAID PERIOD. Uwe Sievertsen

PART 3: COMPARATIVE ANALYSES AND REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES 15. A MONUMENTAL FAILURE: THE COLLAPSE OF SUSA. Frank Hole

16. UBAID-RELATED-RELATED? THE “BLACK-ON-BUFF” CERAMIC TRADITIONS OF HIGHLAND SOUTHWEST IRAN. Lloyd Weeks, Cameron A. Petrie, and Daniel T. Potts

17. BAKUN-PERIOD SITES IN DARRE-YE BOLA-GHI, FARS. Barbara Helwing and Mojgan Seyedin

18. THE EMERGENCE OF UBAID STYLES AT TELL KURDU: A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE. Rana Özbal

19. AN ASPECT OF THE UBAID INTRUSION IN THE SYRIAN UPPER EUPHRATES VALLEY. Yayoi Yamazaki

20. THE UBAID IN THE BALIKH VALLEY, NORTHERN SYRIA: BALIKH PERIODS IV–V. Maria Giuseppina Trentin

21. NETWORKS OF INTERREGIONAL INTERACTION DURING MESOPOTAMIA’S UBAID PERIOD. Bradley J. Parker

22. EXPLORING SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS OF THE UBAID COMMUNITIES: A CASE STUDY OF DE?IRMENTEPE IN EASTERN TURKEY. Bekir Gurdil

23. GODEDZOR, A LATE UBAID-RELATED SETTLEMENT IN THE SOUTHERN CAUCASUS. Christine Chataigner, Pavel Avetisyan, Giulio Palumbi, and Hans-Peter Uerpmann