Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C. c10.34

c10.34

The pottery of the *Al Ubaid Culture* shows clearly that it is derived from the Persian highlands, and its appearance marks the first colonization of the southern parts of Mesopotamia. The stratification of sites in the north shows that its spread to this region followed the Halaf phase, and its establishment in the south is not likely to be much earlier. Settlements and cemeteries are known; there was some use of copper; fields were tilled with stone hoes like those of Hassuna I; and houses built of stone or mud bricks. Recently too it has been discovered that monumental temples were built by the Al Ubaid folk, the plans of which foreshadow those of later times. At Ur, a ‘Flood’ occurred during this time, covering the site with a thick layer of river mud, and other important sites are Eridu (Abu Sharain, where the temples were excavated in 1946), Tell Uqair (Area IV), Uruk IX–XVIII, and Tepe Gawra XIII–XIX.