UBAID PERIOD

(C. 5500–4000 B.C.)

Prehistoric period named after the site Tell el-Ubaid, near Ur. It was the time when the first settlements appeared in the alluvial plains of southern Mesopotamia, with houses built of rammed earth. The characteristic pottery was hand shaped and hand painted. The goods deposited in Ubaid cemeteries, as well as the architectural evidence, seem to point to social stratification.

See also ERIDU.