Further investigations as to the relationship of Samarran and Ubaid ceramic assemblages

Abstract

The Samarran ceramic assemblage of the Mesopotamian region has long remained an enigma. With the exception of the work of Braidwood et al. and Oates, the nature of the relationship between Samarran and other contemporary Mesopotamian and Iranian styles has not been systematically explored. This paper begins by challenging contemporary perceptions of the Samarran “culture” and continues by investigating the relationship of Samarran wares to those of the Hassuna and Ubaid traditions. Comparisons among these assemblages are made by means of recent miner-alogical data from the site of Tell 'Oueili (Tell 'Awayli) in southern Mesopotamia. The Ubaid 0 ceramic assemblage at Tell 'Oueili is seen to have a substantial Samarran component, and, in light of this information, new questions arise concerning the place of this style within the region. The data provided by Courtois and Velde are used to test the following hypotheses about Samarran ceramics: [1] that they were imported to the southern Mesopotamian plain, [2] that they were locally made in southern Mesopotamia, and [3] that they are an integral and undifferentiated part of the Ubaid 0 assemblage.