442 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 193 9 



geometric patterns, but naturalistic representations, especially of birds, 

 are not infrequent, and human figures are also present occasionally. 

 On one bowl, painted upside down, we find a curiously stylized picture 

 of a human being dancing (pi, 6, fig. 2) . From level XVII come frag- 

 ments of beakers decorated near the rim with rows of long-necked 

 birds, preciselj^ as on the celebrated tumblers from earliest Susa. 

 This correspondence should settle once and for all the protracted dis- 

 pute concerning the relative age of Susa I. We know now that the 

 magnificent fabrics from the lowest deposits of Susa date from about 

 the same time as early Obeid, and are consequently later than the 

 remains of the Halaf period. 



Fairly common are globular jars with long and rather narrow necks 

 and curvilinear ornamentation (pi. 3, fig. 2). A novel shape is pro- 

 vided by a number of boat-shaped vessels displaying a variety of geo- 

 metric designs (pi. 5, fig. 1). Most interesting, however, are the 

 tortoise-shaped vessels with long, obliquely set necks and separate, nar- 

 row openings in the sharply carinated bodies. They are profusely 

 decorated (pi. 4, fig. 1). Other pottery products include curved nails, 

 which are so intimately associated with the Obeid sites of the south 

 (pi. 4, fig. 2), painted figurines of the mother goddess (pi. 6, fig. 1) 

 and, finally, a rattle and a toy animal figurine found in a child's grave 

 from level' XVII (pi. 7, fig. 1). 



Perhaps this is a good time to comment on the appropriateness of 

 the designation "Obeid" which we have been using for the entire period 

 extending from Gawra XIX to XII. It commends itself by the inner 

 unity of some of its ceramic products, and by the further relationship 

 to significant elements of the Obeid deposits in southern Mesopotamia. 

 The main objection to this term, however, when applied to Gawra 

 and the north in general, is the implied suggestion that the corre- 

 spondence between north and south was complete in substance as it 

 was in time. This is not the case by any means. Gawra had been 

 settled, as was explained above, long before human occupation was 

 possible in the south. A strongly individualized civilization, termed 

 "Halaf," had been displaced by the inhabitants of Gawra XIX-XII. 

 Those predecessors did not disappear without leaving tangible traces 

 of their own achievements, and pottery had been one of the glories 

 of the Halafians. It follows that motifs of Halaf times were bound 

 to survive and carry over into the Obeid period. As a matter of fact, 

 Halafian pottery commingles with the new wares all the way up to 

 Gawra XV. Nor is this the only heterogeneous ingredient. Fully 

 as early as Obeid was the civilization named after Samarra, 80 miles 

 north of Baghdad. Now Samarra pottery differs basically from 

 Halaf wares, but exhibits numerous connections with Obeid fabrics, 

 so much so that the latter may be regarded as a southern specializa- 

 tion of Samarra. If we were to make minute distinctions, we should 



