426 ANNUAL KEPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 193 3 



feet below there were hundreds of stone objects to one of copper, 

 since in the Chalcolithic the emphasis was on the latter element of 

 the compound. Now the floors are literally green with patina. We 

 find knives and sickles, lance butts and spearheads, adzes and axes, 

 bowls and frying pans (pi. 4, fig. 2; pi, 5, fig. 1). There are also 

 delicate vanity sets, anklets, bracelets, hair ornaments, and a plenti- 

 tude of pins and needles (pi. 5, fig. 2). The metal age is upon us in 

 full force. 



The high temperatures required in the casting of copper are 

 applied also in the firing of pottery. The specimens are therefore 

 excellent from a technical standpoint, having often the firmness and 

 smoothness of polished stone. But painted decoration is not en- 

 couraged; very likely it would have been viewed as a waste of time. 

 The potter furnished also objects required in the ritual of the day; 

 fountainhead libation pots, too elaborate to be described here; 

 terra-cotta figurines of various animals, votive couches and chariots. 

 Among the latter the "covered wagon" (pi. 6, fig. 1) deserves 

 special attention since it represents a type foreign to this region, 

 but familiar in Trans-Caucasia. Obviously there was a good deal 

 of intercourse with the north. The chariots proper may have been 

 drawn by horses, for that animal is found represented among the 

 figurines. At any rate, the oft-repeated assumption that the horse 

 was brought to Mesopotamia about 2000 B.C. is no longer tenable. 

 It may have been rare and expensive 10 centuries earlier, but it was 

 not a complete stranger to the country. 



Among the most highly prized finds of Gawra VI are its cylinder 

 seals, which have supplanted the older stamp seals. Some of them 

 rival in workmanship the best specimens from Sumer. The deco- 

 rative motives are many and varied. Some are typically Sumerian, 

 while others disclose western and northern affiliations. Similarly 

 diversified as to origin are the amulets and figurines of stone and 

 alabaster (pi. 6, fig. 2), among which we discover good Aegean 

 types. This eclecticism is characteristic of the period as a whole. 

 The people of Gawra VI were a cosmopolitan community composed 

 of many elements. 



That they were an industrious group is seen, among other things, 

 from the quantities of loom weights and spindle whorls found at 

 this level. But life to them was not all work and fret. They had 

 their presumably harmless pleasures, as may be gathered from their 

 remarkably modern-looking game pieces (pi. 6, fig. 3). Was the 

 throw of the dice accompanied by an invocation to the goddess of 

 luck in the name of the infant that wanted a pair of sandals? 



The latest history of the site need not detain us long. Gawra V 

 is still able to support a massive shrine, but not much else. It takes 



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