Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Geographical range | Mesopotamia |
|---|---|
| Period | Neolithic 3 – Pottery Neolithic (PN) |
| Dates | c. 5500–5000 BC |
| Type site | Tepe Gawra |
| Preceded by | Halaf culture |
| Followed by | Ubaid period |
| The Neolithic |
|---|
| ↑ Mesolithic |
| ↓ Chalcolithic |
The Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period or HUT (c. 5500/5400 to 5200/5000 BC) is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. It lies chronologically between the Halaf period and the Ubaid period. It is still a complex and rather poorly understood period.[1] At the same time, recent efforts were made to study the gradual change from Halaf style pottery to Ubaid style pottery in various parts of North Mesopotamia.
Archaeologically, the period has been studied anew recently by a number of scholars. The Halaf appears to have ended around 5200 BC, and the northern Ubaid begins around then. There are several sites that run from the Halaf until the Ubaid.
Previously, only two such sites were well known. The first of these, Tepe Gawra, was excavated in the 1930s when stratigraphic controls were lacking, causing difficulties in re-creating the sequence.[2] The second, Tell Aqab, remained largely unpublished.[3] This made definitive statements about the period difficult. But with the present state of archaeological knowledge, more certainty is emerging.
Sites with abrupt transition
Tell Arpachiyah and Tepe Gawra are the sites where the transition from Halaf to Ubaid were quite abrupt. No transitional levels were observed at these two important sites.[4]
