Pottery

Two very different kinds of pottery are found at H3. One of these is typical of Ubaid Mesopotamia: this is usually fine, pale brown or greenish in colour, and often has dark paint.

The painted motifs and the shapes of the vessels at H3 identify them as Ubaid 2/3 in date (Early Ubaid 3). There may be a chronological development in the assemblage, towards the mature Ubaid 3.

This Ubaid pottery is very distinctive, and its presence at sites in the Gulf is the basis of our knowledge of the interaction that took place between Arabia and Mesopotamia at this time.

The pottery of most of the other related sites in the Arabian Gulf is also Ubaid 2/3, though a small number have later Ubaid ceramics.

Nearly all the vessels at H3 are very fragmentary and damaged, but it is sometimes possible to reconstruct the shape and decoration.

Most of the Ubaid vessels from H3 are beakers or bowls, either with wide flaring rims or with slightly incurved sides. Jars are less common, but are sometimes found.

This is one of the things that makes us believe that the pottery itself was used as an item of exchange. If it was appearing in the Arabian Gulf simply because it was used to carry other goods, we might expect to find a higher proportion of storage jars. Many of the vessels at H3 have been repaired, by drilling small holes in the broken pieces and then binding them together. This suggests that pottery was a valued item.

There is variability within the Ubaid pottery. Varieties include a very fine greenish ware, used to make beakers, and large but very thin-walled bowls. Some of these vessels are so delicate that it is hard to imaging them being carried over long distances by people or pack animals. We therefore believe they were probably carried by boat.

The other variety of pottery is coarse and red or reddish-brown. It currently makes up 20% of the assemblage.

It only appears in one shape, a simple cooking pot, which has lugs, so it can be lifted easily on or off the fire.

It is a functional ware, designed for its usefulness rather than its appearance: there is no decoration, though woven impressions are sometimes found on the base, as a result of the vessel being formed by soft clay being pushed into or onto basketry.

Compositional and petrographic analysis has been undertaken on pottery from Ubaid-related sites in eastern Saudi Arabia (Oates et al. 1977). The analyses indicated a Mesopotamian origin for the fine greenish and brown pottery, both plain and painted. This confirmed the identification of the Ubaid ceramics, showing that it was being brought from Mesopotamia rather than being made locally.

Analysis of the coarse ware, however, suggested that this variety was made in the Arabian Gulf. We are having our pottery analysed by Dr Sophie Méry (CNRS), along with clay sample from nearby, in order to see whether it could have been made locally.