Archaeological records indicate that the first archaeologist who excavated the Al Ubaid site, located in the southern part of Mesopotamia, in 1923, was a British intelligence agent named Henry Hall stationed in Baghdad.
Records also indicate that Hall first worked with well-known archaeologist Campbell Thompson in Nineveh — the fourth and the last capital of the Assyrian empire — before he conducted his digs at Al Ubaid site.
The limited excavation carried out by Hall at Al Ubaid mound gave the opportunity to Leonard Woolley, who was the head of the British team working at Ur, which is not far away from Al Ubaid mound, to continue excavations at the promising mound.
The results of the Woolley excavations at Al Ubaid revealed that the mound comprises three consecutive layers. They range in date between 6,500-3,800 BC.
The first layer, often called Eridu period, appeared to be limited to the southern parts of Mesopotamia before it was extended to both shores of the Arabian Gulf down to the Gulf of Oman.
The second layer, which can be dated to 4,800-4,500 BC, has witnessed permanent settlements in the southern and northern parts of Mesopotamia. Layer three (and four), on the other hand, range between 4,500BC and 3,800 BC and appear to have had witnessed intensive urban developments and overland and sea trade.
After the discovery of more sites attributed to the Al Ubaid culture in the southern and northern parts and Mesopotamia, archaeologists tend to classify the Al Ubaid culture as numerous villages comprising houses and temples built of mud-bricks, animal domestication, sickles made of over fired clay and the appearance of good quality of buff or greenish-coloured pottery. Some appear decorated with geometric designs in brown and sometimes black colour.
Al Ubaid culture in Qatar peninsula
Since the Danes started their excavations in Bahrain in 1953, excavations conducted later by other nationalities have found a number of sites attributed to the Al Ubaid culture in Bahrain and in different parts of the Arabian Gulf inland and near the shores.
As far as Al Ubaid sites in Qatar peninsula are concerned, they seem to have been found mainly clustered on the northern shores and inland of the peninsula rather than in its southern parts.
Chief among them are those found in the Al Khor area, Uwaynat Ali and Ras Abrook. However, the most prominent site attributed to the Al Ubaid culture found in the southern parts is located in the Sudaentheel area.
Last but not the least, the Al Ubaid culture discovered in Qatar seems no different from the Al Ubaid culture found in other parts of the Arabian Gulf states: Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, UAE and the eastern parts of Saudi Arabia. For example, they all share the typical pottery, burial mounds built of unshaped stones contain plain and painted pottery, stone tools, shells used as beads, and fish and animals bones.
Studies have also indicated that trade between Mesopotamia and the Arabian Gulf shores during the Al Ubaid period opened the door for wider trade and migration in later times.
The Peninsula
