Early State Formation in Southern Mesopotamia: Sea Levels, Shorelines, and Climate Change

Douglas J. Kennett1 and James P. Kennett2 1Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA 2Department of Earth Science and Marine Science Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara, California, USA

ABSTRACT

The evolution of the earliest complex state-level societies and cities from small sedentary communities took place in southern Mesopotamia between 8000 and 5000 cal yrs BP during the ‘Ubaid and Uruk periods. Attempts to explain this transition often discount the role of environmental change and tend to evaluate available archaeological evidence for urban-based state development either within a static environmental context or assuming conditions similar to those of the present. This practice is no longer tenable given newly available paleoenvironmental records for the region. Post-glacial sea-level rise resulted in the inundation and creation of the Arabo-Persian Gulf, and, as the marine transgression slowed in the Middle Holocene, rich coastal and aquatic habitats formed in southern Mesopotamia. These habitats favored the establishment and growth of ‘Ubaid Period communities and the efﬁcient transport of goods, ideas, and people throughout the region. High water tables also promoted early experimentation with irrigation agriculture and the expansion of these systems as populations grew and the humid conditions of the Early Holocene gave way to increasing aridity. We argue that the critical conﬂuence of eustatic and climatic changes unique to this circumscribed region favored the emergence of highly centralized, urban-based states.

Keywords paleoenvironment, sea-level rise, ‘Ubaid, Uruk, Mesopotamia

Received 1 July 2005; accepted 1 December 2005. Address correspondence to Douglas J. Kennett, Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA. E-mail: [email protected]

67 Douglas J. Kennett and James P. Kennett

INTRODUCTION level societies, including: (1) technological and agricultural innovation (Adams Southern Mesopotamia was the site of 1981, 2000b); (2) bureaucratic devel- the earliest large, highly integrated po- opment necessary to build, maintain, litical systems marked by administrative and manage large-scale irrigation nec- hierarchies and rulers with significant essary for agriculture (Wittfogel 1957, power and authority—so called state- 1981); (3) information processing and level societies (Rothman 2001, 2004). the development of centralization and As states developed in this region, peo- political hierarchies (Wright 1977, 1994, ple became differentiated socially, more 1998, 2001; Wright and Johnson, 1975, specialized economically, and highly 1985); (4) increasing warfare in an integrated and centralized politically environmentally and socially circum- (Flannery 1972). This process resulted scribed area (Carneiro 1988); (5) in- in greater interdependence and coop- creasing intra- and inter regional ex- eration between members of society, change, colonialism, and cross-cultural but it also required a majority of peo- contact (Algaze 1993, 2001b; Wright ple to relinquish autonomy and allow and Johnson 1975); and (6) religious others to have greater economic, social, ideology and the control or mobilization and political benefits. How and why of labor (Hole 1983). Proponents of this occurred in this region first, and multi-causal models suggest that state later in several other locations around development resulted from several inter- the world during the Middle and Late related factors, including characteristics Holocene, remains a central question of the regional environment (Adams in anthropological archaeology (e.g., 1981; Algaze 2001a; Crawford 1991; Adams 2000a; Algaze 2001a; Blanton Flannery 1972; Hole 1994; Kouchoukos et al. 1993; Feinman 2000; Feinman and 1999; Pournelle 2003; Redman 1978; Manzanilla 2000; Flannery 1998; Mar- Rothman 1994, 2004; Stein 1994, 2001; cus and Feinman 1998; Pollock 1999; Wilkinson 2003). Others have suggested Postgate 1992; Rothman 2004; Stein that state formation emerged as a result 1998, 2001; Yoffee 2005). of intrinsic human social interrelations Although there are indications for independent of environmental factors occupation earlier (see below), the first (Pollock 1992). evidence of permanent human settle- The processes leading to the emer- ment in southern Mesopotamia can be gence of state-level societies in south- traced to the beginning of the ‘Ubaid ern Mesopotamia were multivariate, Period at ∼8000 BP. Between 8000– but we argue that these developments 5500 BP, human populations increased should be considered within the con- and aggregated into small towns and text of environmental change (Aqrawi nucleated villages. These communities 2001; Eisenhauer et al. 1992; Fairbanks ultimately provided the foundation for 1989; Petit-Maire 1992; Sanlaville 1989; integrated state-level societies and urban Sirocko et al. 1993; Teller et al. 2000). centers that developed between 5500 Changes in environmental conditions and 5000 BP, with an associated com- are often thought to have played a major plex of technological innovations in- role in cultural demise (Hodell et al. cluding large-scale irrigation agriculture 1995; Issar 1995; Weiss 1997; Weiss et al. and writing. A number of theories have 1993). In contrast, the potential impor- been proposed as to what stimulated tance of climate and related environmen- formation of the earliest known state- tal change is less accepted as a critical

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variable in the development of cultural POSTGLACIAL ENVIRONMENTAL complexity, but has recently received CHANGE IN SOUTHERN increased attention (Hole 1994; Kennett MESOPOTAMIA and Kennett 2000; Sandweiss et al. 1999; Spier 1996). Except by Hole (1994; Southern Mesopotamia lies in present- see also Nutzel¨ 2004), however, there day southern Iraq at the head of the has been limited consideration of the Arabo-Persian Gulf. Modern climatic potential role of environmental change conditions are arid to semi-arid, with a in the evolution of the state in southern mean annual rainfall of 139 mm (ranging Mesopotamia, where the environment from 72 to 316 mm; Adams 1965). has been incorrectly characterized by Severe dust storms occur during the some archaeologists as stable during the summer months due to semi-permanent, Holocene (Pollock 1992). Evaluation of low-pressure zones over the Gulf that the available paleoenvironmental data draw hot, dry winds across the alluvial demonstrates distinct correlations be- plain. Because of the region’s extreme tween the timing of Holocene environ- aridity, agriculture is limited largely to mental changes and cultural changes. the floodplains of the Tigris-Euphrates- These correlations, by themselves, do Karun rivers that converge in an exten- not prove causality but must be con- sive wetland region associated with the sidered when evaluating the timing and El Schatt Delta. nature of emergent cultural complexity The Arabo-Persian Gulf is roughly in this region. 1,000 km long and ranges from 350 km We propose that this development to as little as 5 km wide at the was stimulated, in part, by increased Straits of Hormuz, where it joins the competition for resources caused by suc- Gulf of Oman in the northern Indian cessive changes in sea-level, shorelines, Ocean. This is the shallowest inland and climate specific to this region. In seaofsignificantareaintheworld, particular, the expansion and ultimate the bathymetry reflecting a gently in- stabilization of aquatic habitats associ- clined basin with a mean depth of only ated with the marine transgression— 40 m and almost nowhere exceeding habitats more productive than they 100 m except near the Straits of Hormuz are today—favored increased popula- (Figure 1c) (Purser and Seibold 1973; tion densities and early group formation, Sarnthein 1971; Seibold and Vollbrecht community stability, enhanced maritime 1969). Late Quaternary changes in sea trade, and the emergence of social hi- level played a major role in shaping erarchies. The natural diversity of re- the environment of this region (Cooke sources in coastal/aquatic habitats, in 1987; Gunatilaka 1986; Sanlaville 1989; combination with newly domesticated Teller et al. 2000). Although southern plants and animals, provided the eco- Mesopotamia is located on a subsiding nomic foundation for these developing sedimentary basin (Lees and Falcon communities, as they did elsewhere 1952), tectonic influences on eustacy, during the Early and Middle Holocene including subsidence, are considered (Binford 1968; Blake and Clark 1994; to have been relatively minor com- Moseley 1975). In this paper we de- pared with glacioeustatic effects during scribe these changes within the con- the last 15,000 years (Aqrawi 2001; text of cultural development and dis- Cooke 1987; Gunatilaka 1986; Lambeck cuss the possible implications of these 1996; Macfadyen and Vita-Finzi 1978; interrelationships. Sanlaville 1989). This perspective differs

JOURNAL OF ISLAND & COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY 69 Douglas J. Kennett and James P. Kennett

Figure 1. a, b: Sea-level change during the last 18,000 years (Fairbanks 1989; Lighty et al. 1982; Sanlaville 1989; Yafeng et al. 1993). Solid line in b shows well-established sea-level curve based on Caribbean corals (Fairbanks 1989; Lighty et al. 1982); dashed line is local sea-level curve estimated for northern Arabo-Persian Gulf (Sanlaville 1989; Yafeng et al. 1993). All radiocarbon dates have been calibrated to calendar years (BP). c: Modern bathymetry of the Arabo-Persian Gulf (adapted from Sarnthein 1972). (kyr = thousand years)

70 VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 1 • 2006 Early State Formation in Mesopotamia from an earlier, widely accepted view ing Quaternary low sea-level stands, im- that the balance between sedimenta- plying substantial river flow. At this time, tion and subsidence rates in southern the modern delta did not exist in south- Mesopotamia maintained the Gulf shore- ern Mesopotamia (Figures 3) and narrow line and delta close to their present- floodplains were restricted to the incised day positions throughout the Holocene river canyons. Severe aridity at this time and that inland incursions of the ocean is indicated by the presence of drowned resulted from subsidence (Lees and ridge and trough features in the north- Falcon 1952). ern Arabo-Persian Gulf, interpreted as Environmental conditions during fossil sand-dune fields (Sarnthein 1971), the latest Pleistocene through Middle and supported by sedimentological Holocene were different from those of (Diester-Haass 1973; Sarnthein 1972) today in southern Mesopotamia and the and oxygen isotopic data (Sirocko et al. Gulf region. About 15,000 BP, global 1993). sea level was still 100 m below present After 15,000 BP, marine transgres- (Figure 1a,b; Fairbanks 1989). Due to the sion formed the Arabo-Persian Gulf (Fig- shallowness of the Arabo-Persian Gulf, ure 2b–f). Sea-level rise during this in- late Quaternary marine transgression terval was highly variable, but averaged associated with deglaciation was only ∼1 cm per year until ∼9000 BP (Figure beginning to enter this dry, subaerial 1a), after which the rate of rise slowed basin through the Straits of Hormuz (Fairbanks 1989; Lighty et al. 1982; (Figure 2a; Lambeck 1996; Vita-Finzi Warne and Stanley 1993). The pattern 1978). Calcareous detritus in peri-coastal of global sea-level change after 9000 BP dunes in the United Arab Emirates has yet to be firmly established. Sea-level was wind-transported from the exposed curves from the western Atlantic (Lighty Gulf floor during the Late Pleistocene et al. 1982) and southeastern Mediter- (100,000 to 12,000 BP; Teller et al. ranean (Warne and Stanley 1993) show a 2000). At this time, the Tigris-Euphrates- slow rise with a steadily decreasing rate Karun River system flowed into the Gulf (average ∼0.3 cm per year) from 7000 of Oman as the Ur-Schatt (ancient Schatt) BP to the present (Figure 1b). In these River (Gunatilaka 1986; Seibold and Voll- curves, rates of rise are especially slow brecht 1969), which traversed the full after 5500 BP. This pattern contrasts length of the Gulf in its deepest present- with sea-level rise estimates based on day sector. The Ur-Schatt River flowed western Australian evidence of ∼0.7 cm in an incised canyon, now completely per year from 9800 BP to a maximum submerged, but still evident in the high stand at 6300 BP, followed by a present-day bathymetry of the middle to slight decrease in sea level inferred to be lower Gulf (Sarnthein 1971; Seibold and associated with a cessation of polar ice- Vollbrecht 1969). This canyon was sheet melting (Eisenhauer et al. 1992). In formed by downcutting during low sea spite of these differences, it is clear that levels of the last glaciation. A deep-sea the rate of global sea-level rise decreased canyon extending southwards from the significantly between 6300 and 5500 BP. head of the Gulf of Oman (Seibold and Rapid rise in sea level during the early Ulrich 1970) was almost certainly cut Holocene (Siddall et al. 2003) of ∼1cm by turbidity currents carrying sediments per year created a lateral marine trans- southward. Large volumes of sediment gression in the Arabo-Persian Gulf of appear to have been transported to the ∼110 m per year, one of the highest rates Gulf of Oman by the Ur-Schatt River dur- known for any region. The early stages of

JOURNAL OF ISLAND & COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY 71 Douglas J. Kennett and James P. Kennett

Figure 2. Maps of successive time intervals showing the marine transgression into the Arabo- Persian Gulf during late Pleistocene-early/middle Holocene. Sea-level estimates from Fairbanks (1989) and based on modern bathymetry (Sarnthein 1972). Position of the Ur-Schatt River (ancient Schatt River) estimated from bathymetry (Sarnthein 1972). Marine transgression in southern Mesopotamia at 6000 BP (f) adapted from Sanlaville (1989) and shown in detail in Figure 4.

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Figure 3. Schematic cross sections showing inferred three stages in evolution of the delta region of southern Mesopotamia during the latest Quaternary.

JOURNAL OF ISLAND & COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY 73 Douglas J. Kennett and James P. Kennett

Figure 4. Estimated shoreline at 6000 BP in southern Mesopotamia superimposed on present-day geography. Triangles show locations of early settlements and dots indicate modern cities (adapted from Sanlaville 1989).

this transgression (∼15,000 and 11,000 between ∼10,000 and 6000 BP. This BP) ﬁlled mainly the deeply incised interpretation is based on a variety of canyon of the Ur-Schatt River in its lower indicators, including sedimentological to middle reaches. The transgression evidence for increased river runoff into later inundated the broader, shallower the Arabo-Persian Gulf (Diester-Haass Gulf region (Figure 4). Most notable 1973), speleothem records from Israel rapid rises in sea level in the Arabo- and Oman (Bar-Matthews et al. 1997; Persian Gulf occurred between 12,000 Burns et al. 1998, 2001), pollen evidence and 11,500 BP and again from 9500 to for more widespread, less arid vege- 8500 BP, and during these periods the tation, and the presence of inter-dune lateral transgression probably exceeded lakes on the Arabian Peninsula (Lezine´ 1 km per year (Teller et al. 2000: et al. 1998; McClure 1976; Roberts and 306).1 Wright 1993; Rossignol-Strick 1987; Inundation of the Arabo-Persian Gulf Street-Perrott and Roberts 1983) and in coincided with an interval of increased southern Mesopotamia (Wright 1993; seasonal rainfall across the Arabian Yan and Petit-Maire 1994) between Peninsula and southern Mesopotamia 9000 to 6000 BP. Moister conditions

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Figure 5. Correlations between late Quaternary climatic changes (1000 BP = kyr; Almogi-Labin et al. 1991; Sirocko et al. 1993) and major cultural periods (a) in southern Mesopotamia (Adams and Nissen 1972; Rothman 2004; Wright and Rupley 2001; see also Endnote 2). Fluctuations in dolomite abundance (peak area) values (b) during late Quaternary in sediment core from Arabian Gulf reﬂect changes in aridity in Arabia–southern Mesopotamia region (Sirocko et al. 1993). The gray band on the dolomite curve represents interval of highest humidity. Shown at right is the percent change in solar radiation (d) in the Northern Hemisphere in summer (June–August) and winter (December–February) during the last 18,000 years, resulting from the earth’s orbital perturbations (Kutzbach and Guetter 1986; Kutzbach and Gallimore 1988). This change caused summers to be warmer and winters colder in Arabia and southern Mesopotamia, with seasonal differences and inferred strength of summer monsoons peaking at ∼9000–10,000 BP. Note relationship with humid-arid cycles in the Red Sea region (c), representing a synthesis of changes in lake levels, vegetation history, and sediment data (Almogi-Labin et al. 1991).

are also inferred from an extensive and 8600 BP is also inferred from network of ephemeral channels (wadis) an absence of dolomite at this time over the Arabian Peninsula that run into in a sediment core from the Gulf of the Arabo-Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea Oman (Sirocko et al. 1993) (Figure 5b). (Dabbagh et al. 1998; Hotzl¨ et al. 1984) Under arid conditions, dolomite is and appear to have been more active formed in coastal, supra-tidal evaporitic during the Late Pleistocene and Early environments (sabkas) in the Gulf Holocene (Wilkinson 2003). Increased region and wind-transported to the rainfall in this region between ∼10,000 Gulf of Oman. Overall, Early Holocene

JOURNAL OF ISLAND & COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY 75 Douglas J. Kennett and James P. Kennett climatic conditions in Arabia were and Street-Perrott 1985; Pachur and semiarid (∼250–300 mm annual Kropelin¨ 1987, 1989; Petit-Maire rainfall) compared with the aridity 1986, 1990, 1992; Ritchie et al. 1985; there today (50–100 mm annual rainfall) Street-Perrott et al. 1985; Street-Perrott (Whitney et al. 1983). and Perrott 1990), coinciding with Paleoceanographic and terrestrial the so-called hypsithermal climatic climatic records in the Red Sea region interval (COHMAP 1988; Gasse et al. indicate relatively humid conditions 1991; Kutzbach and Street-Perrot between ∼12,000 and 6000 BP 1985; Lamb 1977; Petit-Maire 1986). (Almogi-Labin et al. 1991), with the Pollen (Lezine´ et al. 2002; Roberts and wettest interval occurring between Wright 1993; Rossignol-Strick 1987), ∼10,000 and 7800 BP (Haynes et al. lake level (McClure 1976), and marine 1989; Street-Perrott and Perrott 1990; sediment (Diester-Haass 1973; Sirocko Figure 5c). A significant regional et al. 1993) data indicate that humid increase in rainfall between 11,700 and conditions persisted until ∼6000 BP, 5400 BP has also been inferred from a although a gradual decrease in humidity decrease in oxygen isotopic values in had begun after ∼8000 BP (Ritchie planktonic foraminifera and pteropods et al. 1985; Vita-Finzi 1978). Analysis in a Red Sea core (21◦N), interpreted to of paleoclimatic data suggests that reflect decreased surface-water salinities Southwest Indian monsoon strength (Rossignol-Strick 1987). The amount of for the broader Asia-East African region continental freshwater runoff at this was greatest between 11,000 and 5000 time was sufficiently large to decrease BP (Overpeck et al. 1996), but in the surface-water salinities in the Red Sea Middle East, maximum activity seems to relative to present-day values. Inferred have occurred between 9000 and 7000 low salinities peaked between ∼8500 BP (Bar-Matthews et al. 1997; Lezine´ and 6700 BP, then increased until et al. 1998; Yan and Petit-Maire 1994). 5400 BP, when average post-glacial The marine transgression reached values were reached (Rossignol-Strick the present-day northern Gulf area be- 1987). Wet (humid) conditions between tween 9000 and 8000 BP (Aqrawi 2001; 9200 and 7250 BP in this region are Gunatilaka 1986; Lambeck 1996), inun- confirmed based on increases in dating the entrenched Ur-Schatt River terrigenous sediment input and valley and forming an extensive marine decreased surface-water salinities, estuary in the location of the present as reflected by oxygen isotopes in delta area. The modern delta has since foraminifera species in sediment cores filled the estuary (Aqrawi 2001; Cooke from the northernmost Red Sea (Arz 1987). Movement of the coastline asso- et al. 2003; see Figure 6). These data ciated with the marine transgression was are consistent with pollen records and so rapid that sedimentation would have evidence for high lake levels, indicating been minimal in the newly developing, Early Holocene (10,000–5500 BP) open estuary and no delta would have increases in precipitation and a pluvial formed (Cooke 1987). From ∼9000 BP maximum (∼10,000–7000 BP) in the onward, and particularly after ∼6000 to Levant (Issar 2003) and throughout 5500 BP, sea-level rise slowed globally sub-Saharan Africa (Ambrose and (Figure 1a,b; Fairbanks 1989; Lighty et al. Sikes 1991; COHMAP 1988; Gasse 1982) or possibly reached a Holocene et al. 1990, 1991; Haynes et al. 1989; maximum at ∼6000 BP (Eisenhauer Haynes and Mead 1987; Kutzbach et al. 1992; Yafeng et al. 1993). In the

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Figure 6. Comparison of four climate records from the eastern Mediterranean–Red Sea regions showing early Holocene humidity and the onset of regional drying after ∼7000 BP (adapted from Arz et al. 2003). Major cultural periods shown at bottom of ﬁgure. (kyr = thousand years)

JOURNAL OF ISLAND & COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY 77 Douglas J. Kennett and James P. Kennett northern Arabo-Persian Gulf, sea level evidence including an abrupt increase reached its current elevation at 6000 in aeolian sediment and dune formation BP, was possibly 2.5 m higher between on the southern periphery of the Arabo- 6000 and 5000 BP or longer (Lambeck Persian Gulf at 6000 BP (United Arab 1996), and thereafter was relatively sta- Emirates; Bray and Stokes 2004). Evi- ble, close to present-day levels (Al-Asfour dence from the Red Sea region indicates 1978; Sanlaville 1989). Sediments from a marked trend toward increasing aridity boreholes in the Tigris-Euphrates Delta between 7000 and 5000 BP (Almogi- indicate marine-brackish conditions in Labin et al. 1991; Arz et al. 2003). Pro- the vicinity of Fao at ∼9000 BP, near nounced regional desiccation by 5000 Basra at 8000 BP, and as far north as BP dried up lakes in the region encom- Nisiriyya by 6000 BP (Aqrawi 2001: 275). passing Arabia, the Red Sea, and sub- By ∼6000 BP, estuaries had expanded Saharan Africa (Almogi-Labin et al. 1991; to their northernmost limits. Marine McClure 1976; Pachur and Kropelin¨ deposits of 7000 BP age have been re- 1989; Ritchie et al. 1985; Roberts and ported inland (80–100 km) at Lake Ham- Wright 1993; Sukumar et al. 1993). mar, and estuarine deposits of this age Developing aridity also led to increased are also known in cores 40 km farther dust transport evident in the Arabian Sea to the northwest (Hudson et al. 1957; after 5300 BP (Sirocko et al. 1993). In Sanlaville 1989). The northernmost sub-Saharan Africa, lake level and pollen known extent of estuarine sediments in records also indicate that regional des- boreholes of Holocene age is 400 km iccation became widespread between inland from the present head of the 6000 and 5000 BP (deMenocal et al. Gulf (Cooke 1987). Estuarine sediments 2000; Ritchie et al. 1985; Roberts 1989). from boreholes containing foraminifera, Major deceleration of sea-level rise marine mollusks, and other marine fos- after the Middle Holocene led to sed- sils reflect brackish to marine conditions iment infilling of the estuary, acceler- during the Middle Holocene near the ated by erosion (Cooke 1987; Melguen ancient city of Ur on the Euphrates 1973). Southeastward progradation of (Aqrawi 2001; Sanlaville 1989) and at the Mesopotamian Delta commenced, Amarah on the Tigris (Aqrawi 2001; Mac- eventually extending ∼200 km to the fadyen and Vita-Finzi 1978). Estuaries southeast. This process led to the de- probably extended even farther north- velopment of extensive wetland areas ward following the Tigris-Euphrates- (Larsen and Evans 1978; Sanlaville 1989). Karun River canyons and formed a The trend toward increasing aridity variety of productive wetland habitats in the broad region continued through throughout this region (Pournelle 2003). the Late Holocene. Aeolian deposits Extensive floodplains and associated within deltaic sediments were most high water tables would have formed pronounced in southern Mesopotamia during the Middle Holocene with de- between 5000 and 4000 BP and point celeration of sea-level rise as it began to severe aridity during this interval to approach present levels, with the (Aqrawi 1993, 1995, 2001). Archaeolog- consequent development of a complex ical evidence for the abandonment of mosaic of aquatic habitats (estuaries, settlements also suggests that southern rivers, wetlands, and marshes).2 Mesopotamia became extremely arid By the Middle Holocene, regional cli- during the Late Holocene (Nissen 1988; matic conditions had become more arid. Weiss et al. 1993; Wright 1981). Flood This change is indicated by a diversity of levels in the Nile also declined between

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5000 and 4000 BP (Roberts 1989) and about 9000 BP (Prell 1984). Northern central African rift lakes desiccated com- summer monsoons were stronger be- pletely between 3400 and 3000 BP tween 12,000 and 6000 BP in conjunc- (Ambrose and Sikes 1991). tion with increased summer radiation The changes in Holocene precip- (COHMAP 1988). Associated summer itation and associated shifts of the monsoon precipitation over tropical Sudanian-Sahelian vegetation belt over lands increased ∼10%–20% (Kutzbach north Africa (Roberts 1989), the Arabian and Guetter 1986). The broad arid- Peninsula, and southern Mesopotamia humid-arid cycle of the Middle East re- have been linked to changing intensifi- gion during the last 18,000 years, includ- cation of summer monsoons related to ing in southern Mesopotamia (Roberts northward shift of the Inter-tropical Con- and Wright 1993), was controlled largely vergence Zone and the influence of a by this change in the seasonal cycle. more moist westerly airstream affecting Increased monsoonal strength during the Mediterranean region (Clemens et al. the Early Holocene led to the higher 1996; COHMAP 1988; Kutzbach 1983; annual precipitation as far north as Kutzbach and Guetter 1986; Roberts southern Mesopotamia (Kutzbach and and Wright 1993; Street-Perrott and Gallimore 1988; Kutzbach and Guetter Roberts 1983). Holocene fluctuations in 1986; Roberts and Wright 1993; Whit- the strength of the South Asian mon- ney et al. 1983). Conditions further soon in the Middle East region resulted north remained relatively dry (Kutzbach from differential thermal response of and Guetter 1986; Roberts and Wright land and ocean surfaces due to orbitally 1993). After ∼5500 BP, weakening of caused (Milankovitch) changes in the the monsoons led to increasing aridity strength of the seasonal cycle and solar over the Arabian Peninsula (Sirocko et al. radiation in the Northern Hemisphere 1993). (Clemens et al. 1996; Kutzbach and Gallimore 1988; Kutzbach and Guet- ter 1986). At 9000 BP, orbital pertur- STATE DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTHERN bations of the earth were such that MESOPOTAMIA theperihelionoccurredinJulyrather than January, as it does today, and the States with well-developed urban cen- axial tilt of the earth was greater than ters and administrative hierarchies first it is now. As a result, July (summer) appeared in southern Mesopotamia average solar radiation in the North- about 5000 BP (Late Uruk or LC5; Adams ern Hemisphere was ∼7% higher than 1981; Johnson 1973; Nissen 1988, 2001; today (Kutzbach and Gallimore 1988; Pollock 1999; Postgate 1992; Rothman Kutzbach and Guetter 1986). This ad- 2004; Wright and Johnson 1975; Yoffee ditional radiation caused summers to be 2005 [Figure 5a]). The people of south- warmer and winters colder in Arabia and ern Mesopotamia were on the leading southern Mesopotamia, with seasonal edge of what Childe (1950) referred differences peaking at ∼9000 to 10,000 to as the second great revolution—the BP. The resulting increase in airflow integrationoflargenumbersofpeople over Arabia from the Indian Ocean, into one social, economic, and political associated with southwest summer mon- system ruled by an elite class with soons, led to higher seasonal precipita- the help of an elaborate administrative tion (Kutzbach and Guetter 1986) and hierarchy. Archaic states spread quickly upwelling near south Arabia that peaked in the Near East after this time and

JOURNAL OF ISLAND & COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY 79 Douglas J. Kennett and James P. Kennett developed independently in other parts and Belfer-Cohen 1989; Bar-Yosef and of the world, including Mesoamerica, Meadow 1995; Flannery 1969; Garrard South America, and China (Feinman 1999; Harris 1996, 1998; Henry 1989; and Marcus 1998). The development of McCorriston and Hole 1991; Meadow social differentiation, economic special- 1996; Zeder and Hesse 2000). This was ization, and ultimately political central- a time of early development of agricul- ization culminating in the emergence of ture and animal domestication (Smith state-level societies is a central archae- 1998); emergence of small villages, some ological research question addressed of which were fortified; and pottery from a variety of perspectives (Blanton manufacturing in various locations (Red- et al. 1993; Feinman and Marcus 1998; man 1978). Early agricultural villages Flannery 1972; Pollock 1999). Southern in northern Mesopotamia (e.g., Tell es- Mesopotamia has played an important Sawwan) were generally limited in size role in the modeling of state origins to a few hundred people engaged in and the emergence of centralized ad- simple agriculture and animal domesti- ministrative hierarchies because of the cation (Moore 1985). We suspect that long tradition of research in the region at this time people were living along (Rothman 2004; Yoffee 2005). the Ur-Schatt and associated floodplains, Origins of the first city dwellers in a natural corridor connecting northern southern Mesopotamia have long been Mesopotamia with the interior shallow debated and are crucial for understand- basin known today as the Arabo-Persian ing the social, economic, and political Gulf. This basin was then undergoing processes culminating in the state (see rapid marine transgression and stories Bottero´ 2001; Frankfort 1956; Kramer resulting from this inundation may be 1963; Meissner 1920; Oates 1991; Potts the source of biblical flood mythology 1997; Speiser 1930). Similarities of ar- (Potts 1996; Teller et al. 2000). Evidence chitecture and ceramic styles in south- for settlements along the Ur-Schatt River ern Mesopotamia from the Early ‘Ubaid has since been obscured by flooding through Late Uruk periods (∼8000 to and/or covered by sediments. 5000 BP) suggest a certain degree of Some archaeological evidence exists demographic and cultural continuity, for a pre-‘Ubaid occupation along the rather than the intrusion of outside peo- northeast coast of the Arabo-Persian ples, prior to the emergence of the state Gulf. Furthermore, Neolithic stone-tool (Oates 1960). Population continuity is assemblages (Arabian bifacial tradition; also indicated by a series of superim- Potts 1997:52) dating to between 9600 posed temples at the site of Eridu during and 5500 BP are also common near this interval (Oates 1960; Potts 1997:47). now-desiccated inland lakes across the This was the period when some small vil- Arabian Peninsula (Edens 1982; Edens lages grew in size relative to neighboring and Wilkinson 1998; Potts 1993, 1997; settlements and ultimately became the Uerpmann 1992; Zarins et al. 1981) and first state centers in which social and at several locations along the western political hierarchies developed. edge of the Arabo-Persian Gulf by at least The settlement history of people in 7300 BP (Beech et al. 2005; Connan southern Mesopotamia prior to 8000 et al. 2005; Glover 1998). Visible ar- BP is far from clear. A transition from chitecture is rarely encountered at Ara- mobile hunting and gathering to seden- bian Neolithic sites, with the exception tary agriculture is evident in west Asia of small stone structures reported at between 12,000 and 8000 BP (Bar-Yosef several coastal locations (e.g., Kuwait

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[Connan et al. 2005]; Qatar [Inizan of a pre-‘Ubaid occupation earlier than 1988]; Marawah Island, United Arab 8000 BP in southern Mesopotamia (see Emirates [Beech et al. 2005]). Artifact Oates 1960, 2004). Exploration for pre- and faunal/floral assemblages from these ‘Ubaid sites is impeded by thick allu- sites suggest that people combined vial sediments deposited since the near- sheep and goat herding with small- stabilization of sea level at ∼6200 BP and game hunting, the collection of local a water table that is higher than when grasses, and even periodic cereal-crop sites of this age were occupied. Even farming (Potts 1993, 1997). This form of early ‘Ubaid sites in the region (e.g., Hajji subsistence was combined with fishing, Muhammad) are deeply buried under shellfishing and other marine resources alluvium (Huot 1989), so it is likely that (e.g., sea turtles; Beech et al. 2005) sites of this age are more numerous. Sev- at several sites along the Arabo-Persian eral sites are now known to contain pre- Gulf (Connan et al. 2005; Glover 1998). ‘Ubaid ceramics comparable in form to These data indicate a mixed foraging Samarran and Choga Mami assemblages and food-producing strategy comparable from central and northern Mesopotamia to what Smith (2001) has described as (WS 298 [Adams and Nissen 1972] and low-level food production. Stone tool Tell Oueli [Calvet 1989; Huot 1989; assemblages dating to ∼8000 BP are also see also Potts 1997]). Tell Oueli is the known from wadi systems in western most impressive of these sites, with Iraq that flow into the Euphrates River early levels, now designated as Ubaid 0 (Zarins 1990). Similar stone tool assem- (∼8000 BP; Oates 2004), that are 5 m blages, although poorly described, are thick in places and contain ceramics documented in southern Mesopotamia and cigar-shaped building bricks remi- (Potts 1997:53; Zarins 1992), where they niscent of those from cultural traditions were found at Ur (Woolley 1955), near in northern and central Mesopotamia Eridu (Potts 1997), and at Tell Oueli and (Huot 1989). These findings are consis- Tello (Cauvin 1979; Inizan and Tixier tent with the idea of a small, relatively 1983). Pre-ceramic sites on the eastern sedentary population living around wet- fringe of southern Mesopotamia (Tell lands at the head of the Arabo-Persian Rihan III in the Hamrin and Choga Gulf as sea-level rise slowed. Whether Banut in Kuzistan) dating to ∼8500 BP they moved into this area as sea level also suggest linkages between people was stabilizing or were pushed from the living in the Zagros and in the south- south with rapid sea-level rise remains ern alluvium (Aurenche 1987). Over- unresolved, but if biblical flood mythol- all, the archaeological record for this ogy originates in southern Mesopotamia, period suggests that significant popula- it is likely that at least a portion of the tions lived across the desert regions of resident population on the floodplains Arabia and Mesopotamia, practicing a of the Ur-Schatt River were displaced diverse range of subsistence strategies to the north because of this marine tied to a variety of aquatic habitats (e.g., transgression (Potts 1996; Teller et al. lakes, springs, creeks, rivers) resulting 2000). from the northward shift of the south By the beginning of the ‘Ubaid Asian monsoon belt during the Early to Period (∼8000 BP), small villages and Middle Holocene. towns were more common across The presence of stone tools com- greater Mesopotamia. Much of this re- parable to the southern Arabian biface gion was linked through social net- tradition is consistent with the idea works, and similarities in artifacts

JOURNAL OF ISLAND & COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY 81 Douglas J. Kennett and James P. Kennett indicate widespread exchange of goods economy developed during the ‘Ubaid and knowledge. The archaeological Period, based upon small-scale agricul- record suggests distinctive demographic ture with an emphasis on salt-tolerant trends in southern Mesopotamia and the crops, animal (e.g., oxen) domestica- Susiana Plain during this time. Larger tion, hunting, fishing, and trade (Huot numbers of known settlements dating 1989; Sanlaville 1989; Woolley 1929:14). to the early ‘Ubaid Period result from By middle ‘Ubaid times (‘Ubaid a combination of greater archaeological 2–3), some communities in southern visibility (larger sites visible above allu- Mesopotamia and grown larger than vium), and increases in regional popu- their neighbors, a two-tiered settlement lation. At this time the communities of system that often marks the emergence Eridu, ‘Usaila, Ur, and Tell al-‘Ubaid were of hierarchically organized (non-state) small, averaging about one hectare in societies (Stein 1994; Wright 1981). size, with estimated populations seldom Important centers included Eridu, Ur, exceeding 1,000 people. These small and Uquir (Adams 1981; Wright 1981; communities were widely dispersed and Wright and Pollock 1986). Eridu and Ur lacked the linear distribution typical were particularly large by this time, both of settlements dependent on irrigation having grown to between 9 and 10 ha in canals (Adams 1981:59), although irriga- size and with estimated populations of tion agriculture was practiced elsewhere 2,000 to 3,000 people (Adams 1981). A in Mesopotamia and was employed in similar pattern occurred on the adjacent some parts of the southern alluvial Susiana Plain (in southwestern Iran), plain (Oates and Oates 1976; Wilkin- where Choga Mish expanded rapidly to son 2003). The carbonized remains of 11 ha, dwarfing other agricultural com- Triticum monococcum (einkorn) and munities in the region (Wright and John- Hordeum vogare (barley) in ‘Ubaid 0 son 1985). As some communities ex- (∼8000–7500 BP) levels at Tell Oueli panded in size within the Mesopotamian also suggest that some form of irriga- heartland, ‘Ubaid Period ceramics ap- tion was in use (Huot 1989, 1996), pear in Neolithic settlements and shell or that the higher humidity evident in middens along the east coast of the Early Holocene climate records was suffi- Arabian Peninsula (Glover 1998; Masry cient to sustain rain-fed agriculture, per- 1974; Oates et al. 1977; Potts 1993; haps in combination with opportunistic Uerpmann and Uerpmann 1996; Zarins use of seasonally receding flood zones et al. 1981). The appearance of ‘Ubaid or the higher water tables close to Period ceramics is associated with the the head of the Gulf (Kouchoukos first evidence for a maritime trade net- 1999). Early settlements were located work, suggested by the remains of a on slight rises (turtle backs) within barnacle-covered reed and bituminous aquatic habitats resulting from seasonal boat from coastal Kuwait (Site H3, monsoonal rains or in the wetlands at As-Sabiyah; ‘Ubaid 3, 7300–6900 BP; the head of the Arabo-Persian Gulf as Carter 2002, 2003; Connan et al. 2005). sea-level rise slowed (Pournelle 2003). Population expansion continued across Such locations were at the interface the southern Mesopotamian alluvium between fresh and salt water and were in late ‘Ubaid times (‘Ubaid 3–4) and optimal for fresh water accessibility, a network of large and small settle- hunting/fishing, transportation, and irri- ments developed with economies based gation agriculture (Oates 1960). Within on irrigation agriculture (Wright 1981; this aquatic context, a broad-spectrum Wright and Pollock 1986). With this

82 VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 1 • 2006 Early State Formation in Mesopotamia expansion, elements of material culture These temples occur at focal settlements associated with the ‘Ubaid Period (e.g., throughout the region, a pattern that re- uniform pottery style [Berman 1994]; mained remarkably stable for 1,500 years other clay objects and cone-head fig- (Stein 1994). Temples were rectangular urines, sickles, and “nails” [Roaf 1984; in form, oriented to the cardinal direc- Wright and Pollock 1986]; and archi- tions, and contained altars and offering tecture [Huot 1989]) first appear in tables. A series of superimposed temples northern Mesopotamia (Rothman 2002; excavated at the important center of Stein 1994; Tobler 1950), a pattern inter- Eridu suggests continuity in settlement preted as political integration centered and social organization at this location on the southern alluvium (Algaze 1993) throughout the ‘Ubaid Period (Oates or cultural replication due to contact 1960). The first temple in this sequence with people to the south (Stein 1994). was constructed during the ‘Ubaid 1 Interestingly, there is little evidence for phase and subsequent temples were warfare in southern Mesopotamia until larger and more elaborate. Offerings the end of the ‘Ubaid Period. Settlements associated with these temples indicate were not fortified and ‘Ubaid seals do that aquatic resources (e.g., fish) played not show war-related depictions. In con- a central role in this society (Bottero´ trast, warfare in northern Mesopotamia 2001). The economic importance of es- during this period is suggested by the tuarine and riverine fish is also indicated presence of fortified settlements and by faunal remains in ‘Ubaid 4 levels at interpreted as evidence for intrusive Tell Oueli (Huot 1989). It is possible ‘Ubaid expansion from the south (Stein that the ideological system represented 1994). by the ‘Ubaid temple complex was used The distribution of wealth items to legitimize differential access to key within ‘Ubaid Period sites is suggestive elements of the farming system (e.g., of differential access to economic bene- water, land, and labor; Stein 1994) as fits (Stein 1994). Economic and political people began to intensify agricultural differentiation is also indicated by the production to sustain larger populations hierarchical distribution of settlements, in the region. Stein (1994) has argued a pattern first visible during the middle that ideological manipulation was used ‘Ubaid Period (Wright 1981). Unlike in to mobilize food surpluses to storage hierarchical societies that developed in facilities at focal communities, based on other parts of the world (Clark and the large size of territories during the Blake 1994; Clark and Pye 2000; Earle late ‘Ubaid Period and some evidence 1987; Flannery 1968), little evidence for centralized storage facilities at Tell exists to support elite control of long- Oueli (Huot 1989). Regardless, by the distance exchange systems and central- end of the ‘Ubaid Period (∼6300 BP),3it ized control of high-status craft pro- is clear that some communities were duction (Stein 1994). Mortuary studies substantially larger than their neighbors, also provide little evidence for social were ruled by hereditary leaders, and ranking and depictions of rulers are were administered by institutionalized rare (Stein 1994; Wright and Pollock administrative organizations. 1986). Instead, ‘Ubaid Period society The economic, social, and political was centered on the temple complex, complexity evident at the end of the and ideology appears to have played an ‘Ubaid Period culminated during the important organizing role in these com- Uruk Period (6300–5000 BP) with the munities (Hole 1994:139; Stein 1994). development of the first urban-based

JOURNAL OF ISLAND & COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY 83 Douglas J. Kennett and James P. Kennett states at ∼5000 BP (Late Uruk or LC5 public buildings representing temples, [Adams 1981; Johnson 1973; Rothman “cult houses,” or assembly halls (Hein- 2004; Wright and Johnson 1975]). A sig- rich 1982; Nissen 2001; Schmid 1980). nificant population expansion occurred Cylinder seals and clay tablets found in in southern Mesopotamia during the dumps behind administrative buildings ‘Ubaid to Uruk Period transition (∼6300 represent the first writing systems and BP), but some areas (northern alluvium) appear to have been used primarily saw population decline as settlements for information storage and accounting became more concentrated in the south- purposes (Nissen et al. 1993). A vigorous ern alluvium (Adams 1981:60–61). The economy is suggested by the remains of city of Uruk-Warka, with deposits ex- workshops and kilns in the city center, tending back into the ‘Ubaid Period, and substantial evidence exists for craft was the largest and certainly the most specialization, with major advances in prominent city on the southern alluvium metallurgy and pottery manufacture visi- through the Uruk Period (Nissen 2001). ble in the record (e.g., fast wheel; Adams This community grew to 250 ha by and Nissen 1972). Artistic achievement the end of the Uruk Period and the also flourished. Clear social and politi- urban core expanded to 100 ha in size cal hierarchies are indicated by artistic (Finkbeiner 1991; Nissen 2001), with an representations and by a clay tablet estimated 10,000 inhabitants (Redman containing a "standard professions list," a 1978). Most of the elaborate public categorization of professions from rulers buildings at Uruk-Warka date to the to laborers (Nissen 2000; Nissen et al. Late Uruk Period (3–5) and reflect a 1993). This list indicates that a strong development of complex administrative division of labor was well established systems over the course of about 600 and that the hierarchical elements of years (Nissen 2001). The increased size society likely had roots earlier in the of Uruk-Warka resulted from indigenous ‘Ubaid and Uruk Periods. A strong politi- population growth (Johnson 1988–89) cal authority is also suggested by hints of or migration of people from adjacent forced labor and the control of an exten- areas. This occurred as communities sive agricultural irrigation system. This were abandoned further to the north in authority is also indicated by rank-size southern Mesopotamia and the adjacent differences between communities and Susiana Plain (Adams 1981; Johnson evidence from cylinder seals showing 1973), perhaps fostered by increasing strong economic, political, and social aridity evident throughout the region or integration between cities and smaller due to deltaic progradation. communities in the region (Wright and Uruk-Warka was the largest urban Johnson 1975). Other large cities in the center in southern Mesopotamia by the region dating to this time include Kish, Late Uruk Period (Nissen 2001), dwarf- Nippur, Gersu, and Ur (Nissen 2001). ing even the large settlement of Susa The southern cities of Mesopotamia on the adjacent Susiana Plain (∼18 ha; were linked to other communities in Hole 1987). The urban core of this city greater Mesopotamia via exchange net- was surrounded by a defensive wall and works. These networks were crucial divided into two discrete areas, each for state development because people containing large, free-standing buildings living on the southern alluvium were visible from a considerable distance able to acquire goods unavailable locally (Heinrich 1982; Nissen 2001). Some of (e.g., high-grade wood and metal; Algaze these large structures are interpreted as 1993). By the late Uruk Period, the

84 VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 1 • 2006 Early State Formation in Mesopotamia movement of goods to southern cities agricultural communities and hunter- was facilitated by outposts strategically gatherers were then well distributed located in areas containing valuable re- throughout much of the region. We sources or close to natural trade routes, suggest that state development in south- affording control over the distribution ern Mesopotamia resulted from human of these materials (e.g., Godin Tepe, responses stimulated, in part, by a partic- Habub Kabira, Hacinebi Tepe, Jabal ular succession and confluence of envi- Aruda [Algaze 2001b; Rothman 2001]). ronmental changes unique to this region The records at these sites suggest during the Early and Middle Holocene. that colonists/merchants from southern Rapid and extensive marine transgres- Mesopotamia were able to gain access sion, coupled with higher rainfall, was to critical materials and wealth objects followed by stabilization of sea level and necessary to support the emerging social increasing aridity. Interrelated human re- hierarchy in the heartland. This trend sponses resulted in intense and increas- occurred during the Late Uruk Period ing competition for favorable resources between about 5500 and 5000 BP and that were becoming increasingly cir- is known as the Uruk expansion (Algaze cumscribed due to aridity and popula- 1993, 2001b; Wright and Rupley 2001). tion expansion (Carneiro 1988; Flannery Algaze (2001b) argued convincingly that 1972; Service 1978). These changing the process of state development was conditions favored population aggrega- linked to broader economic interactions tion, and intensified agricultural pro- that helped enable leaders to sustain duction, economic specialization, and the development of economic, social, the formation of social and political and political hierarchies in southern hierarchies founded on and reinforced Mesopotamia. by new or existing ideological systems. In this context, the first urban centers emerged and controlled adjacent com- DISCUSSION munities with elaborate and centralized administrative hierarchies led by a small, In southern Mesopotamia the cultural elite class. changes leading to integrated state-level Our hypothesis includes elements societies occurred during a 3000-year of previous models that incorporated period between the beginning of the several interrelated factors: population ‘Ubaid Period at ∼8000 BP and the end increase, environmental and social of the Uruk Period at about 5000 BP. circumscription, increased warfare, Although states flourished after 5000 development of extensive irrigation BP, during the Sumerian Period, the agriculture, and favorable conditions foundations were built during the ‘Ubaid for trade (Haas 1982; Rothman 2004). (8000–6300 BP) and Uruk (6300–5000 Nevertheless, we argue that any BP) periods. This was a dynamic interval explanation is incomplete if it considers of human cultural evolution, a punctu- these factors, alone or in combination, ated series of events, in a long (∼80,000 in the absence of environmental change. years; Klein 1999) history of human Population increase was a necessary hunting and gathering and early agricul- component for the development of tural economies (Early Holocene; Moore state-level societies, but by itself was 1985). The first urban-based states ap- inadequate (Adams 1981; Wright and peared in southern Mesopotamia and the Johnson 1975). Similarly, state devel- Susiana Plain, although early sedentary opment was possibly the cause rather

JOURNAL OF ISLAND & COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY 85 Douglas J. Kennett and James P. Kennett than the result of large-scale irrigation and the emergence of social hierarchies agriculture and increasing inter-regional and centralized states, these physical trade (Adams 1974; Wright and Johnson factors should weigh more heavily than 1975). However, large-scale irrigation other variables that are more difficult to could not have occurred in this region document quantitatively. We argue that without sufficiently high, near-stable sea certain behaviors were favored (proba- levels necessary for the development of bilistically, not deterministically) within extensive floodplains at river level and this dynamically changing environmen- a high water table. tal and social context and that they had Relatively few researchers have major evolutionary implications for the stressed climate change as an impor- formation of social hierarchies and ulti- tant factor contributing to the devel- mately the institutionalized administra- opment of city-based states in south- tive hierarchies characteristic of urban- ern Mesopotamia. Exceptions are Hole based states (see Winterhalder and (1994), Nissen (1988), and Sirocko et al. Goland 1997 for a similar argument with (1993), who suggested that state devel- respect to agricultural origins). There- opment was tied to increased regional fore, we emphasize decision-making or aridity during the Middle Holocene. human responses to a changing set of en- Hole (1994) stressed the importance vironmental and social circumstances in of climatic instability as a major trig- southern Mesopotamia in three distinct, ger in cultural development, suggesting but continuous stages. that short-term environmental shocks encouraged collective action to mitigate Stage I: 9000 to 8000 BP. Little is them. Sea-level change has also been known about cultural development dur- considered to have caused human mi- ing the pre-‘Ubaid Period of southern grations and to have strongly influenced Mesopotamia because populations were the development of agrarian economies likely small and dispersed and the ar- (Ryan and Pitman 1998; Stanley and chaeological record is either covered Warne 1993; Van Andel 1989). Recent by water and/or buried by alluvium work in Egypt has linked deceleration deposited during floodplain aggradation. of global sea-level rise between 8500 We suggest that Early Holocene climatic and 7500 BP with the formation of the conditions between 9000 and 8000 BP Nile Delta and the initiation of farming were an important catalyst for later settlements (Stanley and Chen 1996; cultural developments. Climatically this Stanley and Warne 1993, 1997). Hole period was the most propitious for (1994) considered sea-level rise to be people living in this region because insignificant for cultural development in of higher humidity and more reliable southern Mesopotamia, however, argu- summer monsoon rainfall (Arz et al. ing that whereas sea-level rise was too 2003; Petit-Maire et al. 1997). Widely slow for river aggradation to keep pace, distributed lakes in northern Arabia stability of the land surface fostered and southern Mesopotamia, created by the extensive use of canal systems and seasonal monsoonal conditions, would aggregated settlement. have favored dispersed settlement and Our view is that climatically induced seasonal mobility. The wadi systems of environmental change is one of several northern Iraq and the floodplains along variables leading to the emergence of the Ur-Schatt River provided localized centralized states in this region. Given aquatic resources attractive to early the coincidence of major climatic shifts populations.

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Sparsely distributed stone tools char- wetlands (Aqrawi 2001; Sanlaville 1989). acteristic of the Arabian bifacial tradi- As Oates (1960, 2004) noted, these tion provide tantalizing evidence for habitats would have been ideal locations pre-‘Ubaid occupation in the south- for access to fresh water, hunting/fishing ern Mesopotamia Delta region (Cauvin of terrestrial and aquatic animals, and 1979; Inizan and Tixier 1983; Woolley transportation (also see Pournelle 2003). 1955; Zarins 1992). These data are con- The potential for irrigation agriculture sistent with other evidence from along also improved with increasing stabiliza- the northeast coast of the Arabo-Persian tion of sea level by the end of this Gulf and more broadly across the Ara- period. In addition, it is possible that bian Peninsula for small preceramic set- the Arabo-Persian Gulf was less saline tlements near now-dry lakebeds dating and more productive when compared to between ∼9600 and 7000 BP (Potts with later in time, an idea based on 1993). Evidence suggests that people data from the Red Sea that suggest less practiced a range of mixed foraging- saline conditions related to the displace- farming strategies combining the herd- ment of the monsoonal belt existed at ing of sheep and goats with hunting for this time (Arz et al. 2003). Increases wild game and the collection of local in the size and number of settlements grasses and various aquatic resources in southern Mesopotamia during the (Beech et al. 2005; Potts 1997). We sus- early ‘Ubaid Period (0–1) suggest that pect that small groups of semi-nomadic regional populations were expanding, people, practicing similar subsistence a product of indigenous population strategies, also lived along the Ur-Schatt growth or immigration from elsewhere River during this interval. As the rate in greater Mesopotamia. Several focal of global sea-level rise decreased during communities began to emerge at this the Early Holocene, the extent of trans- time (e.g., Eridu, Tell Oueli), positioned gression increased in the Arabo-Persian on elevated landforms at the head of the Gulf because of the low topographic Arabo-Persian Gulf. Settlement at several gradients. Rapid transgression of the of these communities was remarkably shoreline (∼110 m per annum) caused stable through the ‘Ubaid Period, a point continuous displacement of peoples and that is best illustrated by a series of competition for optimal locations on the superimposed temples at Eridu (Oates shifting boundary between fresh and 1960). The quantity of fish bone offer- salt-water systems. It also compressed ings found in these temples highlights the number of people living along this the importance of aquatic habitats, at water course into a smaller area, and least at this location (Bottero´ 2001). may have stimulated group formation The non-linear distribution of these or movement of people into adjacent, settlements suggests that irrigation agri- uninhabited environments of equal or culture (Adams 1981) was not an es- greater economic potential. sential or dominant element in the subsistence economy, although it was Stage II: 8000 to 6300 BP—‘Ubaid used elsewhere in greater Mesopotamia Period. We suggest that the appearance (Oates and Oates 1976; Wilkinson 2003). of relatively large communities in south- Given the humid conditions at the be- ern Mesopotamia at Eridu, Uruk, and ginning of the ‘Ubaid Period and the other locations reflects an aggregation initial formation of productive wetlands, of sedentary populations adjacent to the it seems reasonable to assume that these newly formed estuaries and associated communities were founded upon more

JOURNAL OF ISLAND & COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY 87 Douglas J. Kennett and James P. Kennett diverse mixed economies that included Arabo-Persian Gulf occurred within this hunting, fishing, herding, and farming environmental context (Carter 2002, (dry and irrigated fields). Given these 2003; Connan et al. 2005). At the head low regional populations and favorable of the Gulf, this rise caused a marine environmental conditions, we suggest inland transgression of at least 200 km, that irrigation agriculture was not es- or ∼100 m per year. In this case, low- sential for the formation and stability of lying areas were inundated, creating a these early ‘Ubaid settlements. The more continually changing mosaic of aquatic dispersed nature of settlement in the habitats (Pournelle 2003), and all but the earliest ‘Ubaid suggests that populations most stable landforms (those occupied were less restricted or circumscribed by communities like Eridu or Ur) were than later in time and that a range flooded. Optimal freshwater and estu- of habitats could sustain populations arine environments continued to shift using a mixture of subsistence practices. inland, displacing human populations. This economic base would have been This dynamic mosaic would have stim- facilitated, in part, by varied habitats ulated increased competition for local- associated with the newly created wet- ized and circumscribed resources and land areas at the head of the Gulf the need to constantly redefine territo- and lacustrine habitats scattered across rial boundaries and village locations as the region, related to the humid con- rapidly as within a single generation. ditions of this period. In other words, Larger groups formed at optimal as groups increased in size, impacting locations, where environmental condi- local habitats and competing for local- tions created opportunities for ambi- ized resources, there were still other tious individuals to exploit competitive economically viable options available advantages. These advantages ultimately elsewhere. This type of environmental formed the basis for the social and context would have favored splintering political hierarchies that emerged by of communities rather than integration the end of the ‘Ubaid Period (∼6300 into larger groups. BP). It appears that people compared During the middle ‘Ubaid Period the costs and benefits of joining a (‘Ubaid 2–3) certain communities grew larger group, and that the benefits (or larger in size relative to surrounding perceived benefits) were greater than communities, and some evidence exists the available alternatives, even at the for differential access to resources and cost of economic and social subjuga- control of food stores by elite group tion. Under these conditions, the use members (Stein 1994). The aggregation of ideology, centered on the temple, of people at focal communities located became increasingly important for legit- near optimal wetland locations occurred imizing the emerging economic/social during a period of rapid regional drying, inequities and the status of hereditary related to the southern retreat of the leaders. The expansion of late ‘Ubaid South Asian monsoonal belt (Arz et al. settlements down the western margin of 2003), that would have reduced the the Arabo-Persian Gulf could be related extent of lacustrine habitats in southern to environmental, demographic, or so- Mesopotamia. Sea-level also continued cial pressures in southern Mesopotamia to rise during this interval (7 m or that stimulated migration. It could also more [Eisenhauer et al. 1992; Fairbanks, be related to new economic opportuni- 1989]) and the expansion of maritime ties created by major improvements in trade along the western margin of the irrigation-agriculture technology or the

88 VOLUME 1 • ISSUE 1 • 2006 Early State Formation in Mesopotamia persistence of seasonal monsoonal rains stein 1951; Jacobsen 1960). Boat trans- farther to the south as conditions con- portation significantly increases the ef- tinued to dry in southern Mesopotamia. ficiency with which people can deliver resources (agricultural or otherwise) to Stage III: 6300 to 5000 BP—Uruk Period. central places (Ames 2002). Maritime The Uruk Period represents the culmi- transport would therefore have helped nation of earlier developments leading mobilize food surpluses to focal commu- to the first fully urban state-level society nities such as Eridu or Ur. The combi- by ∼5000 BP (Late Uruk or LC5 [Craw- nation of fishing and farming also pro- ford 1991; Nissen 1988, 2000, 2001; vided a powerful economic engine for Rothman 2004; Wright and Johnson population expansion, while maritime 1975]). Populations increased in south- voyages to distant locations facilitated ern Mesopotamia during the ‘Ubaid to the exchange of ideas and provided Uruk Period transition (∼6300 BP). This exotic goods consumed by emerging demographic trend tracks the expansion elites. Exotic materials served as impor- of irrigation agriculture, as indicated by tant status markers and reinforced the the greater occurrence of canals dating existing social and political hierarchy. to this time and of linear settlement In this environmental, demographic, patterns suggesting that communities and social context, the settlement of were becoming more reliant on these Uruk-Warka emerged as a dominant re- important systems (Adams 1981). In- gional center. First established in the creased food surpluses provided a firmer ‘Ubaid Period, this community grew basis for expanding populations and a in size during the Uruk Period, with growing, socially stratified society that the most pronounced growth between included administrators, craftspeople, ∼5500–5000 BP (Nissen 2001). Public and other specialists. We also suggest architecture and the first writing sys- that population expansion during the tems, used primarily for information Uruk Period was no coincidence. Demo- storage and accounting purposes, ap- graphic growth was favored by improv- peared at this time. These traits point ing irrigation technology coupled with to the existence of an elaborate ad- high water tables and the expanding ministrative hierarchy governed by a floodplains linked to the deceleration of supreme religious elite that controlled sea-level rise. the economic, social, and political affairs The near-stabilization of sea level of neighboring communities—the first also favored further enlargement of urban-based state in the world. The towns optimally located on the mar- relatively rapid growth at Uruk-Warka gins of the expanding wetlands at the over 500–600 years parallels the partial head of the Arabo-Persian Gulf. Textual abandonment of communities in north- evidence indicates that Eridu and Ur ern portions of the alluvium and on were located on the coast about 5000 the adjacent Susiana Plain. Movement BP (Lambeck 1996; Larsen and Evans of people from hinterland communities 1978; Sanlaville 1989). Archaeological suggests that the economic and social evidence suggests that during the ‘Ubaid opportunities at cities like Uruk-Warka Period, communities in the Eridu and were more attractive relative to those Tell Oueli regions became increasingly available elsewhere. We argue that the maritime (Huot 1989). Even the later foundation for these opportunities was Sumerians (∼4500 BP) are considered provided, in part, by the expansion to have been a maritime culture (Falken- of irrigation systems afforded by the

JOURNAL OF ISLAND & COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY 89 Douglas J. Kennett and James P. Kennett near-stabilization of sea level cou- litical conditions. The aggregate effect pled with the infrastructural improve- of these decisions culminated in the ments developed and maintained by first state-level societies in the region. the new administrative hierarchy. De- Global eustatic and climate changes increased agricultural production (e.g., fluenced dynamic environmental condi- dry farming) on the margins of the tions in southern Mesopotamia, along southern alluvium, due to increasingly with inter-related changes in human de- dry conditions throughout Mesopotamia mography, economy, and sociopolitical (Arz et al. 2003), would have attracted organization. people to cities then supported by well- Coastal and aquatic habitats played developed irrigation systems. Aridifica- a critical role in shaping the cultural tion throughout greater Mesopotamia evolutionary history of the region. The also led to continued environmental and earliest stable settlements were estab- social circumscription in these southern lished adjacent to newly formed and cities, which heightened competition productive estuaries and associated wet- for increasingly localized resources asso- lands as the marine transgression slowed ciated with aquatic habitats. The defen- between 8000 and 6300 BP—the ‘Ubaid sive wall around the city of Uruk-Warka Period. These locations were optimally is suggestive of social and political insta- located near fresh water and diverse bilities that would have further favored aquatic habitats, and were ideally posi- the formation of larger groups for defen- tioned for efficient transport of goods sive purposes. Social instabilities and the and people using watercraft. Small-scale threat of war likely contributed to the de- irrigation agriculture could also have cision of many to move from hinterland been employed along wetland margins to urban settings—the best available al- where water tables were higher. People ternative even with the severe economic living in more marginal parts of southern and social inequities inherent in the new Mesopotamia moved into larger commu- social order. Under these conditions, nities because this action either main- people were attracted to these new ur- tained or improved their economic well- ban centers and accepted the ideological being, even in the face of subjugation by system established by the ruling elite emerging elites. to legitimize their elevated positions. Continued population growth oc- Population expansion and the replica- curred in southern Mesopotamia during tion of the Uruk social system fostered its the ‘Ubaid to Uruk transition (∼6300 expansion into northern Mesopotamia, BP) as sea-level rise decreased signif- where Uruk outposts were established icantly between 6300 and 5500 BP. to gain additional resources and where A deceleration in marine transgression similarly organized state-level societies stimulated the expansion of floodplains emerged. in southern Mesopotamia and the formation of the high water table necessary for large-scale, floodplain irrigation CONCLUSIONS agriculture. Increased food surpluses resulting from irrigation agriculture pro- We argue that urbanism and cultural vided the basis for expanding popula- complexity in southern Mesopotamia re- tions and the developing socio-political sulted from a series of decisions by many structure. Increasing aridity in south- people over several millennia under ern Mesopotamia between 6200 and continuously changing environmental, 5000 BP contributed to further cir- demographic, economic, social, and po- cumscription of populations, increased

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competition for favorable land and water environmental and cultural history of southern resources, aggregation of populations in Mesopotamia, that the Sumerian flood myth centers close to the rivers and estuaries, (as recorded in the Gilgamesh Epic) and the succeeding biblical flood narrative, most greater reliance on irrigation agriculture, likely have their origins in the glacioeustatic and to the need for the development latest Quaternary transgression in the Arabo- of larger population centers for defen- Persian Gulf, the largest, shallowest inland sive purposes. It is within this context sea contiguous with the ocean. Flood mythol- that the important city of Uruk-Warka ogy among maritime societies is virtually universal (see the essay “Flood Stories from emerged at the center of the first urban- Around the World.” Published at http://www. based state between 5500 and 5000 BP. talkorigins.org/faqs/flood-myths.html) and is most likely linked with eustatic rises in sea level during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. As Teller et al. (2000) point out, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS a rapid marine transgression occurred in the Arabo-Persian Gulf during this period and We appreciate the general support of likely displaced people living along this wa- the National Science Foundation (Ar- terway. Such momentous events were surely chaeology, and Marine Geology and passed down orally for generations. What makes southern Mesopotamia unique com- Geophysics). We thank Dale Krause pared with other parts of the world is that for encouragement and valuable sug- writing developed early in association with the gestions; Walter Pitman for initial formation of state-level societies, so the flood stimulation; David Hodell for sugges- story was ultimately recorded, formally as in tions regarding climate/orbital rela- the well-known Epic of Gilgamesh. Following Occam’s razor, we hypothesize, as do Teller tions; and Frank Sirocko for providing et al. (2000; see also Potts 1996), that the sediment data. We also thank Robert origin of biblical flood mythology is most likely McC. Adams, Mark Aldenderfer, Ge- in southern Mesopotamia rather than in the off Bailey, Jon Erlandson, Brian Fa- vicinity of the Black Sea. gan, Scott Fitzpatrick, Michael Glas- 2. These habitats were highly productive and not comparable with the infilled wetlands of lower sow, Michael Jochim, Sarah McClure, productivity historically inhabited by “Marsh Joan Oates, John Orbell, Dan Potts, Arabs” (Ochsenschlager 2004). We argue that Katharina Schreiber, Bruce Winter- this lifeway has been used incorrectly as halder, and Herbert Wright for useful ethnographically analogous to that of early information and/or suggestions that human populations living at the head of the Gulf. helped improve this paper. Several 3. The boundary between the ‘Ubaid and Uruk anonymous reviewers also provided periods is provisionally placed at ∼6300 BP valuable constructive criticism. based on the recalibration of radiocarbon dates for Uruk-related assemblages in greater Mesopotamia (Wright and Rupley 2001) and END NOTES on personal communication with Joan Oates, who has suggested that the boundary date between ‘Ubaid and Uruk is sometime before 1. This manuscript was initially prepared in ∼6200 BP. However, the boundary could be response to a talk given by Walter Pitman, in as early as 6700 BP in some locations (Hole which he traced biblical flood mythology to 1994). the rapid inundation of the Black Sea during the Holocene, an idea he later published in the book Noah’s Flood: The New Scientific Discoveries About the Event That Changed REFERENCES History (Ryan and Pitman 1998). Although it is inherently difficult to trace the development of mythology to past cultural and Adams, R. McC. 1965. Land Behind Baghdad. environmental events, we argue, based on the Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

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