Tell Rashid is a tell, or archaeological settlement mound, in

Diyala Governorate Diyala Governorate ( ar, محافظة ديالى ) or Diyala Province is a governorate in central-eastern Iraq. Provincial government *Governor: Muthana al-Timimi *Deputy Governor: Mohammed Jassim al-Jubouri Council Geography Diyala Gov ...

, Iraq. The site lies in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains, some south of Tell Abada, another Ubaid period site. It measures 54 by 30 m and extends 2.5 m above the surrounding plain. Tell Rashid was excavated for a single season in 1978 under the direction of Sabah Abboud Jasim as part of the archaeological salvage work being done for the construction of the Hemrin Dam. The excavation trench reached a depth of 5 m, at which point virgin soil (undisturbed by human activity) was reached. Four different occupation levels were recognised, all dating to the Ubaid period.

Occupation history

The oldest level, IV, consists of some

mudbrick A mudbrick or mud-brick is an air-dried brick, made of a mixture of loam, mud, sand and water mixed with a binding material such as rice husks or straw. Mudbricks are known from 9000 BCE, though since 4000 BCE, bricks have also bee ...

foundations that were part of a larger building that extended beyond the excavated area. Based on the ceramics, the level could be dated to Ubaid 2. Level III yielded significant architectural remains, consisting of at least three separate buildings. Two of these were examples of the typical tripartite

Ubaid house The Ubaid house is a dwelling used by the Ubaid culture of the Neolithic era. It is the predecessor of the Ubaid temple as well as Sumerian domestic and temple architecture. This house type has for example been excavated at Tell Rashid in Iraq ...

with a central hall or courtyard with smaller rooms on either long side, One of the buildings contained two child burials. The smaller of these two buildings had a facade adorned with buttresses, suggesting that this building may have had a special purpose, for example as a guest house. In level II, parts of a single building with several rooms were excavated. The youngest level I was severely damaged and only some wall fragments and hearths were found.

Material culture

Artefacts recovered from the excavation included clay animal figurines and

spindle whorls A spindle whorl is a disc or spherical object fitted onto the Spindle (textiles), spindle to increase and maintain the speed of the spin. Historically, whorls have been made of materials like amber, antler, bone, ceramic, coral, glass, stone, meta ...

, undefined tokens and sling bullets. Small cones found at the site have been interpreted as labrets. Stone blades were also found, some of which still had pieces of

bitumen Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...

sticking to them, indicating that they were probably inserted in a wooden shaft, for example to create a sickle. Recovered pottery consisted mostly of painted, incised or impressed ware and could be dated to the Ubaid 2-3 periods. Parallels for the so-called Fine Painted Ware at Tell Rashid have been found as far away as Yumuktepe in Turkey.

Occupation history

Material culture

See also

References

Further reading