Ubaid period

The Ubaid period (c. 6500–3800 BC) is a prehistoric period of Mesopotamia. The name derives from Tell al-'Ubaid where the earliest large excavation of Ubaid period material was conducted initially by Henry Hall in 1919, Leonard Woolley in 1922–1923, and later by Pinhas Delougaz in 1937. Excavations continue to the present day.

In Southern Mesopotamia, this period marks the earliest known settlements on the alluvial plain, although evidence of earlier habitation has likely been obscured under the alluvium. In the south the Ubaid period spans from about 5500 to 3800 BC, when it is succeeded by the Uruk period.

In Northern Mesopotamia the period runs only from about 5300 to 4300 BC. It is preceded by the Halaf period and the Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period, and succeeded by the Late Chalcolithic period.