archaeological sites, he merely hypothesizedlinear connections among many others –
especially for those of earlier periods, for which no direct evidence was visible.^3
Finally, even within the survey boundaries, sites were unevenly exposed.As noted, they
are apparent at all because of aeolian deflation of later river and canal levees, which
formed dune fields that then scoured their way across the plain. In some cases, this
destroyed archaeological sites entirely. In others, it barely scraped the top of the surface,
revealing more recent material, but leaving the older foundations buried. In still others,
it buried sites utterly–or, alternatively, left archaeological features pedestaled above the
deflated surface, standing on columns of sediments protected from deflation by
archaeological debris (Wilkinson 2003 ; Pournelle 2003 b).
Thus, while the corpus of archaeological survey data for Mesopotamia succeeded
in adding a corrective rural and non-literate dimension to the predominantly urban,
literate, elite focus of previous excavations and cuneiform texts – which texts them-
selves have long influenced interpretation of the archaeological data – we must now
consider the implications of the facts that inside the “heartland” survey zone we are left
with an uneven patchwork of exposures, while outside it we know only the few major
mounds plotted by Iraq’s Department of Antiquities.
–– Physical geography ––ESTUARIES ESTUARIESESTUARIESMARSHES
MARSHESMARSHESMARSHESMARSHESMARSHESLAGOON LAGOONLAGOONGULFGULFGULFGULFFigure 1.4The Mesopotamian Delta, c. 5000 – 3000 BC. (a) Maximum marine transgression
coincides with the ‘Ubaid 4 –Early Uruk transition c. 4500 BC, leading to formation of a
(freshwater) inner delta in the “heartland” basin, and freshwater lagoon in the Eridu basin,
transitioning to a fresh–brackish mixing zone and outer delta in the East Gharraf basin. Visible
sites of this era are situated either on turtlebacks, or within the deeply deflated areas of the
“heartland.” (b) Sites newly visible as of the Middle Uruk. Sites are clustered where the rivers meet
and freshwater marshes would become perennial. (c) Sites newly visible as of the Late
Uruk–Jemdet Nasr. These follow the prograding delta to the southeast – up to the eastern margin
of the surveyed zone. (d) Sites as of the Early Dynastic. The cluster to the northeast may indicate
a new delta lobe. Any other sites to the east or southeast would fall outside of the surveyed area.