Over the course of the third millennium BC, the range of activities undertaken by
households may have altered in response to economic and social developments in the
wider community. A better understanding of these tasks and use of space will be
possible following the complete publication by the Oriental Institute of the University
of Chicago of the small finds from the Diyala excavations (Diyala Miscellaneous
Objects Publication Project). Susan Pollock’s ( 1999 : 123 – 134 ) preliminary analysis of the
finds from Khafajeh suggests that by the middle of the third millennium BCtemples
were losing much of their central economic role in favour of the ‘secular’ palace and
households, especially in regards to food acquisition and preparation. So that while
houses in Early Dynastic I Khafajeh have few tools suggesting any involvement in
production at home, by Early Dynastic III some inhabitants were engaged in fishing
as evidenced by the find of net sinkers. Certainly by later Early Dynastic III the
Khafajeh residents were keeping weapons and participating in exchange and the
authorisation of transactions as indicated by the presence of cylinder seals, sealings and
tablet fragments (Delougaz et al. 1967 : 30 ). Similarly at Tell Asmar, large numbers of
seals, sealings and stone weights reflect authorised transactions and exchange. It should
be remembered that the homes explored at both sites may not be representative of the
town as a whole and that the inhabitants were probably not average city residents
(Pollock 1999 : 137 ), thus the range of objects and materials found in their homes may
also not be representative of ‘ordinary’ home life. Nonetheless, it is clear that, in at least
some households, space was required for what might be termed an ‘office’.
Numerous fragments of mud and baked pottery animals, human beings and vehicles
have been found in Early Dynastic III domestic contexts. Based on Ochsenschlager’s
( 1974 ) study of the terracottas made by children in the modern village of al-Hiba, he
postulated that the ancient examples may have been toys. A similar conclusion was
reached for miniature clay vessels at Abu Salabikh (Moon 1987 : 34 – 35 , 170 – 174 ).
However, given the range of materials and objects that point to administrative
activities in the Akkadian period homes at Khafajeh, an alternative explanation for
these models is possible. Moorey ( 2004 : 55 ) argues persuasively that many of these
terracottas ‘are best regarded as “tokens”, in the sense of a means of record in a society
where the great majority of people... were illiterate’. Thus the terracotta miniature
bowls, animal figurines and chariot wheels found in Khafajeh homes might suggest a
concern with recording the transportation of commodities using land vehicles,
contrasting with the high proportion of model boat fragments found at al-Hiba where
water transport would have been more practical (Moorey 2004 : 55 ).
Extensive trade and exchange networks brought materials to the towns. Presumably
much of the exotic materials were destined for the palace and the temple. However,
some of it filtered through society and is present among the small finds of the Diyala
(e.g., Delougaz et al. 1967 : 27 – 58 ) and Abu Salabikh homes. Amulets and beads in a
variety of materials including carnelian and lapis lazuli, baked clay and frit are
common. These are known from a number of Sumerian sites in southern Mesopotamia
from at least the middle of the fourth millennium BC(Moorey 1994 : 89 ). The
combination of carnelian and lapis lazuli beads in the Early Dynastic III houses reflects
a peak in the import of these stones, a pale reflection of the magnificent beads in the
Royal Graves at Ur (Moorey 1994 : 89 , 98 ). Metal objects are also represented in the
home, especially copper pins and needles and axes. Copper was the metal of utility and
routine tools but the few finds in domestic settings is probably due to the fact that it
–– Paul Collins ––