The time period between the end of the Ubaid and the beginning of the Uruk

expansion is one of the least known, yet most important eras in the ancient

history of the Middle East. This era, which is often referred to as the "Post-Ubaid"

period, is marked by major structural changes such as the rise of social

hierarchies, technological innovations and economic reorganisation, which

eventually led to the emergence of proto-states and cities. The recent finding of

"Post-Ubaid-related" sites in regions deemed to be located far beyond the Ubaid

purview, such as Cilicia, Cappadocia or the south Caucasus, has added another

dimension to this picture: these sites suggest that the organic relationships more

or less implicitly established between the "Post-Ubaid horizon" and the Ubaid

world may in fact be much weaker than once thought. Through a systematic

review of contemporary artefacts retrieved from recent and less recent excavations

in the south Caucasus, eastern Anatolia and the Fertile Crescent, this book is an

attempt to assess the available data from a broader, that is not Mesopotamianspecific,

perspective.