Pottery production, early urbanization and the Uruk phenomenon at Tell Brak in Upper Mesopotamia

Abstract

Tell Brak is one of the largest sites in Upper Mesopotamia, where urbanism and social complexity already emerged in the late 5th and early 4th millennia BCE. This paper combines ceramic petrography and trace element analyses to examine how these changes impacted pottery production and regional trade. The results indicate that paste preparation modes, unlike shaping procedures, remained unaffected by urbanization, with paste recipes showing no link to variations in vessel function or technology. To meet the growing demands of an urbanizing society, production likely involved multiple units producing diverse vessels, whereby certain tasks such as the raw material procurement were coordinated collectively. The only notable change in paste recipes occurred during the final phase of the Late Chalcolithic (LC5, 3350–3100 BCE), possibly reflecting the full establishment of craftspeople from southern Mesopotamia. This period also saw the import of a few jars from the Upper and Lower Euphrates and Tigris regions, likely used to transport specific goods.