The continued
excavations carried out by Mr. H. R. Hall for the Museum in 1919 have
produced more of the same evidence from both places, besides a new
'prehistoric' site at Tell el-Ma'abed or Tell el-'Obeid near Ur. It
seems that these antiquities date from the very end of the neolithic,
or rather to the succeeding 'chalcolithic', age; whether they are
really prehistoric, as regards Babylonian history, must until more
evidence from stratified deposits is found remain undecided. They
prove the occupation of the head of the Persian Gulf at the beginning
of history by a people whose primitive art was closely akin to that
of early Elam, and distinct from that of the Sumerians.
[1] Found by Loftus in 1854: their early date was not recognized at
the time.
[2] Koldewey, _Excavations at Babylon, E.T._, p. 261, fig. 182.
Koldewey curiously speaks of the saw-blades as 'palaeolithic.' They
are, of course, nothing of the sort.
Characteristics: flint, chert, obsidian, green and red jasper, and
quartz-crystal flakes, arrowheads, cores, and saw-blades. Chert and
limestone rough hoe-blades (easily mistaken for palaeolithic
implements; they are, however, much flatter); polished serpentine or
jasper celts; lentoid (lentil-shaped), amygdaloid (almond-shaped),
and discoid beads of cornelian, crystal, obsidian, &c.
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