'UBAYD, TALL AL-

also spelled Tell El-ubaid, ancient site that gave its name to a prehistoric cultural period, the Ubaid, in Mesopotamia; it is located near the ruins of ancient Ur in present-day southeastern Iraq. Excavations have uncovered Ubaidian remains throughout southern Mesopotamia. The hallmark of the period was a painted pottery decorated with geometric and sometimes floral and animal designs in dark paint on a buff or drab clay. Many vessels seem to have been made on a slow wheel, and they had loop handles and spouts (the first historical occurrence of these). In the south the Ubaid period is dated from about 5200 to about 3500 BC, but in the north Ubaidian characteristics do not seem to appear until about 4300. Some scholars believe the characteristics of the northern Ubaid period may have been outgrowths of the preceding Halaf period rather than the result of cultural influences received directly from the south, but the overall picture is one of great homogeneity throughout the entire area from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.