A view from the east: The Godin VI Oval and the Uruk Sphere

The so-called “Oval” at Godin Tepe (Kermanshah province, western highland Iran) has long been considered atemplate for an Uruk colony that retained its Southern Mesopotamian identity in spite of being embeddedwithina local community.With its substantialwalls, controlled access, and abundant Uruk-style pottery and administrativetools, the view of its inhabitants as foreign merchants who lived a life distinct and separate from the surroundingtown has been pervasive in scholarship about the Uruk phenomenon. In this study, we reassess thenature of the Uruk presence at Godin through an examination of its most characteristic manifestation: pottery.Using a combination of typological, chemical, and petrographic techniques, we analyze the composition ofboth Uruk-related and non-Uruk vessel forms from within the oval compound, as well as from the surroundingvillage, in order to establish the source of the clay that was used in their manufacture. Based on patterns of vesselprocurement, our findings indicate a higher degree of integration within the community than previously suggested.Further, we find limited evidence of long-distance trade in ceramics, although we can document a fairlyactive exchange in ceramic vessels within the Iranian highlands. This highland trade seems to be concentrated inthe oval compound which displays a greater diversity of ceramic sources than the village, indicating that its interpretationas a merchant enclave, while possibly overstated in previous scholarship, may not be whollyinaccurate.