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The Uruk period (ca. 4000 to 3100 BC) existed from the protohistoric
Protohistory

Protohistory refers to a period between prehistory and history, during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted its existence in their own writings....
  Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
, following the Ubaid period
Ubaid period

The tell of Ubaid near Ur in southern Iraq has given its name to the prehistoric Pottery Neolithic to Chalcolithic culture, which represents the earliest settlement on the alluvial plain of southern Mesopotamia....
 and succeeded by the Jemdet Nasr period. Named after the Sumerian city of Uruk
Uruk

Uruk , from the Akkadian rendering of the Sumerian toponym 'unug', is modern Warka , Iraq. Uruk was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river, on the ancient Nil canal, some 30 km east of As-Samawah, Al Muthanna Governorate, Iraq....
, this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia. It was followed by the Sumerian civilization
Sumer

Sumer was a civilization and a historical region located in Southern Iraq , known as the Cradle of civilization. It lasted from the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period through the Uruk period and the Dynastic periods until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium BC....
. The late Uruk period (34th to 32nd centuries) saw the gradual emergence of the cuneiform script
Cuneiform script

Cuneiform script is one of the earliest known forms of writing system. Emerging in Sumer around the 30th century BC, with predecessors reaching into the late 4th millennium , cuneiform writing began as a system of pictography....
 and corresponds to the Early Bronze Age.

These early city-states had strong signs of government organization (though social stratification was not strongly evident until very late in this period and the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period
Early Dynastic Period

Early Dynastic Period may refer to a period of the 3rd millennium BC in either Ancient Egypt or Sumer:*Early Dynastic Period of Egypt*Early Dynastic Period of Sumer...
, beginning around 3100 BC), evident even in items such as cheap, mass-produced beveled rim bowls which were made to be discarded.






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The Uruk period (ca. 4000 to 3100 BC) existed from the protohistoric
Protohistory

Protohistory refers to a period between prehistory and history, during which a culture or civilization has not yet developed writing, but other cultures have already noted its existence in their own writings....
  Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris-Euphrates river system, along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern Iraq, as well as some parts of northeastern Syria, some parts of southeastern Turkey, and some parts of the Khuzestan Province of southwestern Iran....
, following the Ubaid period
Ubaid period

The tell of Ubaid near Ur in southern Iraq has given its name to the prehistoric Pottery Neolithic to Chalcolithic culture, which represents the earliest settlement on the alluvial plain of southern Mesopotamia....
 and succeeded by the Jemdet Nasr period. Named after the Sumerian city of Uruk
Uruk

Uruk , from the Akkadian rendering of the Sumerian toponym 'unug', is modern Warka , Iraq. Uruk was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river, on the ancient Nil canal, some 30 km east of As-Samawah, Al Muthanna Governorate, Iraq....
, this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia. It was followed by the Sumerian civilization
Sumer

Sumer was a civilization and a historical region located in Southern Iraq , known as the Cradle of civilization. It lasted from the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period through the Uruk period and the Dynastic periods until the rise of Babylon in the early 2nd millennium BC....
. The late Uruk period (34th to 32nd centuries) saw the gradual emergence of the cuneiform script
Cuneiform script

Cuneiform script is one of the earliest known forms of writing system. Emerging in Sumer around the 30th century BC, with predecessors reaching into the late 4th millennium , cuneiform writing began as a system of pictography....
 and corresponds to the Early Bronze Age.

These early city-states had strong signs of government organization (though social stratification was not strongly evident until very late in this period and the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period
Early Dynastic Period

Early Dynastic Period may refer to a period of the 3rd millennium BC in either Ancient Egypt or Sumer:*Early Dynastic Period of Egypt*Early Dynastic Period of Sumer...
, beginning around 3100 BC), evident even in items such as cheap, mass-produced beveled rim bowls which were made to be discarded. These bowls were handed out at community outings, such as large-scale constructions. The cities grew to cover up to 250 acres (1 km²) and up to 10,000–20,000 people by the end of the period.

Periodization is after archaeological layers at Uruk
Uruk

Uruk , from the Akkadian rendering of the Sumerian toponym 'unug', is modern Warka , Iraq. Uruk was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates river, on the ancient Nil canal, some 30 km east of As-Samawah, Al Muthanna Governorate, Iraq....
. Thus, Uruk XVIII–XIV are not part of the "Uruk period" proper but are comprised by the Ubaid period
Ubaid period

The tell of Ubaid near Ur in southern Iraq has given its name to the prehistoric Pottery Neolithic to Chalcolithic culture, which represents the earliest settlement on the alluvial plain of southern Mesopotamia....
. The Uruk period proper corresponds to the layers Uruk XIV–IV, with the late phase Uruk IV lasting ca. 3300–3100 BC. Uruk III reaches up to 3000 BC and into the Early Dynastic period (not to be confused with the Ur III period of the 21st century BC, where the numbering refers to royal dynasties, not archaeological layers)

Footnotes


See also

  • History of Sumer
    History of Sumer

    The history of Sumer, taken to include the prehistoric Ubaid period and Uruk period periods, spans the 5th to 3rd millennia BC, ending with the downfall of the Third Dynasty of Ur around 2004 BC, followed by a transition period of Amorite states before the rise of Babylonia in the 18th century BC....