States of Clay – Clay Bureaucratic Objects from Early Mesopotamia

In the States of Clay project, we develop and apply an integrated scientific methodology to the full spectrum of clay bureaucratic objects, or CBOs, to address the functioning of early urban and state level societies of Mesopotamia. Our focus is on the millennium 3700-2700 BCE, when sites such as Uruk, Ur, Jemdet Nasr, Fara, Brak, Nineveh and others rose to prominence.