A strange discovery at Tell al-'Ubaid
In the 1920s, archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley was excavating sites in southern Mesopotamia, the region that would later become Sumer. While working at Tell al-'Ubaid, a small mound measuring about half a kilometer in diameter, his team uncovered artifacts from a prehistoric culture that existed between 6500 and 3800 BCE. This culture, now named Ubaid after the site, predated the Sumerians and the invention of writing.
Among the pottery and tools, Woolley's expedition found a number of bizarre baked clay figurines. These statues, dating back approximately 7,000 years, depict humanoid figures with both male and female characteristics. Their bodies are slender, but their heads are unnaturally long and tapered, with almond-shaped eyes, and reptilian-like noses. The figures are often naked, though some appear to wear helmets or have padding on their shoulders. Details like eyes or headdresses were often applied with black bitumen. Many of the figurines were discovered in Ubaid-period graves.
An unsolved prehistoric puzzle
The purpose of the lizard-like figurines remains unknown. Theories about their meaning range from representations of deities to shamans undergoing spiritual transformations. The serpent was a powerful symbol in later Mesopotamian religions, often associated with gods like Enki. One of the most peculiar examples shows a female figure with a lizard-like head nursing an infant of the same appearance. This pose suggests the figurines may be connected to fertility or life-giving rituals.
The elongated skulls are a feature. Some researchers propose this does not represent a reptilian being, but rather the practice of artificial cranial deformation. Skeletal remains from other sites of the same period show evidence that some individuals had their heads bound in infancy to permanently alter their shape. This suggests the figurines may depict an aesthetic or social ideal of the Ubaid people.
A final mystery is that most of the figurines were found deliberately broken. This implies they were not simply discarded but were part of a ritual that concluded with their intentional destruction, a practice sometimes referred to as "killing" an object after its ceremonial use is complete. While found at Tell al-'Ubaid, similar figurines have also been unearthed at the major Mesopotamian sites of Ur and Eridu, showing this was a widespread cultural practice.