Glen writes
> The Sumerians! Hahahahahahaha... you've officially gone off the
deep end, my
> friend. You are the one saying that the Sumerians were affected by
the Ubaid
> culture, derivative of the northern Halaf culture, which we both
agreed were
> Caucasic-speaking farmers.
What! Glen, agreeing to Proto-Euphratean? I don't believe it!
If you honestly believe that a non-agricultural
> culture paid such close attention to the skies, then good luck to
you.
Ubaid was not non-agricultural, Glen. Nor was Halaf. I don't argue
that non-agricultural people paid attention to the sky's, but then
there is clear evidence from Gravetian times that hunter gatherers
marked phases of the moon too.
> Cosmology is a major theme in Mayan belief too but.... lo and
behold, they
> were agricultural. Clear skies?? You're cracked.
Clear skies have always been the feature of the irrigated farms of
Southern Mesopotamia. In fact it was only with the development of
irrigration technology, first at Eridu and then throughout the Hadji
Muhammed culture that allowed Ubaidians to spread throughout lands
where farming was non rain fed. Come on Glen, please read some
archaeology.
Ubaid culture is divided into three phases.
1. Eridu (the oldest phase) is found only in the extreme south of
Mesopotamia and with findings along the West Arabian coast in the
vacinity of Bahrein. Sumerians themselves say that their culture
first came to Eridu from Dilmun.
2. Hadji Muhammed (the next oldest) which is found to have expanded
up as far as the Dyala Valley
3. Late Ubbaid which is found as far afield as Eastern Anatolia and
Lebanon, and down as far as Susa and Bahrein again.
Ubaid culture is not derivative from the northern Halaf. Halaf
itself is contemporaneous with late Eridu and Hadji Muhammed phases.
Most archaeologists see Ubaid as being muli-linguistic, but also see
it as the first clear presence of Sumerian.
Some archaeologists see some elements of Samara culture in Hadji
Muhammed and Eridu phases, and it is generally accepted that Samara
ware derived from the pre-Halaf Hassuna culture. This is the level
of proto-Euphratean (your Caucasic farmers). Once farming
settlements included Bahrein within their orbt, Sumerians would have
been present.
Regards
John