Originally coined to signify a style of pottery in southern Iraq, and by extension an associated people and a chronological period, the term "Ubaid" is now often used loosely to denote a vast Near Eastern interaction zone, characterized by similarities in material culture, particularly ceramic styles, which existed during the sixth and fifth millennia B.C. This zone extended over 2,000 km from the shores of the Mediterranean to the Straits of Hormuz, including parts of Anatolia and perhaps even the Caucasus. The volume contains twenty-three papers that explore what the "Ubaid" is, how it is identified, and how the Ubaid in one location compares to another in a distant location. The papers are the result of "The Ubaid Expansion? Cultural Meaning, Identity and the Lead-up to Urbanism," an International Workshop held at Grey College, University of Durham, 20-22 April 2006. Table of Contents PART 1: THEORETICAL 1. DECONSTRUCTING THE UBAID. Robert A. Carter and Graham Philip 2. LOCAL IDENTITIES AND INTERACTION MODELING REGIONAL VARIATION IN THE UBAID HORIZON. Gil J. Stein 3. MORE THOUGHTS ON THE UBAID PERIOD. Joan Oates 4. THE HALAF-UBAID A TRANSFORMATION WITHOUT A CENTER? Philip Karsgaard 5. QUESTIONING THE HALAF-UBAID TRANSITION. Stuart Campbell and Alexandra Fletcher 6. THE DEAD HAND OF DEIMEL. McGuire Gibson PART 2: IDENTITY AND MATERIAL 7. PRACTICES OF DAILY LIFE IN FIFTH-MILLENNIUM B.C. IRAN AND MESOPOTAMIA. Susan Pollock 8. FIGURING OUT THE BODY AND IDENTITY IN THE UBAID. Karina Croucher 9. UBAID NEGOTIATIONS OF IDENTITY THROUGH PHYSICAL APPEARANCE? Kirsi O. Lorentz 10. A SNAKE IN THE REASSESSING THE EVER-INTRIGUING OPHIDIAN FIGURINES. Aurelie Daems 11. THE TERM “HAJJI MUHAMMAD”: A RE-EVALUATION. Harriet Crawford 12. THE DEVELOPMENT OF WOOL EXPLOITATION IN UBAID-PERIOD SETTLEMENTS OF NORTH MESOPOTAMIA. Hiroshi Sudo 13. UBAID LITHICS THEIR SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF UBAID SOCIETY. Elizabeth Healey 14. BUTTRESS-RECESS ARCHITECTURE AND STATUS SYMBOLISM IN THE UBAID PERIOD. Uwe Sievertsen PART 3: COMPARATIVE ANALYSES AND REGIONAL PERSPECTIVES 15. A MONUMENTAL THE COLLAPSE OF SUSA. Frank Hole 16. UBAID-RELATED-RELATED? THE “BLACK-ON-BUFF” CERAMIC TRADITIONS OF HIGHLAND SOUTHWEST IRAN. Lloyd Weeks, Cameron A. Petrie, and Daniel T. Potts 17. BAKUN-PERIOD SITES IN DARRE-YE BOLA-GHI, FARS. Barbara Helwing and Mojgan Seyedin 18. THE EMERGENCE OF UBAID STYLES AT TELL A LOCAL PERSPECTIVE. Rana Özbal 19. AN ASPECT OF THE UBAID INTRUSION IN THE SYRIAN UPPER EUPHRATES VALLEY. Yayoi Yamazaki 20. THE UBAID IN THE BALIKH VALLEY, NORTHERN BALIKH PERIODS IV–V. Maria Giuseppina Trentin 21. NETWORKS OF INTERREGIONAL INTERACTION DURING MESOPOTAMIA’S UBAID PERIOD. Bradley J. Parker 22. EXPLORING SOCIAL ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS OF THE UBAID A CASE STUDY OF DE?IRMENTEPE IN EASTERN TURKEY. Bekir Gurdil 23. GODEDZOR, A LATE UBAID-RELATED SETTLEMENT IN THE SOUTHERN CAUCASUS. Christine Chataigner, Pavel Avetisyan, Giulio Palumbi, and Hans-Peter Uerpmann