Social stratification at dawn of urban life. A view from Eridu

A new season of archaeological work at Eridu (Tell Abu Šahrain) in Southern Iraq, following a 70-year hiatus since the last excavations led by Fuad Safar between 1946 and 1949, allows a fresh approach to the investigation of the remarkable urban development of the Late Chalcolithic in Southern Mesopotamia. The contribution presents the results of the first 5 campaigns in Eridu, with a special focus on the Ubaid period (Ubaid Cemetery and Housing and Craft Areas). An introdution is provided to an unprecedented project, jointly developed by Sapienza University of Rome and the University of Costa RIca, which utilized AI to study the Ubaid necropolis.