Changes in Upper Mesopotamian societies from the Halaf to the Late Chalcolithic period. A comparative analysis of different Neolithic and Chalcolithic developmental models in the Near East

The paper tries to apply a developmental and comparative approach to the analysis of the processes bringing to the first hierarchical societies in Upper Mesopotamia by focusing on their Neolithic roots and analysing the structural similarities and differences with the contemporary societies in two other regions of the Near East: South Mesopotamia and Central Anatolia. This comparison is aimed at evidencing, on the one hand, similarities and differences with an area – South Mesopotamia– whose features differed widely in the sixth millennium BCE but with which the Upper Mesopotamian communities were closely related for millennia. On the other hand, the author examines the profound structural differences with Central Anatolian communities, where the subsistence strategies, environmental contexts, and the resulting economic, social, and political organization seem to have differed substantially from the Mesopotamian ones. Whereas the comparison with Central Anatolian developments therefore essentially focused attention on structural features and differences, the analysis of the relationship with Southern Mesopotamia also considered the nature and effects of the intensive “contacts” that linked together the two Mesopotamian regions and were relevant to the developments of both societies.