Our evidence calls into question the dating of levels at important sites, as well as of sites discovered on survey. When we retum to Umm al-Hafriyat, we also hope to excavate a number of pottery kilns of various periods, in order to determine their construction, and how they worked. We will also do experiments with the clay around the site to find out which pottery was local and which was from elsewhere. Part of the investigation would entail making trenches across the ancient canals that are easily visible on the surface next to Area C. From such trenches we would obtain good clay specimens and information on the nature of the stream beds themselves. Geomorphological analysis can give details on water velocity and other natural or man-made factors, plus some indications of climate, ancient vegetation, and so forth.
Geomorphological work is an integral part of our research.
Here, with a minimum of effort on our part, we have exposures of ancient soils that are incomparable. If we had time, we could draw soil profiles dozens of kilometers along some of the drains. We know that the NippurUmm al-Hafriyat area has undergone drastic shifts in landscape, natural conditions, and human occupation since 1850. There have been changes from swamp to irrigation to desert to swamp to desert and lately back to irrigation. Such marked variation, without major climatic fluctuation, seems closely tied to human action and our appreciation of southem Iraq as a humanly-engineered environment is growing with every season.