The village of Tepe Gawra in northern Mesopotamia seems to have been taken over in the Ubaid period by Sumerians. A complex of three temples of standard Sumerian tripartite (three-part) design was found along with stamp seals indicating some economic organization: the settlement was probably occupied to control trade routes. Burials rich in grave goods contained numerous beads of exotic material including lapis lazuli.
By late Ubaid or Uruk times, bevelled rim bowls were in use here. These are standardized vessels which are interpreted as measures of a day's grain ration for a temple employee. This would imply local temple bureaucracy organized along Sumerian lines.
