I've been trying to find information about the somewhat-famous Ubaid "lizard" figurines (occasionally characterized as birds instead, or examples of cranial deformation). You can see examples here. All I've been able to learn so far is that a number were excavated by Leonard Woolley at Ur (honestly, what wasn't found by Woolley at Ur?), they're dated to the Ubaid period, and southern ones are often slimmer than northern examples.
I can't find any information beyond that, aside from less-than-credible sites linking it to "ancient aliens".
Could anyone direct me to better academic sources for this? Or if none are readily available or even extant (a sad possibility), what might you recommend as general reading for Ubaid art?
A nice starting point for reading on the Ubaid might be Joan Aruz's Art of The First Cities; as it turns out however a recent collection of conference papers that is freely available addresses these figures in several places, discussing them in the context of anthropological theories on body modification and ornamentation, proposed relationships with Iran, and as comparanada to archaeologically documented cranial deformation and red ochre in graves. The things you find on the internet! https://oi.uchicago.edu/idb-static/multimedia-copies/931/saoc63.pdf
honestly, what wasn't found by Woolley at Ur?'
Hey, I'll just say that I am partial to the copper friezes found at Tell al'-Ubaid(admittedly also by Woolley), the wonderful little lion from Urkeš(not found by him, although much, much later than the ubaid), and the stone vessels found by the Diyala project. And that's without even touching Iran or Syria.
Have you tried his Excavations at Ur book?
I actually found a copy of it at my public library, and it's a quick and easy read. Interlibrary loan will also help find it if yours doesn't carry it.
It's also a great resource to understand digging techniques and styles for the time. It's... Rough, but helps show just how far we've come.
