The site was subsequently visited on January 6 1926 by Langdon and Henry Field and it was decided that an excavation was necessary after several pictographic tablets were found.

Some burnt grain were recovered and later determined to be cone wheat (Triticum turgidum) the earliest exemplar of that in the region.

The first season at Jemdet Nasr took place in 1926, directed by Stephen Langdon, professor of Assyriology at Oxford University and director of the excavations at Kish.

[8] Langdon was not an archaeologist, and even by the standards of his time, as exemplified by Leonard Woolley's work at Ur, his record-keeping was very poor.

Since then, the assemblage characteristic for the Jemdet Nasr period has been attested at other sites in south–central Iraq, including Abu Salabikh, Fara, Nippur, Ur and Uruk.

Jemdet Nasr is located in modern-day Babil Governorate in central Iraq, or ancient southern Mesopotamia.

Some 0.4 hectares (0.99 acres) was occupied by the single, large mudbrick building that was excavated by Langdon, and where the clay tablets were found.

Many of these crafts, and also agricultural production, feature prominently in the proto-cuneiform tablets – indicating that much of the economy was centrally controlled and administered.

This idea is strengthened by the finding of sealings on the tablets of Jemdet Nasr that list a number of cities in southern Mesopotamia, including Larsa, Nippur, Ur, Uruk and Tell Uqair.

Based on the distribution of Early Dynastic pottery on the surface, the settlement seems to have been smaller than during the Jemdet Nasr period.

The building that was visible on the surface of the mound was probably a Parthian fortress, but due to a lack of well-dated pottery from this area this dating could not be ascertained.

Painted pots display both geometric motifs and depictions of animals, including birds, fish, goats, scorpions, snakes and trees.

Over 80 of the clay tablets bore a sealing, showing humans, animals, buildings, containers and more abstract designs.

One sealing, found on thirteen tablets, lists the names of a number of cities surrounding Jemdet Nasr, including Larsa, Nippur, Ur and Uruk.

[30] The exact findspots of many objects retrieved during the 1920s excavations could no longer be reconstructed due to the poor publication standards, so that many can only be dated by comparing them with what has been found at other sites that do have a good stratigraphy and chronological control.

A particular type of stone vessel with ledge handles and a rim decorated by incised rectangles has so far not been found at any other site.

The function of a number of flat polished stones incised with lines forming a cross is uncertain, but it has been suggested that they were used as bolas.

While at first it was characterized by a small set of symbols that were predominantly pictographs, by the time of the Jemdet Nasr period, there was already a trend toward more abstract and simpler designs.

[36] The tablets from Jemdet Nasr are primarily administrative accounts; long lists of various objects, foodstuffs and animals that were probably distributed among the population from a centralized authority.

[37] Thus, these texts document, among other things, the cultivation, processing and redistribution of grain, the counting of herds of cattle, the distribution of secondary products like beer, fish, fruit and textiles, as well as various objects of undefinable nature.