"From 1968 to 1990, Edward Ochsenschlager conducted ethno-archaeological fieldwork near a mound called al-Hiba, in the marshes of southern Iraq. In examining the material culture of three tribes - their use of mud, reed, wood, and bitumen, and their husbandry of cattle, water buffalo, and sheep - he chronicles what is now a lost way of life. He helps us understand ancient manufacturing processes, an artifact's significance and the skill of those who create and use it, and the substantial moral authority wielded by village craftspeople. He reveals the complexities involved in the process of change, both natural and enforced."--Jacket.