Dozens of clay bowls may be evidence of one of the earliest government institutions in the world, a new study finds. The bowls, which were unearthed at an early archaeological site in Iraq, are thought to have held savory meals given in exchange for labor in ancient Mesopotamia.
But the site was eventually abandoned, which might indicate that local people had rejected centralized authority, although the researchers are uncertain whether this was the case. After this early government fell, it took another 1,500 years for any centralized governing authority to return to the region, the authors wrote in the study.
