Societal Evolution of Small, Pre-state Centers and Polities : the example of Tepe Gawra in Northern Mesopotamia

Rothman, Mitchell S.; Peasnall, Brian L.

doi:10.3406/paleo.1999.992

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…1.5 ha) center of Tepe Gawra, located on the plain east of the Tigris near Mosul, Iraq. It was initially excavated in the 1920's and 1930's but has recently been restudied, with particular emphases on the changing nature of architecture and administrative practice through time (Rothman 2001b;Rothman and Peasnall 1999). A wide distribution of clay sealings in association with several extended family household compounds characterized the site in LC1; by LC2 specialized temple institutions had emerged and sealing activities became concentrated.…”

Section: Origins Of Complexity and Urbanism Ca 4400-3000 Bcmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cycles of Civilization in Northern Mesopotamia, 4400–2000 BC

2010

J Archaeol Res

198

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract:The intensification of fieldwork in northern Mesopotamia, the upper region of the TigrisEuphrates basin, has revealed two cycles of expansion and reduction in social complexity between 4400-2000 BC. These cycles include developments in social inequality, political centralization, craft production and economic specialization, agropastoral land use, and urbanization. Contrary to earlier assessments, many of these developments proceeded independently from the polities in southern Mesopotamia, although not in isolation. This review considers recent data from excavations and surveys in northern Iraq, northeastern Syria, and southeastern Turkey with particular attention to how they are used to construct models of early urban polities.Key words: Mesopotamia, complex society, urbanism, collapse 1 IntroductionOver a span of more than two millennia, northern Mesopotamia witnessed the emergence of urban complex society, its collapse and rebirth, and a further episode of collapse. This time span (ca. 4400-2000 BC) has been intensively studied by archaeologists over the last two decades, largely because of twin push (the closure of Iraq to foreign archaeology) and pull (salvage campaigns in advance of dam projects) forces. As a result, what was once considered to be the periphery of early urbanism and state formation in southern Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) has emerged as a region of interest in its own right. In many ways we now have a superior understanding of major social developments in the north (e.g., urbanism, craft production, agricultural and pastoral organization, the development of the landscape) than we do for the south, and improvements in chronology have revealed that many aspects of social complexity that were once assumed to have been imported from southern Mesopotamia have earlier and entirely indigenous origins.This review describes the development of social complexity from 4400 BC to the collapse of urban society at the end of the 3rd millennium BC in northern (or upper) Mesopotamia, defined here as the Tigris and Euphrates River valleys and the plains and steppe between them that fall today in northern Iraq, northern Syria, and southeastern Turkey (Fig. 1).Much archaeological research in the region, and in the Near East in general, adopts a culture historical approach that emphasizes typology and the development of sequences of material culture; here the emphasis is on anthropologically oriented research published since 1990.Geographically, the focus is on the river valleys and alluvial plains of Syria, and particularly the Upper Khabur basin of Hassake province. Occasionally I refer to sites beyond northern Mesopotamia proper when they are relevant to the discussion, particularly the western Syrian 2 cities of Ebla and Umm al-Marra; the important Syrian city of Mari, on the Euphrates near the Iraqi border, is largely southern Mesopotamian in orientation and will be not be discussed (although see Margueron 2004).In Mesopotamian archaeology generally, social complexity is described throug...

show abstract

Section: Origins Of Complexity and Urbanism Ca 4400-3000 Bcmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cycles of Civilization in Northern Mesopotamia, 4400–2000 BC

2010

J Archaeol Res

198

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The site was only c. 1.5 ha, but by LC2, the settlement included a temple, public building, and sophisticated resource administration implied by container sealings. These aspects expanded further in LC3, with the development of a central warehouse and tighter administration (Rothman 2002(Rothman , 2009Rothman and Peasnall 1999;Speiser 1935;Tobler 1950). Obsidian blades (Speiser 1935, pl.…”

Section: Rural Sites and Villagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early Urbanism in Northern Mesopotamia

McMahon

2019

J Archaeol Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cities generate challenges as well as confer advantages on their inhabitants. Recent excavations and surveys in northern Mesopotamia have revealed extensive settlements with diverse populations, institutions, extended hinterlands, and mass production by the early fourth millennium BC, comparable to well-known evidence for cities in their traditional homeland of southern Iraq. However, early northern Mesopotamian cities incorporated low-density zones and flexible uses of space not yet identified in southern Mesopotamia. Evidence for violent conflict in northern Mesopotamian cities also raises questions about urban sustainability; cities succeeded despite new sources of social stress.

show abstract

Societal Evolution of Small, Pre-state Centers and Polities : the example of Tepe Gawra in Northern Mesopotamia

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Cycles of Civilization in Northern Mesopotamia, 4400–2000 BC

Cycles of Civilization in Northern Mesopotamia, 4400–2000 BC

Early Urbanism in Northern Mesopotamia

The use of space in Late Chalcolithic Northern Mesopotamia: Assessment of activity patterns at Tepe Gawra XII through statistical analysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About