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Heartlands and Hinterlands: Alternative Trajectories of Early Urbanization in Mesopotamia and the Southern Levant

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Steven E. Falconer  and
Stephen H. Savage
Steven E. Falconer
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287–2402
Stephen H. Savage
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53201
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Abstract

Comparative rank-size analyses reveal highly variable courses of urbanization in ancient Mesopotamia and the southern Levant during the fourth through early second millennia B.C. While traditional rank-size methods do not consider the effects of archaeological sampling, we propose a revised approach based on Monte Carlo simulation, which incorporates site-recovery rates and demonstrates the advantages of “full-coverage” survey. We highlight the rapid development of urban primacy in southern Mesopotamia’s heartland (Adams 1981) and the more static rural integration of the Diyala hinterland (Adams 1965). In contrast, Bronze Age urbanization in the southern Levant describes a mosaic of urban and rural systems following independent trajectories. We call for greater attention to small sites, which often define the shape of rank-size distributions. Our approach illuminates modest cases of urbanization in terms of structure, rather than simply of reduced scale, and avoids a tendency to categorize such cases as derivative.

Resumen

Resumen

Los análisis comparativos del rango de tamaño de asentamientos revelan una gran variabilidad en el rumbo hacia la urbanización en la Mesopotamia antigua y en el sur de Levante a través del cuarto milenio hasta principios del segundo milenio A.C. Los métodos de rango-tamano empleados tradicionalmente no consideran los efectos del muestreo arqueológico. Por ello proponemos una perspectiva distinta de aquéllos, basada en la simulación Monte Carlo la cual incorpora estimaciones de los sitios recuperados y demuestra las ventajas de los reconocimientos de superficie de “cobertura total.” Distinguimos la primacía del rápido desarrollo urbano en el núcleo de la Mesopotamia sureña (Adams 1981) de la integración rural más estática en la periferia del Diyala (Adams 1965). En contraste, la urbanización en la Edad de Bronce en el sur de Levante presenta un mosaico de sistemas rurales y urbanos que siguen trayectorias independientes. Ponemos mayor atención en los sitios pequeños, los cuales con frecuencia definen la forma de las distribuciones de rango-tamaño. Nuestro perspectiva ilustra casos modestos de urbanización en términos de estructura en lugar de una simple escala reducida, y evita la tendencia de categorizar estos casos como derivativos.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 60 , Issue 1 , January 1995 , pp. 37 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1995

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