ANTH 1200 Topic 13 Notes PDF

**Topic 13** **Origins of Cities and States** **Overview** - - - - - - - **Introduction** - - - - **The Great Change** - - - - - - **Chiefdom:** a political unit, with a chief at its head, integrating more than one community but not necessarily th...

**Topic 13** **Origins of Cities and States** **Overview** - - - - - - - **Introduction** - - - - **The Great Change** - - - - - - **Chiefdom:** a political unit, with a chief at its head, integrating more than one community but not necessarily the whole society or language group (p. 329)[^1^](#fn1){#fnref1.footnote-ref} - - **State**: a political unit with centralized decision making affecting a large population (p. 326) **The First Urban Civilizations** - - - - Northwest India (**Harappa**): post-3200 BCE - Northern China: post-1900 BCE (**Erlitou Culture**/Xia Dynasty) - **Review Questions** - What is a civilization? What are some of the characteristics of early civilizations that differentiate them from the societies that preceded them? - What are chiefdoms and states? - When and where did the first civilizations emerge in different parts of the world? **[Archaeological Inferences about Civilization ]** **Inferring Status** - - people did not differ much in wealth, prestige, or power - status was earned, not inherited - **Status in Burials** - - - - - E.g., child burials from **Tell es-Sawwan** (Iraq, 5500-5000 BCE) and **La Venta** (Mexico, 800 BCE) - - **Criteria for States** - - - - - - - - - - - **Inferring Political Hierarchy** - - **An Early State in Iran** - - I.e., 45 small villages, three or four "towns" and one large centre: **Susa** - - - **\ ** **Evidence of Administrative Control** - - - - **Review Questions** - What are some of the lines of evidence that archaeologists use to infer status differentiation in the archaeological record? - What are some of the criteria that are commonly used to infer the existence of a state in the archaeological record? - How do archaeologists infer the existence of a political hierarchy and/or centralized control? **[Cities and States in Sumer]** **History Begins at Sumer** - - - - - **Transition to Civilization** - - - - - - **Sumerian Civilization** - - - - - - - **Social Complexity** - - - **The First Writing** - - - - - - **Hieroglyphics:** "picture writing," as in ancient Egypt and in Maya sites in Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America) (p. 330) - **Review Questions** - What was Sumer and why is it important to the emergence of civilization? - When did walled cities begin to appear in Sumer? - What are some of the signs of emerging social complexity in Sumer? - What is cuneiform? When does it first appear in the archaeological record and what was it used for? - How does cuneiform differ from hieroglyphic-based writing systems? **[Cities and States in Mesoamerica]** **Cities and States in Mesoamerica** - - - **The Formative Period in Mexico** - - **E.g., Tlatilco** (Western Basin of the Valley of Mexico): rank distinctions apparent in 500 burials from this period - - - **Teotihuacan** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - E.g., more than 200 individuals were sacrificed at the founding of the Temple of the Feathered Serpent - - - - - - E.g., ca. 300 CE approx. 1000 **Zapotecs** from the Valley of Oaxaca created a separate enclave of the city - - - - - - - - - - - - **Review Questions** - Why did cities and states appear later in Mesoamerica than in SW Asia? - When did rank distinctions first appear in Mexico's Central Highlands? - What did Teotihuacan ultimately emerge as the dominant centre in Central Mexico following its early rivalry with Cuicuilco? - What are some of the notable architectural achievements associated with Teotihuacan? - In what ways did the ancient city of Teotihuacan resemble a modern city? - What evidence suggests that Teotihuacan had far-reaching influence throughout Mesoamerica? **[First Cities and States in Other Areas ]** **Other Early Civilizations** - - **Ancient Egypt (post-3100 BCE)** - - - - E.g., the first Egyptian pyramid, the **Step Pyramid of Djoser** was built for the Pharaoh's burial by his Vizier Imhotep in the 27th century BCE - The **Great Pyramid of Khufu**, the largest of the Egyptian pyramids, was completed ca. 2560 BCE **Harappan Civilization (ca. 3200-1300 BCE)** - - - - - - - - - **Ancient China (1600 BCE)** - - - - a stratified society - religious, economic, and administrative unification - a distinctive art style - a fully developed system of writing - advanced craft specialization (e.g., iron casting, pottery production, etc.) - - - **Andean Civilizations (South America)** - - - - - **Review Questions** - When did the Old Kingdom begin in Ancient Egypt? What was the capital of the Old Kingdom? - When were the first pyramids built in Egypt? - What were some of the early states that appeared in Africa in the last two millennia? - In what part of the world was the Harappan civilization located? What were some of the unique features of this civilization that appear to set it apart from most other early civilizations? - Where was the Shang civilization located in China? Why do archaeologists believe that Shang civilization was a state? What earlier dynasty might have preceded the Shang Dynasty? - What were some of the earliest appearing civilizations in South America? **[Theories about the Origin of the State ]** **Why States?** - - - **1) Hydraulic Hypothesis** - - - - Sumer Tigris-Euphrates - Egypt Nile - Shang Huang He - Harappa Indus & Sarasvati/Ghaggar-Hakra (dried up) - - - - - - - E.g., early cities in southern Iraq were served by small irrigation systems that probably did not require extensive labour and management; i.e., large-scale, complex irrigation works were not constructed until ***after*** cities and states had been fully established - In this case, then, it seems unlikely that irrigation could have been the main stimulus for the development of cities and states in Sumer - - - - **2) Conflict and Circumscription** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - **3) Local and Long-Distance Trade** - - - - - - - - - **Interaction Spheres** - - - - **Evaluating Theories of State Formation** - - - - **Review Questions** - What is the Hydraulic Hypothesis? What are some of the weaknesses of this hypothesis? - Why is inter-group conflict an essential part of Robert Carneiro's circumscription theory? What is the difference between physical and social circumscription? - How could trade networks have contributed to the emergence of early states? - What is an interaction sphere? Provide an example. - What is the common feature of the various hypotheses for state formation discussed here? - What are some of the positive and negative consequences of state formation for human - cultures? **[Consequences of State Formation ]** **Consequences** - - - - - - - - - **Negative Consequences** - - - - - - **[The Decline and Collapse of States]** **State Collapse...** - - - - **...or Continuity?** - - - - - **Environmental Degradation** - - - - - - - - - - - - **\ ** **The Problem of Choice** - - - E.g., while deforestation may have affected the Classic-era Maya, it must also be acknowledged that the decisions that they made re: what to do about it also contributed to their ultimate fate as a civilization - **Lessons Learned?** - - - **Review Questions** - Did all of the early states discussed in this topic "collapse", or did they simply transform? - What are some of the ways in which environmental degradation can be linked to the collapse of ancient states? Can modern societies learn anything from these examples? ::: {.section.footnotes} ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. ::: {#fn1} NOTE: unless otherwise indicated, most key definitions with page numbers in the notes for this course derive from Ember, Carol R.; Melvin Ember; Peter N. Peregrine; Robert D. Hoppa and Kent D. Fowler. 2018. *Physical Anthropology and Archaeology (4th Canadian Edition).* Pearson.[↩](#fnref1){.footnote-back} ::: :::