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Cities
and
Civilization
TheDomestication of the Human Species
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Sources
Lewis Mumford The City in History
V. Gordon Childe, “The Urban Revolution”
Lewis Mumford, “What is a City?”
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Diffusion of urbanism
By urbanism we mean a way of life, a set of institutions, a kind of social organization
Invented various times and places
Diffused from each of these places to other places
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Earliest urban “hearths”
Turkey
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Indus Valley
Yellow River valley, China
Mesoamerica
Andean America
E. and S. Africa
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What’s in a word?
Civic, civilization, civilize, city, civility
What’s the common thread?
These English words reflect the long association between the idea of urban life and the idea of some kind of refinement of thought or behavior
All of these words derive from Latin
The association is as old as the Roman empire: the Romans saw city building as the way to spread civilization
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Civil-izing viewed in retrospect
Does urban life uplift the human spirit?
Is the city a way to escape from the grim struggle of
nature with predators & prey?
As we adapt to “second nature” what happens to our
relationship with “first nature”?
Is urban culture a step above folk dances, folk songs,
traditional handicrafts and the rest of rural culture?
What is the point of overcoming the instincts bred in
people over millions of years living in non-urban
environments… is it worth the struggle?
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Who invented the city?
The city was invented not once but many times in
different Neolithic cultures. Ingredients:
Concentrated population
Social hierarchy & formal institutions
Defense against outsiders (wall)
Monumental architecture (temples, palaces)
Management of resources
• Creation of irrigation systems, granaries, etc.
• Collection of taxes/tribute
• Distribution to members of the court
• Distribution to subjects in times of famine
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Characteristics of Early Cities
“Early” cities emerge at different times in
different places
Populations ranging from a few thousand to more than
100,000
Often have city wall indicating need for defense
Have a Citadel indicating an aristocratic/priestly ruling
class and more generally a social hierarchy
Most have record-keeping technologies (like counting
devices or primitive forms of written notation)
indicating that urban life requires record keeping
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Why is the wall integral to the
earliest cities?
Earliest urban communities were surrounded by nomadic people coming and going
Wild animals were common during early urbanization in most places
Cities were known to have food and water, so in times of scarcity nomadic people often tried to raid cities
As more cities developed, their kings began to lead raids on other cities for plunder, slaves, and territory
Walls might have helped control slaves and other urban residents who were less than willing to cooperate with the king and his forces
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Mesa Verde, Colorado
Early city or fortified
village?
Largest cliff dwelling (Cliff
Palace) had room for only
100-120 people
Essentially a village
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Urban Site Issues
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“Pueblo Bonito”
Chaco Canyon, NM, “Anasazi” people
Large village or small city built in stages beginning around 919 AD
1000-2000 occupants, up to 600 rooms in use, 5 stories in height along back wall
Access to rooms through central courtyard, which contained two great kivas and was lined by over 35 smaller kivas
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“Teotihuacan” (near Mexico city)
Emerged as urban center
around 0 AD and lasted
for more than 600 years
60-80,000 inhabitants!
Boston didn’t reach this
population until the
1830s
Apartment buildings,
wide avenues, huge
pyramids, districts with
specialized functions
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“Avenue of the Dead,” Teotihuacan
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Architectural Detail, Teotihuacan
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What does this sculpture “tell” us?
Found in excavation of Teotihuacan
Says two things about the division of labor
Says something about cultural development
Social specializationSculptor
Acrobat
Acrobat’s audience
Sculptor’s “audience”/patrons
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What does this sculpture tell us?
Found in a Mayan
archaeological site
Demonstrates both the
role of the artist in
serving and glorifying
power, and the
supreme power of the
king
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What do these artifacts tell us?
Found in a Mayan archaeological site
Prisoner and sacrificial victim demonstrate the link between urban culture and organized violence/warfare
Organized violence is not necessarily “uncivilized” (since it comes with civilization) although it is horrific
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Çatal Hüyük
In what is today Turkey
Population of between 5,000 and 6,000 people
Inhabited around 6800-5400 B.C.
Houses packed together
Each house was entered through a hole in the roof (defense?)
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Urbillum, Irbil, Erbil, Arbela,
Arabilu
Oldest city that is presently occupied
Has been a city for 4,300 years, creating an enormous “tell” that has not yet been excavated
Walled city on hill created classic urban form
Under control of Sumerians, Persians, Macedonians, Ottoman Empire, Kurds & Iraq
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“Mohenjo-Daro” (mound of the dead)
Harappan culture (Indus valley, in what is now Pakistan)
Peak around 2000 BC
About 35,000 residents
Assembly halls, giant granary, towers, and cistern (bath?) in the citadel
Axial layout
Centrally planned (similar to other Harappan cities)
Covered sewers!
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Harappan cities (artist’s conception)
Jonathan Mark Kenoyer, University of Wisconsin - Madison
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Ziggurats (Mesopotamian temples)
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Assyrian conquest, 9th c. BC
Women and children celebrate outside their walled-city as the dead float by
City has always required defending
Mumford suggests that people were not psychologically and culturally prepared for the regimentation and social stress of urban life so they took out their tension and aggression on other groups
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Assyrians taking captivesfrom a 9th c. BC engraving (source: Society of Ancients: http://www.soa.org.uk)
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The “Citadel”
Found in many early cities
Takes various forms
A compound of grandiose structures, often walled off from rest of city
Functioned as:
place of ceremony
home for semi-divine leaders and their “court”
place to store (and guard) the food reserves
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“Mohenjo-Daro” (mound of the dead)
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Social Hierarchy
Large population concentrations both facilitated and necessitated specialization of social roles
Ruler (usually thought to have god-like powers)
Priests (doubled as administrators)
Technicians (e.g. surveyors, engineers)
Artisans & performers
Merchants
Subjects (mostly farmers)
Conquered peoples
Slaves
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Cosmo-Magical Order
Regular “grid-iron” layout was not originally designed for practical purposes
Cities like Teotihuacan, Roman colonies, and China’s Forbidden City were aligned with the cardinal directions (axially) in an attempt to make them eternal and powerful
The city, especially the citadel, was believed to be the center of the universe; its axiality demonstrated that idea visually
Early cities show extensive evidence of sacred places in the form of shrines, temples, etc.
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Tokens
Used from 8,000 BC
throughout the Middle
East into Indus Valley
Represented goods
that were traded or
collected as tithes
(taxes of produce)Grain
Oil container
Wool fleece
Garment
Etc.
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Early writing systems
Mayan hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphsCuneiform (Sumerian)
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Role of Record Keeping
Early urbanism is associated with record keeping
of various kinds
This permitted the extension of control through
space and time
Conquest & empire
Long-distance administration and military coordination
Dynasties & legal codes
Solidification of trade agreements
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Urban Cultural Achievements
Primitive forms of notation
Nutritional security
Refinement of handicrafts
Art
Astronomy
Mathematics
Warfare (achievement?)
Religious elaboration and regimentation (achievement?)
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Websites that were helpful
Catal Huyuk: http://campus.northpark.edu/history/classes/Sources/CatalHuyuk.html
Teotihuacan: http://archaeology.la.asu.edu/teo/intro/citymp1.htm
Cahokia: http://medinfo.wustl.edu/~mckinney/cahokia/site.html
Tikal: http://mayaruins.com/tikal/Tikal_InnerMap.html
Mohenjo-Daro: http://emuseum.mnsu.edu/archaeology/sites/middle_east/mohenjo_daro.html