The Social Construction Of Ancient Cities

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The Social Construction of Ancient Cities

Author : Monica L. Smith
Publisher : Smithsonian Institution
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 44,6 Mb
Release : 2013-04-09
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781588343444

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The Social Construction of Ancient Cities by Monica L. Smith Pdf

What made ancient cities successful? What are the similarities between modern cities and ancient ones? The Social Construction of Ancient Cities offers a fresh perspective on ancient cities and the social networks and relations that built and sustained them, marking a dramatic change in the way archaeologists approach them. Examining ancient cities from a “bottom up” perspective, the authors in this volume explore the ways in which cities were actually created by ordinary inhabitants. They track the development of urban space from the point of view of individuals and households, providing new insights into cities' roles as social centers as well as focal points of political and economic activities. Analyzing various urban communities from residences and neighborhoods to marketplaces and ceremonial plazas, the authors examine urban centers in Africa, Mesoamerica, South America, Mesopotamia, the Indian subcontinent, and China. Collectively they demonstrate how complex networks of social relations and structures gave rise to the formation of ancient cities, contributed to their cohesion, and sustained their growth, much as they do in modern urban centers. The authors' analyses draw from ancient texts as well as archaeological surveys and excavations of urban architecture and other material remains, including portable objects for daily use and comestibles. They show clearly how early urban dwellers consciously developed dense interdependent social networks to satisfy their needs for food, housing, and employment, forged their own urban identities, and generally managed to thrive in the crowded, bustling, and competitive environment that characterized ancient cities. Not least of all, they suggest how urban leaders and urban dwellers negotiated a consensus that enabled them to achieve both mundane and extraordinary goals, in the process establishing their unique ritual, legal, and social status.

The Ancient City

Author : Arjan Zuiderhoek
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 241 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2017
Category : History
ISBN : 9780521198356

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The Ancient City by Arjan Zuiderhoek Pdf

This book provides a survey of modern debates on Greek and Roman cities, and a sketch of the cities' chief characteristics.

Making Ancient Cities

Author : Andrew Creekmore,Kevin D. Fisher
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 443 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2014-04-28
Category : Architecture
ISBN : 9781107046528

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Making Ancient Cities by Andrew Creekmore,Kevin D. Fisher Pdf

Investigates how the structure and use of space developed and changed in cities, and examines the role of different societal groups in shaping urbanism.

Extraordinary Cities

Author : Peter J. Taylor
Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
Page : 445 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2013-01-01
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781781954829

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Extraordinary Cities by Peter J. Taylor Pdf

'Peter J. Taylor has produced a sweeping, empirically grounded, defense of cities as fundamental building blocks of long-term, large scale social structures; a way of freeing social science from state-centric bias; and indeed, mankind's hope. However, the single greatest strength of this complex, seductive, argument is the insistence on treating cities relationally, as process. Here the key to understanding the significance of cities is by studying them in terms of the dynamic networks they form and in their relations to states.' – Richard E. Lee, Binghamton University, US 'The founding father of the famous Globalization and World Cities research network and think-tank on worldwide links between cities presents this fascinating overview on cities in geohistory. By moving cities to the centre stage, Peter Taylor proposes that concern for states tell only part of the macro-social story of humanity. Cities have been, and are, the engines of innovation. This impressive new book provides new insights into why cities succeed or fail. The book is in the class with broadminded presentations like Jared Diamond's book Guns, Germs and Steel.' – Christian Matthiessen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark and President, International Geographical Union's Commission on Urban Geography 'This is a "big" book by Peter Taylor. It tells of the extraordinary world-making powers of cities across the ages, it explains why a state-centric social science has constrained recognition of these powers over the last two centuries, and it outlines a new "indisciplinarity" to help us make sense of a human condition increasingly forged out of the urban. Anyone troubled by the social sciences as we know them, ought to read this book.' – Ash Amin, Cambridge University, UK and author, Land of Strangers Accepting that cities are extraordinary, this book provides an original city-centred narrative of human creativity, past, present and future. In this innovative, ambitious and wide-ranging book, Peter Taylor demonstrates that cities are the epicenters of human advancement. In exploring cities as sites through which economies flourish, by harnessing the creative potential of myriad communication networks, the author considers cities from varying temporal and spatial perspectives. Four stories of cities are told: the origins of city networks; the domination of cities by world-empires; the genesis of a singular modern creative interval in which innovation culminates in today's globalised cities; and finally, the need for cities to act as centres for human creativity to produce a more resilient global society in the current crisis century. Providing a long-term view through which to consider the role of cities in attending to incipient crises of the twenty-first century, this closely argued thesis will prove essential for students and scholars of urban studies, geography and sociology, and all with a professional interest in, or personal fascination for, cities.

Cities Made of Boundaries

Author : Benjamin N. Vis
Publisher : UCL Press
Page : 416 pages
File Size : 52,6 Mb
Release : 2018-09-17
Category : Architecture
ISBN : 9781787351059

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Cities Made of Boundaries by Benjamin N. Vis Pdf

Cities Made of Boundaries presents the theoretical foundation and concepts for a new social scientific urban morphological mapping method, Boundary Line Type (BLT) Mapping. Its vantage is a plea to establish a frame of reference for radically comparative urban studies positioned between geography and archaeology. Based in multidisciplinary social and spatial theory, a critical realist understanding of the boundaries that compose built space is operationalised by a mapping practice utilising Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Benjamin N. Vis gives a precise account of how BLT Mapping can be applied to detailed historical, reconstructed, contemporary, and archaeological urban plans, exemplified by sixteenth to twenty-first century Winchester (UK) and Classic Maya Chunchucmil (Mexico). This account demonstrates how the functional and experiential difference between compact western and tropical dispersed cities can be explored. The methodological development of Cities Made of Boundaries will appeal to readers interested in the comparative social analysis of built environments, and those seeking to expand the evidence-base of design options to structure urban life and development.

Early Mesoamerican Cities

Author : Michael Love,Julia Guernsey
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 317 pages
File Size : 42,5 Mb
Release : 2022-01-06
Category : History
ISBN : 9781108838511

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Early Mesoamerican Cities by Michael Love,Julia Guernsey Pdf

This study of early cities in Mesoamerica will contribute significantly to the world-wide discourse on early cities and urbanism.

Archaeology of Domestic Architecture and the Human Use of Space

Author : Sharon R Steadman
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 395 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2016-06-16
Category : Architecture
ISBN : 9781315433967

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Archaeology of Domestic Architecture and the Human Use of Space by Sharon R Steadman Pdf

This volume is the first text to focus specifically on the archaeology of domestic architecture. Covering major theoretical and methodological developments over recent decades in areas like social institutions, settlement types, gender, status, and power, this book addresses the developing understanding of where and how people in the past created and used domestic space. It will be a useful synthesis for scholars and an ideal text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in archaeology and architecture. The book-covers the relationship of architectural decisions of ancient peoples with our understanding of social and cultural institutions;-includes cases from every continent and all time periods-- from the Paleolithic of Europe to present-day African villages;-is ideal for the growing number of courses on household archaeology, social archaeology, and historical and vernacular architecture.

The Origins of Ancient Vietnam

Author : Nam C. Kim
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2015-10-01
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780199980895

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The Origins of Ancient Vietnam by Nam C. Kim Pdf

The Origins of Ancient Vietnam explores the origins of civilization in the Red River Delta of Vietnam and how related studies can inform our understanding of ancient societies, generally, and the foundations of Vietnamese culture, specifically. Long believed to be the cradle of Vietnamese civilization, this area has been referenced by Vietnamese and Chinese writers for centuries, many recording colorful tales and legends about the region's prehistory. One of the most enduring accounts relates the story of the Au Lac Kingdom and its capital of Co Loa. Founded during the third century BC, according to legend, the fortified city's ramparts still stand today. However, there are ongoing debates about the origins of the site, the validity of the literary accounts, and the link between the prehistoric past and later Vietnamese societies. The Han Empire's later annexation of the region, combined with the problematic accounts found in the Chinese chronicles, further complicates these questions. Recent decades of archaeology in the region have provided new perspectives for examining these issues. The material record reveals indigenous trajectories of cultural change throughout the prehistoric period, culminating in the emergence of a politically sophisticated society. Specifically, new data indicate the founding of Co Loa by an ancient state, centuries before the Han arrival. In The Origins of Ancient Vietnam, Nam Kim synthesizes the archaeological evidence for this momentous development, placing Co Loa within a wider, global setting of emergent cities, states, and civilizations.

Ancient Cities

Author : Charles Gates
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 505 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2011-03-21
Category : History
ISBN : 9781136823282

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Ancient Cities by Charles Gates Pdf

Ancient Cities surveys the cities of the Ancient Near East, Egypt, and the Greek and Roman worlds from the perspectives of archaeology and architectural history, bringing to life the physical world of ancient city dwellers by concentrating on evidence recovered from archaeological excavations. Urban form is the focus: the physical appearance and overall plans of the cities, their architecture and natural topography, and the cultural and historical contexts in which they flourished. Attention is also paid to non-urban features such as religious sanctuaries and burial grounds, places and institutions that were a familiar part of the city dweller's experience. Objects or artifacts that represented the essential furnishings of everyday life are discussed, such as pottery, sculpture, wall paintings, mosaics and coins. Ancient Cities is unusual in presenting this wide range of Old World cultures in such comprehensive detail, giving equal weight to the Preclassical and Classical periods, and in showing the links between these ancient cultures. User-friendly features include: use of clear and accessible language, assuming no previous background knowledge lavishly illustrated with over 300 line drawings, maps, and photos historical summaries, further reading arranged by topic, plus a consolidated bibliography and comprehensive index new to the second edition: a companion website with an interactive timeline, chapter summaries, study questions, illustrations and a glossary of archaeological and historical terms. Visit the website at https://routledgetextbooks.com/textbooks/9780415498647/ In this second edition, Charles Gates has comprehensively revised and updated his original text, and Neslihan Yılmaz has reworked her acclaimed illustrations. Readers and lecturers will be delighted to see a new chapter on Phoenician cities in the first millennium BC, and new sections on Göbekli Tepe, the sensational Neolithic sanctuary; Sinope, a Greek city on the Black Sea coast; and cities of the western Roman Empire. With its comprehensive presentation of ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern cities, its rich collection of illustrations, and its new companion website, Ancient Cities will remain an essential textbook for university and high school students across a wide range of archaeology, ancient history, and ancient Near Eastern, Biblical, and classical studies courses.

Coming Together

Author : Attila Gyucha
Publisher : SUNY Press
Page : 404 pages
File Size : 53,9 Mb
Release : 2019-02-28
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781438472775

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Coming Together by Attila Gyucha Pdf

Archaeologists, anthropologists, and classicists discuss how urbanization first emerged in strikingly different sociopolitical contexts in North America, Europe, and the Near East. The pursuit for universally applicable definitions of the terms “urban” and “city” has frequently distracted scholars from scrutinizing processes of how ancient nucleated settlements evolved and developed. Based on the premise that similar social dynamics to a great extent governed nucleation trajectories throughout human history, Coming Together focuses on both prehistoric aggregated and early urban settlements. Drawing from a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches, archaeologists, anthropologists, and classicists discuss how nucleation unfolded in strikingly different sociopolitical contexts in North America, Europe, and the Near East. The major themes of the volume are nucleation’s origins, pathways to sustainability, and the transformative role of these sites in sociopolitical and cultural change.

Urban Life in the Distant Past

Author : Michael Smith
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 337 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2023-02-28
Category : History
ISBN : 9781009249041

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Urban Life in the Distant Past by Michael Smith Pdf

The book describes a novel approach to early cities that is transdisciplinary, scientific, historical, and based on social-science knowledge.

The Archaeology of Ancient Cities

Author : Glenn R. Storey
Publisher : Eliot Werner Publications
Page : 176 pages
File Size : 50,5 Mb
Release : 2020-12-31
Category : History
ISBN : 9781734281811

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The Archaeology of Ancient Cities by Glenn R. Storey Pdf

Cities are the largest "artifacts" investigated by archaeologists--entities that have been under academic scrutiny for a long time. Urban places are both physical and social agglomerations, fostering the most intense interaction of any human settlement. Archaeological evidence illustrates how ancient cities worldwide were similar in origin, development, and maturation, showing considerable isomorphism with modern cities. This book explores issues of definition and the essential elements of cities, offers a new heuristic typology of cities, and reviews case studies of six ancient cities (Copan, Great Zimbabwe, Gyeongju, Hierakonpolis, Rome, and Teotihuacan) with illustrative exercises at the end of each chapter. Cities have been characterized as "social reactors" working much like a star in creating an explosive increase in human connectivity. Urban planning, both ancient and modern, helps us understand the essence of this--the most exciting and vibrant product of the human tendency to nucleate.

Ancient Cities

Author : Charles Gates
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 457 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2013-04-15
Category : History
ISBN : 9781134676620

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Ancient Cities by Charles Gates Pdf

Well illustrated with nearly 300 line drawings, maps and photographs, Ancient Cities surveys the cities of the ancient Near East, Egypt, and the Greek and Roman worlds from an archaeological perspective, and in their cultural and historical contexts. Covering a huge area geographically and chronologically, it brings to life the physical world of ancient city dwellers by concentrating on evidence recovered by archaeological excavations from the Mediterranean basin and south-west Asia Examining both pre-Classical and Classical periods, this is an excellent introductory textbook for students of classical studies and archaeology alike.

Classic Maya Polities of the Southern Lowlands

Author : Damien B. Marken,James L. Fitzsimmons
Publisher : University Press of Colorado
Page : 350 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2015-11-02
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781457197246

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Classic Maya Polities of the Southern Lowlands by Damien B. Marken,James L. Fitzsimmons Pdf

"Classic Maya Polities of the Southern Lowlands investigates Maya political and social structure in the southern lowlands, assessing, comparing, and interpreting the wide variation in Classic period Maya polity and city composition, development, and integration. Traditionally, discussions of Classic Maya political organization have been dominated by the debate over whether Maya polities were centralized or decentralized. With new, largely unpublished data from several recent archaeological projects, this book examines the premises, strengths, and weaknesses of these two perspectives before moving beyond this long-standing debate and into different territory.The volume examines the articulations of the various social and spatial components of Maya polity—the relationships, strategies, and practices that bound households, communities, institutions, and dynasties into enduring (or short-lived) political entities. By emphasizing the internal negotiation of polity, the contributions provide an important foundation for a more holistic understanding of how political organization functioned in the Classic period."

The Neighborhood as a Social and Spatial Unit in Mesoamerican Cities

Author : M. Charlotte Arnauld,Linda R. Manzanilla,Michael E. Smith
Publisher : University of Arizona Press
Page : 357 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2012-12-06
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780816520244

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The Neighborhood as a Social and Spatial Unit in Mesoamerican Cities by M. Charlotte Arnauld,Linda R. Manzanilla,Michael E. Smith Pdf

Recent realizations that prehispanic cities in Mesoamerica were fundamentally different from western cities of the same period have led to increasing examination of the neighborhood as an intermediate unit at the heart of prehispanic urbanization. This book addresses the subject of neighborhoods in archaeology as analytical units between households and whole settlements. The contributions gathered here provide fieldwork data to document the existence of sociopolitically distinct neighborhoods within ancient Mesoamerican settlements, building upon recent advances in multi-scale archaeological studies of these communities. Chapters illustrate the cultural variation across Mesoamerica, including data and interpretations on several different cities with a thematic focus on regional contrasts. This topic is relatively new and complex, and this book is a strong contribution for three interwoven reasons. First, the long history of research on the “Teotihuacan barrios” is scrutinized and withstands the test of new evidence and comparison with other Mesoamerican cities. Second, Maya studies of dense settlement patterns are now mature enough to provide substantial case studies. Third, theoretical investigation of ancient urbanization all over the world is now more complex and open than it was before, giving relevance to Mesoamerican perspectives on ancient and modern societies in time and space. This volume will be of interest not only to scholars and student specialists of the Mesoamerican past but also to social scientists and urbanists looking to contrast ancient cultures worldwide.