Anthro 322 Quiz 1

civilization conventional view

"advanced" state of human society—high level reached for culture, science, industry and governance How do we define what is advanced? What is high? Even technology...not all societies have the same level/type of technology? So do we differentiate? This definition doesn't leave a lot of room

Childe's 10 points about earliest cities

1. Size: first cities more extensive and densely populated 2. Composition, function: several classes, occupations, full-time specialists (merchants, craftspeople, priests, officials) 3. Tribute/taxes: surpluses generated by primary producers 4. Monumental buildings: symbolize "concentration of the social surplus" 5. Social classes: nonfood producers ("ruling class") supported by surplus 6. Recording systems: administrative, economic, political 7. Predictive sciences: ex calendrical, mathematical, astronomical 8. Sophisticated artistic expression: full time sculptors, painters, seal engravers 9. Foreign trade: regular, long distance, importation of raw materials, products 10. State organization: based on residence rather than kinship—security, resources, markets

Egypt fun facts

A painted ancient Egyptian limestone fragment dating to around 2500 BCE depicts servants baking bread Recently researchers "revived" and reused millennia-old yeast · Identified, isolated, and even baked bread with strains of yeast that may have been used by Middle Kingdom Egyptians to make bread—and brew beer—more than 4,000 years ago Recent study: world's oldest figurative tattoos? Two 5,000-year-old mummies from Egypt · Found near Luxor: Gebelein Man A and Gebelein woman · Dark smudges on man's arms had been overlooked until use of recent infrared light · Tattoos depicted a wild bull and a barbary sheep, likely associated with status, power and virility on the Man · On the Woman...there were S shaped curves. Status? Something more? Magical knowledge or protection?

E.B. Tylor Ideas

Biblical origin of civilizationsà "primitives" as product of degeneration (fall) · Primitives devolved from common origins w advanced civs · Early anthro thinking challenged biblical view o Involved progress through time · Mind, capabilities of all humans as the same o Despite a society's stage in social evolution · Used ethnographic fieldwork instead of travelers accounts

Proof of Early Cognition

Late Pleistocene Art · Portable and stationary o Figurines, ornaments, cave paintings · Altamira Cave (Spain) o 37,000-13,000 BP o Polychrome paintings o Paleolithic artifacts on floor · Food animals · Dangerous animals (bear, lions etc) · Art? History? Ritual? Visions? · Unclear why, but symbolic capacity clear Lascaux Caves (France) · C. 17,000 BP · 2,000 figures (animals, humans etc) Chauvet cave · great hall of the bulls · Hundreds of animal paintings · Pre and predators (13+ species) · C14 dating of pigments: c. 35,000 BP A rock painting of a banteng, a type of wild cattle from Borneo (in Indonesia!) · Some cave art in Indonesia as old as 40,000 years ago! Key implications: 1. Humans producing rock art by 40 kya in different regions of the world 2. Sulawesi was never connected via land bridge—water crossings?

Domestication, agriculture necessary for sedentism? Necessary for "social complexity?" Not necessarily...here is evidence of social complexity in Pleistocene (5)

Mezhirich Mammoth bone huts Grave goods from Saint Germain la Rivière showing social inequality Sunghir Grave sites Sakitari Cave in Japan Jomon Culture

Upper Paleolithic Revolution??

So maybe Paleolithic revolution not as accurate as people think... · Challenges notion of RECENT (50 kya) explosion of cognitive modernity (w Europe as origins) · Likely happens early (Africa) w AMH spreading out through Eurasia—Also: indications of other behaviorally modern groups (ex: Neandertals, Denisovans) Late Pleistocene (Upper Paleolithic) Culture(s) · Burins used in crafting and carving · Symbolic expression · "Venus" (female) figuriens o ceramic, stone, ivory, bone · fertility? Ritual? Art? · Point here: Childe uses sophisticated art as a marker of civilization. But we can see the precursor, the inklings here Late Pleistocene "Artistic Expression" · Sophisticated belief systems? Identities? · Figurative art as representational systems · Other forms? o Personal adornments, symbols on perishable materials (Ex: clothing) · "invisible" symbols and imagery, on bodies? o Non-durable in record o Tattooing, painting, scarification o Modes of identity/expression

Challenging Notion of Universal Egalitarianism or Simplicity for HG societies Reading

The causes and scope of political egalitarianism during the last glacial reading · Stresses strong relationship between ecological conditions and social organizations · stresses resource abundance and stability for hierarchical social structures · before warming of Holocene, conditions would not have permitted enough time for sedentary forms of living/agriculture · authors conclude: no substantial political hierarchy during Late glacial period o social organization during LG as generally politically egalitarian · **downplaying, or maybe rejection, of different forms of complexity by these authors

How did we start on the path to urbanism? What is the origin? Is there an origin?

Uruk (Iraq): founded 6000 BP Tikal (Guatemala), first millennium Catalhoyuk (Turkey, c. 9000 BP)—depending how you define cities, this could be a protocity or the earliest city Once we started to farm and domesticate plants and animals, that's when these transformations start to happen

Kenoyer reading

What does he say about the question of "state"? Was Indus Civilization a "state"? · argues that we are looking at a state · state just organized differently complex organization w different parts, so why couldn't we call it a state? "Indus cities and their hinterlands reveal a highly organized, hierarchical society, with multiple diverse communities integrated under state-level system of political, economic and social order" § Kenoyer: "The primary function of the walls was probably to control access into and out of the main settlement for trade and administrative purposes." · Evidence of production that was highly specialized...maybe protecting trade secrets · Indirect control over trade o Access of market areas inside gateways and city walls o Stratified access to materials, goods · Internal and external exchange: critical to power of urban elites o Fluctuation in trade closely linked to emergence and decline of Indus urban centers § What does Kenoyer say about conflict? Was there no potential for conflict? · Not much evidence of weaponry (absence of artifacts), depictions of violence · So this means that it was unlikely that the wall was built to prevent an attack · Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro · Larger towns and their hinterlands interacting lef to more stable trade and interaction networks throughout greater Indus Valley o Integrated through various socioeconomic, political and ideological mechanisms · Warfare didn't play strong role · Hierarchical social order · Symbols shared by people of many classes · Highly organized, hierarchical society with multiple diverse communities integrated under a state level system of political, economic and social order o Defines them as a state · Integration era saw establishment of urban centers many times larger · After long period of flourishing—localization phase—fall of urban areas o Shifting rivers led to disruption of agriculture and eventual breakdown of trade/political networks

World statistics (pop, urban etc)

World pop: 7.6 billion people Megacities: 10+ million people · 30 in world today World pop urbanites 1950: 33% of global pop currently: 54% of global pop 2050 (projected): 66% of global pop

Yu the Great

Xia · Yu the Great: legends say he founded Xia Dynasty-2100 BCE · Stopped great flood o Legends say endless boiling water was surging across landscape, giant waves crashing over banks of yellow river, demolishing everything · Legends: Yu controlled huge flood in Yellow River basin, then establishes Xia Dynasty · Organized dredging campaign, dug channel system, pioneered tradition of great public works · Story centers on cataclysmic flood...however "history" has been controversial—any evidence? · New geological evidenceà catastrophic flood on Yellow River at about 1900 BCE · Stratigraphic data and radiocarbon sating—flood deposits mixed w broken pottery inside dwellings · Standard engineering equations for flood discharge: waters would have surged at 300,000 to 500,000 cubic meters per second. Damage would have extended 2,000 km downstream o Equivalent to largest flood ever measured on the Amazon river...among largest known floods to have happened on Earth during past 10,000 years o So...maybe some validity in legends about Xia Dynasty

complexity

how people are interacting with each other...what relationships exist

Domestication

profound consequences for humanity, other species, global environments · Populations grew

Mohenjo-Daro: "Great Bath"

· "Great Bath" large water tank o surrounding colonnade, side rooms, ova well o series of "bathing" rooms o probably for special public or elite rituals associated w water purification some evidence of monumentality

Lawler: Shahr-i-Sokhta (eastern Iran)

· "burnt city" · is located at junction of bronze age trade routes crossing Iranian platau · benefitted from trade across regions · exhibits a transition from village habitation to urbanized community · monuments, palaces, homes, burials and manufacturing facilities o 20,000 people at peak · developed, flourished at same time as Mesopotamian civilization (to west) and Indus (to east · urban societies in region by 5000 BP

"Behavioral Modernity"

· "modern" humans and recent ancestors o distinct from other living primates and extinct hominins (?) · complex symbolic thought, creative cultural expression o associated with origins of language? o Earliest in Africa, then later in Europe/Asia and Australia · So is it accurate to call it a revolution? Or was it gradual change? Just Homo sapiens" o Traditional view: Upper Paleolithic Revolution o New evidence in Africa, Asia, Australia changing ideas Africa after 400,000 BP (Middle Sone Age) · Changes in technological inventory · Diversity, kinds · Large, crudeà smaller, intricate Anatomically modern humans · Sometime around 125 kya, AMH leaving Africa o So if we have anatomically modern humans are leaving Africa at this early time, how could the upper Paleolithic revolution, at only 50 kya, be correct? o There were amh in Asia too o These were cognitively and anatomically modern, very similar to us today

Complex Societies (generally speaking...5)

· "states", "civilizations", other terms o higher populations, class differentiation/stratification o social "complexity" § numbers: people and their interactions § complex social systems—interrelated parts, agents, groups o Power often centralized, restricted § Institutions of leadership, governance, authority · Not based solely on kinship · Difference between smaller scale society, village, and larger civilization, is that the power in a state is institutionalized...process by which leaders are chosen...offices always exist and people rotate...institutionalized power differences § Monopoly over (legitimate) deadly force § Collection of resources (taxes, tribute, labor) § Inequalities, different social strata o Often urbanized (cities) § Although not all civilizations are urban...much debate around this

Andes Region: Inka Empire (moving forward in time)

· 13th to 16th centuries o 2nd millennium · largest of pre-Columbian Americas · Peru and neighboring areas (from one end of Andes mountain chain to the other) · Conquest and peaceful assimilation · Quechua language (w local dialects) · Sun god (Inti)—Inka kind as descendant o Hierarchy of gods...you can worship anyone you want, but Inti is ALWAYS at top § Means Inka are always the pinnacle, the best, in the region, because they believe they are the descendants of Inti · Imperial capital: Cuzco o Center for ritual and politics o Divided into 4 quarters and had roads that led to farthest reaches of empire o Military: males required to serve o Mit'a: tribute in form of labor § Public service required—community-driven projects Machu Pichu—part of Inka empire · "lost city"—unknown to Spanish

Mezhirich- Central Ukraine, c 15,000 BP- hunting/gathering society

· 149 mammoths · forms of cooperation, labor organization, monumentality (in harsh environment) · mammoth bone houses · sedentism, complexity—tied only to farming societies? This complicates the picture

Narmer Palette (Hierakonpolis)

· 2 sides · elements of upper and lower Egypt...parts of the Nile itself · suspicion is that this represents unification of Egypt...unification of both sides of river...upper and lower...kicks off royal dynastic period · some of iconography shows warfare · 3300 BCE: independent city states along nile o upper/south and lower/north · 3100 BCE: unified into 1 territorial state o Narmer (means first pharaoh) o Dynasties begin for old, middle and new kingdoms · Succession of 300 rulers (pharaohs) (men, women, non-Egyptians) · At height, Syria to sudan · Rulersà protectors of humanity, liaisons w gods o Became divine upon death—journeys into afterlife o Embalmed, interred in tombs w goods for afterlife

Great Pyramid

· 2.3 million blocks o core blocks 2.5-15 tons each · granite blocks used to roof burial chambers: 80 tons each Image that gives us clues about how they accomplished these feats? · Water poured in path of sledge? · Hundreds of people pulling a rope system · Confirmed as feasible o Increased stiffness of sand o Likely reduced force needed to move statue o Probably same method as pyramid · Simple tools, complex engineering o Techniques changed over time · Complex organization · Thousands of workers o Temporary camps, permanent towns o Raw materials, tools, food o Obligatory labor? Slaves? Tribute? Paid? o "bak"—service owed to lord (feudal?) · Herodotus: Pyramid built by slaves o There were slaves in Egypt · But, Pyramid workers well-fed o Not "slaves" in modern sense o Workers graffitià organized into labor units · Arduous labor—short lives o Builders from all overà respected o Death during constructionà buried in tombs near sacred pyramids—an honor · Pyramids smooth, angled sides symbolized rays of sun and designed to help king's soul ascend to heaven and join the gods · Consensus: burial monuments · Debates: theological principles · One suggestion: "resurrection machine" o Ritually send pharaoh's soul into realm of gods

Harappan Period

· 4600 BP (2600 BCE)à large cities w diverse populations (ethnicity, specialization etc) · along major river systems · regional interaction-large towns, hinterlands o stable trade and interaction networks o integrated through socioeconomic, political and ideological mechanisms · relatively stable for 700+ years · elements of globalization several thousand years ago

Summary of Childe's model

· Agricultural subsistence and lifestyle—enabled by domestication of plants and animals—led to fundamental changes in societies · Following domestication (millennia in most area) some Neolithic societies underwent another fundamental transformation: emergence of earliest states and cities · Neolithic Revolutionà Urban Revolution · For some, Neolithic is a late stage of the Stone Age, starting 12,000 BP w first signs of farming. Paleolithic precedes this period.

GENERAL archaeological indicators...how to see ancient civilizations in the archaeological record and estimate population

· Ancient civilizations, how to "see"? o Mix of spaces: domestic, public, administrative o Temples, marketplaces, sanitation, wells o Urban-rural (hinterland) distinctions · Example cities: Teotihuacan (Mexico), 1st mil CE: 100,000? AND Anyang site (China), C. 1200 BCE: 100-150,000? · Population...How to estimate for ancient cities? o Geographic extent o Size/number of buildings o Density of buildings o Food production/storage o **all of these still require us to make assumptions...ex: I assume this building is a house and that 4 people lived in it

Clayton Reading:

· Archaeological understanding of Teo: "Must strike a balance between research concentrated within its internal urban city space and investigations of its surrounding countryside" · w/in daily view of entire urban pop as well as those in suburban and rural fringes · "they likely provided a constant reminder of both the power of the state and perhaps a broadly shared notion of Teotihuacano identities" · promotes notion of cities as places for gathering, diff. functions also as places to impress, create shared identities

Teotihuacán (Mesoamerica)

· Artifacts of obsidian and green stone...rich material culture · 100 BCE-650 CE (2100 BP-1300 BP) o about 2,000 years ago · peak pop: 125,000 · centuries after abandonment, city was rediscovered by Aztecs, who kept it as a shrine · "Classic Period" o starting 3rd century CE · "Integration" era—shared ideology across region (iconography) · "Main street": Avenue of the Dead...5+ km · innovator of many motifs/styles · multi-ethnic/diverse · writing? o No formal evidence, but spectacular iconography · Urbanism, reflects city planning · Urban-rural interactionsàmarketplaces · "downtown" area= central zone · important pyramids o sun pyramid o feathered serpent pyramid

Peopling of Americas/New World

· Beringia land bridgeà ice free corridor o Maybe around 20,000-15,000 years ago · Also could have used a coastal route ("kelp highway?") · By 14,000 years ago there are people living in S America (Chile)

Jomon Pottery

· Chemical analysis (food residues) o 15000 to 11800 BP (incipient Jomon) · lipids (charred surfaces)—clues about diet · processing/eating aquatic food · pre-agric. Ceramics: collection/cooking/storage? · Many sites near rich aquatic resourcesà o More sedentism? o Growing investment in pottery? · Elaborate hand-modeled shapes, surface treatments · Potters as part time specialists? o Studies of pottery temperà vessels exchanged among individuals · Pots used in feasting and ceremonial displays

Examples of monumental architecture

· City walls, palaces, temples, public squares · Pyramids of Giza, Machu Picchu Peru, Cahokia mounds (IL)

Functions of monumentality—besides obvious/practical (6)

· Commemoration · Messaging-to impress o Feats of engineering—unique, promotes society over others o Community identity, communal participation in building o Separation of space (social, physical) o Places to gather

National Pony Express v Inca Roads

· Connected coasts in US—1900 miles o Huge...yet with the inca...north to south was 2500 miles!!! Monumental construction § Total of 25,000 miles in roadways o Created bridges, rest station o People running...no horses

Summary: ancient states, complex societies, civilizations

· Considerable global diversity · Various reasons for emergence, persistence, decline, collapse (social change or social evolution) o Religion, economics, agriculture, population, warfare, environment, others o Some broad patterns, but much locally, and historically, contingent · Not all characteristics universal o Ex: writing, metallurgy, urbanism · Some of earliest civs "classic"—generally followed rise of agriculture (though not all) o Food surpluses—higher populations · Settlements become larger—beyond village life · Explanations vary o Anthro theories: initially based on ethnographic comparison o Later based on archaeological data · Many theoretical concerns: ex how does power become centralized · Today, research still dominated by themes of urbanism, agric production, craft specialization, inequality, power

Cities—different definitions

· Demographic o Quantitative o Densely populated o Permanent settlement o Socially heterogeneous · Functional o Regional perspective: urban-rural distinction o Functions: political, economic, religious, and cultural o This definition: what does it do? Certain services provided in city and support given by the surrounding rural area (ex: food)

Hunting and Gathering Lifeways

· Dependent primarily on wild foods for subsistence o Hunting, gathering fishing o Not producing food, general absence of surplus · Before c 13,000 BP (before Holocene), entire globe · Extensive across landscape o Subsistence: wide ranging o Factors: seasonality and resource distribution § Temporary, mobile camps § Can be tied to migrations of animals

Key Takeaways from Smith Reading

· Different ways to define cities · "urban revolution" · simpler agricultural societies grew into complex, urban states independently · at least six examples of "pristine states" o pristine: independently formed...first formed in their area...unprecedented...primary states o Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, North China, the Andes, and Mesoamerica · Neolithic revolution: hunting/gathering to farming o Greater reliance on domestication of wild plants and animals—mixed strategies o Within last 5,000-10,000 years o Fundamental, far reaching changes · Villages grew, agric, lifeways spread widely · Set stage: more complex divisions of labor, social roles, inequalities · According to childe: this is a revolution · THIS LED TO Urban Revolution: changes in social institutions and practices, settlement patterns o Rulers/leaders w real power emerged for first time § Government and social stratification o Economic activities expanded greatly, first cities built

Cucuteni-Trypillian culture-Neolithic (Moldova, Romania, Ukraine)

· Donut shaped settlements up to 800 acres, some with 2500 houses · Many underwent periodic destruction/rebuilding w/ multiple habitation layers · Unclear why—ritual? · Ex: Talianki settlement: est. pop 15,000 (335 hectares)

Pleistocene Japan

· During major glacial periods (lower sea levels)à land bridges present · 60-30 kya earlies human occupation of AMH · water craft was likely necessary to get to some remote spots—suggesting significant seafaring skill 40 kya

Towns near pyramids

· During pyramid construction o Labor towns—housing · Likely housed mix of people: o Skilled craftsmen, artisans, stone masons, quarrymen, officials o Temporary, rotating laborers o Sleeping galleries (?), bakeries, breweries o Thousands of people

The Urban Revolution

· Earliest cities o Much larger, more complex than Neolithic villages § Old world cities: likely "offshoots" of those in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus o Neolithic pop expansion-->urbanism

Uruk (Iraq) (6)

· Earliest true city? o 5000 BP o largely abandoned by 300 CE · monumentality, residential areas o up to 20,000 people · powerful kings and priests o large temple estates (ziggurats) · large scale irrigation · brick city walls o likely defensive · specialized craft production o refined metals (gold, silver, copper, bronze alloys) o mass production—ceramics, textiles · earliest writing · all this complexity...need to protect resources, settlements, people...possible origin of war?

Early "Civilization"

· Early notions tied to Eurocentric, colonialist thinking o Sociocultural evolution in a unilineal sense o Associated with bias, subjectivities · Nevertheless, material recordà earliest societies were smaller-scale, Hunter Gatherers o At the time, people were using their ethnographic work on hunter gatherer societies (from missionaries...armchair anthro) and comparing it to what they thought of the past...that everyone used to be hunter-gatherers...and thus that meant civiliations go through development · Some extremely broad patterns discernible o Some researchers: social evolution is useful as a concept § "social evolution": as change over time (____) § used Darwins biological evolution and applied it to culture

Lawler 2011 reading "Land in Between"

· Eastern Iranian civilizations that rivaled early Mesopotamia and Indus civilizations · Downfall because of a combination of drought, changes in trade routes and economic trouble · Shahdad o Metal working o Life sized statues with the dead · Shahr-i-Sokhta o Tablets with writing o Pottery on massive scale o Thriving textile industry o Trading lapis lazuli to west

Emergence of "pristine" states of civilizations

· Egypt, Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, China, Mesoamerica, Andes o Didn't all arise at same time · A major research problem in anthro: origin of state · Looking at "primary" state formationà first-generation states emerging without contact with any preexisting stats (independent origins) · In contrast w "secondary" states (peripheral, impacted by other states)

Early anthropological theories—Issues?

· Ethnocentric o Victorian England was the pinnacle model § Justifies colonization...justifies "civilizing" other cultures o Culmination of social evolution in England/Europe § Unilineal o Politically manipulated by someà justified colonialist policies · Speculative o Minimal fieldwork for maximal theoretical o Much data furnished by untrained amateurs (colonial administrators, missionaries) § Armchair Anthro o Projected present small-scale societies wholescale into the past § Minimal archaeological data, interpretations

Rosetta Stone

· Figured out how to read hieroglyphs · Hieroglyphs- 3150 BCE · Many inscriptions/texts · Describe events, rulers, religion · Rosetta Stone o Found by French soldiers o 3 engraved scripts o allowed decipherment · rosette stone inscribed w the Third Memphis decree, written in three different scripts: Egyptian hieroglyphics (top), Egyptian Demotic (middle) and (bottom) Ancient Greek

Çatal Höyük—9000 BP

· First "city" of central Turkey? · Population: 4,000 to 6,000? · Social differentiation o Seen in grave goods · Trade center · Ritual structures o Altar/shrine o Walls suggest may be burning rituals · Debate about whether or not this was the first ever city *Mesopotamia

Indus Valley Civilization

· First "discovered" 1920s · Major urban centers first, then many smaller sites · Why call it a civilization? o Common cultural patterns § Standardized measures, architecture, pottery, others § Underwritten by centuries of intensifying farming § Written language · Still undeciphered · Indus Civà foundations for later S Asian societies o Ceremonial bathing, ritual burning, yoga positions, bulls and elephants as religious symbols, styles of clothing and jewelry **important from reading...integration era...4600 to 3900 BP · Different villages and communities in era start to become connected...religion, politics, economic systems...region begins to coalesce · 2 sites that we're expected to know: Harappa, Mohenjo Daro · major cities abandoned by about 2600 BP (600 BCE) ***Indus Valley is NOT in the fertile crescent Area is twice the size of Texas, two major crop cycles with weather systems and precipitation, spike in population after domestication, and then not long after big cities emerge

Shang Culture (1600-1050 BCE) (3600-3050 BP)

· First major state (consensus) o Acc to history and archaeology · Rulers in cities, socially stratified o Authority: ritual, ideology, force · Specialized tech, communication o Bronze implements, ritual products o Writing—communication w ancestors § Oracle bones

Contrasting strategies and lifeways

· HG societies—successful · Farming not a necessity · Diversity and abundance · High pop, complex (?) societies · Cultural preference + environment= choices/strategies

Major Cities/Urban Centers in Indus Civilization

· Harappa, Pakistan: 150+ hectares · Mohenjo Daro, Pakistan: 250+ hectares · Major cities o Supported by hinterlands · Hierarchy of settlements o Concentric circles of civilizations emanating out from the middle o Hierarchy in settlement size o Regional towns: 10-50 hectare sites o Small towns: 5-10 hectare sites o Villages: 1-5 hectare sites o **this hierarchy of settlements is a clue that you might be looking at a state · early farmers drawn to water, trade routes o cattle, pigs, sheep, goats for food o dates, grapes and melons o field crops, such as wheat and peas · cities above river flow · sophisticated sanitation · large cities: indicated presence of hierarchical social order · some in larger houses o fired brick · others in smaller houses inside or outside walled areas o mud brick · public districts, residential areas · no standard house forms but general pattern for private house-- multi-room w central open courtyard

Vanhaeren and d'Errico Reading: Grave goods from the Saint Germain la Rivière burial: evidence for social inequality in Upper Paleolithic

· Hearth, animal remains · Stone structure covering grave · Ocred bison skull and split reindeer antler found nearby · Dozens of red deer teeth as ornaments o Perforated o Not native to area o From many different deer...not many pairs o Only canine teeth o 63 individuals, 55 stags and 8 hinds o collected over long period, probably several years o burial data: § dozens of perforated red deer canines § preference for teeth from young stags (contrast w absence of red in in region) § all clues suggest long distance trade, prestige items · key takeaway: individual part of "privileged social group"? Signs of social inequality 15,000 BP?

Socially Stratified, Politically Centralized (4)

· Heightened inequalities · Differential access to (control of) raw materials, finished products · Unequal access to information, resources, land, larger homes, goods · Grave offerings, treatment of dead · **difficulty: most of stuff that archaeologists access are from upper class and wealthy...monuments/elaborate tombs, written records etc o issues with "visibility" § don't have as much info about the commoner § people have recognized this and people are becoming more creative about how they access this past

Our paths to the modern world... (5)

· Human colonization of globe · Cultural/technological innovations o Symbols/writing § Ex: Sumerian cuneiform tablet, 5000 BP § Ex: Neolithic China: tortoise shells incised w signs 8500 BP § But there is also art...is this not a form of communication? · Goes as early back as 35,000 BP (cave art in France) o Craft/production, trade/exchange · Domestication and subsistence agriculture o Sedentism, population growth · Social inequality o Asymmetries in wealth and status · Civilizations, states o Early urbanism, emergence, decline

Jomon Culture

· Japan 16,500- 2400 BP o Different periods—Japan's Neolithic · Some of earliest pottery in world · Fisher-hunter-gatherer societies · * interesting because usually associated with farming at 10,000 ya but this is way earlier and they weren't farming · organized permanent villages by 6000 BP o cemeteries, storage pits · agriculture only after 3000 BP · contact with farmers earlier why late adoption?

Pearson Reading

· Jomon peopleà part time specialist activities o Ex: lacquer processing, ceramic masterpieces · Nature of Jomon complexity? · "complexity": useful to consider different kinds · complexity—need not be "hierarchical"—can be "heterarchical" o communities (villages) linked, but still autonomous o "unite" temporarily for reasons of war, ecological crises, monumental projects, religion, others o not hierarchical but STILL COMPLEX o need to think of complexity in more than one way Parting thoughts—views on "complexity" · social complexity restricted to sedentary, agricultural and highly populated societies? Maybe not... · is complexity always hierarchical? Maybe not... (think of Pearson)

Liu 2009 State emergence in China

· Lack of consensus on first state in china · Xia's approach o Emphasizes hard archaeological evidence over textual info...looks for state level political info, urban centers, writing, metallurgy · Su's approach o Neolithic period 5000 years ago...dawn of civilization manifest in archaic states...regional trajectories toward civilization · Social archaological approach o Employ methodology of settlement arcaheology to study social change from a regional perspective · Many Chinese archaeologists search for cultural remains from dynasties discussed in historical record/legend · Late Neolithic polities early states? o Ex of complex societies: Taosi and Mojiaoshan o Social stratification, large public architecture, prestige ritual objects · Erlitou and Erligang (after late Neolithic) defined as states o Complex reactions between core and periphery settlements o Social stratification, large public architecture, prestige ritual objects o Higher energy expenditure (ex Bronze production)

Jomon Techniques of production—quite complex...

· Lacquer treesà 0.5 liters per tree annually o Harvested during certain months · Early Jomon: villages may have tended fields o Not domesticated, but cultivated · Utilitarian and ritual uses of lacquer—coated pottery, textiles, others · Complex process of harvesting, preparation o Specialized knowledge, skills § Resistance to toxicity built up over time o Multiple participants, worked part of year—given timing of harvesting, extraction

Summary:

· Large population of interconnected people o Large-scale settlements · Complexity as resulting from: o Decision making, choices of agents, no of interactions · Materialization of choices seen in 3 basic domains o Food, objects, labor · Sedentism- key starting point associated with domestication, farming Common theme among researchers

Aspects of Jomon social complexity

· Large two-story buildings, and wooden stone henges · Produced sophisticated, elaborate crafts · Many see Jomon as primarily egalitarian · But, craft specialization, elaborate rituals in material recordà hallmarks of social complexity · Indicators of status differences, crafts Lacquer ornaments and vessels

Mesopotamia

· Lower Mesopotamia · Bronze age (5300 BP) · "city-states" o ex Uruk o some people think this is the earliest city regional influence—links to Egyptian civilization Mesopotamia: modern day Iraq · means "between two rivers" Fertile crescent...Mesopotamia and edge of Mediterranean (some people include Nile river valley)

Anthropological archaeology

· Material record-- reconstruct past lifeways, cultures o Not just deep past o Decades, centuries, millennia, or millions of years ago · Not just about ancient "mysteries" o Reconstructions of the past for a purpose § Culture histories/social change, behavioral patterns § Comparing datasets, building theories, testing hypotheses Ultimate goal--> understanding past lifeways, societies Archaeology is in anthro because we want to understand us, our present world and where we are going based on patterns from past

Assigned Reading Childe: arguments

· Models of social change w archaeological data o Synthesized data cases o Cultural or social "evolution"--change over time · Early civs: resulting from "revolutions" o "Revolution" chosen deliberately o "Civilizations" tied to cities o Neolithic (led to pop expansion)à urban § Neolithic rev: independently in several areas o Urban: transition from Neolithic villages

Examples of Monumentality in American Civilization?

· Mount Rushmore · Statue of Liberty · Washington monument · What are their functions? o Symbolize, commemorate

Revisiting Childe's argument 70 years later...

· Much new archaeological data o Elements of argument valid and supported o But, not all civilizations are the same · Even classic/pristine cases show variations o Some people have writing, some don't etc o Childe doesn't mention China

Hierakonpolis

· Multitiered, stratified · Econ factor for "state" o Control over surplus production o Craft specialization—organized by elites · Example of surplus product: beer—major industry—dietary and ritual · Ceramic vats, thick residues o Heated installations o Malted and crushed emmer wheat o Beer production Industrial scale

Ex of Social stratification Indus Civ

· Ornament styles o Similar shapes and forms o BUT different qualities of raw material o Indicates symbols were shared by people of different socioeconomic o Example: identical shapes of bangles and beads § Different materials: gold, bronze, copper, shell, faience, and terracotta · Bangles worn by men and women · Thin shell bangles indicate elite status · Banglesàsocial and ideological symbol o United people in settlement, but still differentiated them Maintained degrees of hierarchy

Hendrikx 2014 reading

· Political and sociological aspects related to emergence of Egyptian state deeply rooted in indigenous predynastic traditions · Violence played important role · Fundamental moment in birth of unified state was coalition between Hierakonpolis and Abydos around Naqada IIC Period · Development of and control over formal iconography must have importance for late predynastic and early dynastic elite · Narmer palette—Hierakonpolis o Abydos fundamental in its development though...earliest area of writing

Traditional views on Pleistocene societies

· Prior to mid 20th century o "complexity" of HG people not widely studied archaeologically o most believed ethnographies had already supplied all answers o many saw all HG societies as egalitarian · however, ethnographic studies since thenà strong variability in social organization in modern times o complexity NOT restricted to farming societies · Was this the case in certain Pleistocene hunter-gatherer societies? Did they have complexity?

When were earliest cities?

· Range of opinions and varies depending on spot in world · Before 10,000 BP-->no cities on earth

Maya Civilization (Mesoamerica)

· Regional kingdoms o City-states · Classic period: 250 to 900 CE · Advancements in: o Writing and astronomical systems, architecture, art · Cities centered on pyramids w temples o Similar to Mesopotamia · Surrounded by palaces and tombs of ruling elites · Carved stone at Copan site: o Tikal, Calakmul, Palenque and Copan were dominant centers of power Chichen Itza: Mayan Civilization · Roughly same time period as Teo · Yucatan peninsula (south of Teo) Bonampak site · Religious iconography Depictions of rulers captured elites from other cities for sacrifice · Gained followers and power

Boas led to "Neoevolutionary" thinking

· Rejection of unilineal evolution—evolution does not equal progress · "Multilinear Evolution" o Julian Steward · Influential for new school of thought: cultural ecology o Links w culture, societies, environment · Social systems emerged from local patterns of resource exploitation o Shaped by technological adaptations to environment · Despite cross-cultural similarities, social changes are particular to local factors o Varied pathways to complexity · Why would this connection between technology and social change be appealing to archaeology? o Easy to see tech in arch record...easy to observe, record and test hypotheses o Not everything survives in record, but a lot of times tools do

Lawler 2006 reading "North v South Mesopotamia"

· Settlements in north w monumental architecture and long distance trade at same time as first stirrings of city life in south · Contradicts idea of south spreading civilization to primitive north · More likely combination of cooperation and competition between two areas intensified urban evolution · Tell Brak o Massive mound o Temple o Organized administration o Specialized production · Hamoukar o City wall o Trade · Social complexity prior to Uruk expansion · Eventual downfall of northern civilizations...not sure why...some say violence from south

Organized Religion (4)

· Shared system of beliefs o Moral systems—rules for social interaction o Links to nature, animal world o About afterlife—agency of dead § Deceased rulers interact w deities and the living · Ensures continued lifeways/stability · Ex: Shang oracle bones...writing on scapula that was asking ancestors and higher powers for answers...ex: should we go to war? · Ideology o Can "naturalize" social differentiation of status · Political power—sometimes mixed w deadly force o Shang tombs—individuals sacrificed and buried with most powerful State as having right to deadly force...how to you legitimize this use? Has to do with right and wrong and this connects with religious ideology

So despite absence of clear "state" architecture...strong economic presence

· Signs of elite wealth, control · Center of craft production · Workshops in neighborhoods o Pottery, stone beads, stamp seals, figurines · Standardized weights in entire regions o 8 gunja seeds=smallest weight · Harappa: weights found in higher numbers in certain locations · Gateways and workshop areas o Also found: non-local forms of weights/measures, exotic products (ex Mesopotamian) o Shows they are concerned with value and the market...weighing products standardly Artifacts show trade contacts w Mesopotamia, Persian Gulf, Central Asia, and possibly China

Franz Boaz—Historical particularism

· Stood in contrast w "evolutionism" o Saw unique historical development of each society · Emphasis on specific cultural and environmental context o Unique historical processes · Critical of universal progression of cultural evolution (ie unilineal ideas) · Each society ought to be understood based on its own specific cultural context · Starting point for further research, esp in archaeology

Morgan Ideas

· Studied Iroquois—one of the earlies modern ethnographies o Classified modern, non-western societies into a scheme · Ancient society: subdivided human cultures—three broad categories o Savagery: simple hunters o Barbarism: village farmers and herders o Civilization: cities and states

What is archaeology?

· Study of human history and prehistory through excavation of sites and analysis of artifacts and other physical remains · Crucial for understanding the prehistoric world, "mysteries" of the past · Helps us understand all societies (historic or prehistoric)

Tikal (Guatemala)

· Temples that peak over the canopy · "New York City" of Maya civilization · 3,000 structures in core alone · 50,000 + residents; 3,000 + structures · main structures: 1 sq mile · surveys in larger area (6 sq miles) show outlying smaller, residential structures · core of city: 10,000 people · 100-600 CE: important node in region—wide trading network established by Teo o flourished even after Teo decline (maybe people moved here after Teo Collapse) · decline after 800 CE · Like other Maya cities, abandoned by 10th C

Abandonment of Teotihuacan

· Teo abandoned in 7th century CE o Many buildings burned · Unclear why · Many buildings intact—internal uprising? o Ceremonial complexes set ablaze—rest of the city untouched · Data suggests: increasing socioeconomic inequality, ideological difference, and mounting internal tensions factored in the eventual breakdown of government (Clayton)

Lavau, France

· Tomb · Giant Etruscan bronze cauldron and several bronze buckets o Bronze cauldron with several large rings around edge, each adorned w head of Acheloos (Greek river god) · Finely decorated Greek wine pitcher inlaid w gold · At center of tomb, laid to rest inside ornate two-wheeled chariout with 1.2 lbs golden necklace decorated w elaborate winged figures · Interpretation: burial of celtic elite o Reflects both ideology and social stratification

Egypt (5 classic attributes of civilization)

· Urban centers · Monumentality · Communication systems · Social stratification, centralized power · Organized religion · **these are classic attributes of civilizations · even though we say these are all attributes of civilization, doesn't mean that none of these factors existed before civilizations...they did

Two major objectives in archaeology

· Variability in past: cultures, societies, civilizations · Seeing how past can inform present, future (how we have shaped and been shaped by our social and physical worlds)

Communication systems--purpose (writing, others) (5)

· Various media · Transmission of information · Ritual, artistic expression · Record-keeping, administration, economics · Ideology, power · Ex: Shang culture (oracle bones), cuneiform (Sumerian clay tablet), Mayan culture, Incan empire (knots on strings for messaging—Khipu)

Khipu

· Vast empire—communication necessary · Knotted threads/rope · Recorded info and messages · Colonial codes: quipu sent by runners across empire to send messages · Approx. 600 surviving in museums and private collections around world

Anatomically modern Humans (AMH) and "Modern" Behavior

· When do we know when we become us? Develop to this element of modernity? o Changes showing "complex cognition" § Symbolic or abstract thinking, planning o Earlier humans did not live in cities o Earliest evidence in Africa (Middle Stone Age) § Within the past 200-300 kya § Different kinds of artifacts emerge...intricate tools, abstract thought represented in design not necessary for subsistence

China—first dynasty?

· Xia or Shang? · Xia was earlier, but there is less evidence in archaeological record...mainly from stories Traditional perspectives—Chinese dynasties and civilization commencing at 2200 BCE (4200 BP) (Bronze Age) Ancient China (Bronze Age)—political consolidation · 2 main rivers—yellow river and Yangtze river—central plains in between

Shang Capital Cities

· Yinxu (Anyang) · 1200-1050 BCE · Last capital of Shang o 25 sq km o 100,000-150,000 people · largest city in world at 1200 BCE o palace districts, craft workshops, royal burials o massive cemetery, w human and animal sacrificial pits o oracle bone writing · VAST material and human resources · Royal cemetery at Yinxu (many looted) o Incredible wealth in artifacts o Thousands of human sacrifices o Like a pyramid in reverse

Indus contrast w neighboring "pristine" civs

· absence of palaces, temples, royal graves, images of kings o seemingly have an absence of rulers · How to explain Indus phenomenon? o Complex economy, labor organizations, specializations o If centralized power, not conspicuously marked · Alternative mechanisms for complex integration—econ production? Large cities—ritual complexes and public, ceremonial spaces

Cuneiform

· complex accounting, revenues, econ data · sophisticated admin system · ex: management of goods, worker rations · tablet documenting grain distributed by a large temple · administrative tablet with cylinder seal impressions

Egyptian Civilization

· continuity over 3,000 yrs · 3300 BCE (5,000 BP) separate walled towns—Nile Valley

Early Homo sapiens Discoveries: Africa

· earliest fossil record of anatomically modern humans · as early as 200,000 years ago

Qualities of populations in large settlements (5)

· large, diverse · importance of nonkin relations (not just kin) · subsistence is organized, intensive—usually farming · environmental manipulations, impact · more peopleà complex interaction networks o systems of information (recording, dissemination) o production, exchange, labor o control and manipulation of info, resources, people o how do you collaborate? Control projects? Keep people in line?

Xia Kingdom: 2100-1600 BCE (4100-3600 BP)

· legend, text, some archaeology · first "state"—Confucius (6th century BCE) · debates continue · succeeded by Shang Dynasty (1600 BCE) (3600 BP) o Shang recognized by many as first dynasty/state

Petroglyphs in Western India

· may date back to "10,000 BC" (?) · an as yet unknown civilization of HG societies · some were well-known by locals and considered holy...research and debates ongoing

Sunghir site graves

· one burial (S1): head and chest decorated with many ivory beads, originally sewn onto cloth · 34,000-30,000 BP...very early date · older adult male, buried shortly after death from incision in lower neck · extensively covered w ochre · 3000 mammoth ivory beads w intact strings · 12 pierced fox canines on forehead, 25 mammoth ivory arm bands worn on arms · a lot of wealth buried with one individual Sunghir grave 2 and 3 · buried head to head · two boys: adolescent and juvenile · both biologically unusual—repeated and pronounced periods of developmental stress (indicated by teeth), other physical abnormalities...one possibly bed ridden · 5,000 ivory beads buried with each boy plus ivory spears · significance of age and burial goods? o People caring for the boys o When young and buried with this kind of treatment, implies they inherited some kind of status/wealth...ascribed to them o Unequal treatment

Pyramid of the Moon and Pyramid of the Sun

· ritual centers o pyramidal mounds w temples · sacred central avenue o avenue of the dead · could've been important gathering places...many people could fit there Area immediately east of Feathered Serpent pyramid...fragments tumbled down from eastern façade of the building; some may have been deliberately thrown down in attempt to "desacralize" the pyramid

"Stages" of Culture

· scheme of cultural evolutionà simple to complex... · savageryàbarbarismà civilization · LH Morgan and EB Tylor · Believed classifications of modern peoples could be applied to ancient past

Sakitari Cave in Okinawa, Japan

· shell fishhook (front and back), c 23,000 BP · earliest example of a fish hook · water craft, long distance exchange, ground stone tools, tanged points, trap pit hunting, art/symbolism, burials o modern behavior o tanged points and trap pit huntingà expansion of diet, increased effectiveness of hunting large game § improvement in hunting tech-hafting onto ends of wooden spears—more effective killing capacity o ground stone tools: tools for processing wild plants, axes for felling trees, woodworking · Evidence of pop growth on these islands!

Egyptian Monumentality

· sophisticated methods to survey land along Nile · innovations in math and measurements (ex cubit measurement (forearm length) used in construction) · great pyramid o the core remains o covered by smooth casing stones · had levels (tool for making things even) o dimensions of pyramid extremely accurate—site as leveled within a fraction of an inch

Power consolidation in Mesopotamia

· state formation through warfare · historical records: propaganda · *hints of that here o military power depicted, captives being taken, chariots, weapons, soldiers o part of state apparatus · some people theorize that earliest states came about through coercive power (warfare)

Upper Paleolithic Revolution (c 50 kya)

· the transition from Middle Paleolithic to Upper Paleolithicà considered one of major revolutions in prehistory of humankind · traditional view: explanations based on observable archeological data, mostly in Europe (ex: replacement of Neandertals by Cro-Magnon "modern humans") o cave art in Europe

Sumerian civilization (Mesopotamian)

· types of data o monumental, residential architecture, tablets, art o artifacts, ecofacts (plant remains, animal bones) · written records · daily life not highly visible o data skewed to large structures (palaces, temples) Ziggurat—massive mud-brick temple complex · known in Mesopotamian region · probably associated with some kind of religion · prominent features of these cities

Architectural features of Harappa

· walls and gates associated w Harappa · monumental architecture—city walls o large mud bricks, faced w fired brick or stone o perimeter walls, gateways maintained for 700+ years o city was segmented, areas walled off, no central political place o What was function? § Protection? Perceived threat? § Kenoyer: "The primary function of the walls was probably to control access into and out of the main settlement for trade and administrative purposes." · Evidence of production that was highly specialized...maybe protecting trade secrets · Indirect control over trade o Access of market areas inside gateways and city walls o Stratified access to materials, goods · Internal and external exchange: critical to power of urban elites o Fluctuation in trade closely linked to emergence and decline of Indus urban centers § What does Kenoyer say about conflict? Was there no potential for conflict? · Not much evidence of weaponry (absence of artifacts), depictions of violence · So this means that it was unlikely that the wall was built to prevent an attack However, the walls had bastions—built onto city walls to help prevent cross fire when defending the city—shows that they may actually have had some concern about defense—also starting to slowly find some weapons

Ethnohistoric info tells us about the Inca (drawings/writing)

· what Spanish encountered with Inca · Francisco pizzaro meeting w Incan · Colcas (storehouses)—stores surplus? · Repeated motif in drawings and artifacts—eight pointed star decoration