Innovative study of the early state and urban societies in Mesopotamia, c. 5000 to 2100 BC.

Archaeologies of the Middle East provides an innovative introduction to the archaeology of this fascinating region and a window on both its past and present. Written by some of the top archaeologists of the Middle East: scholars from diverse backgrounds with a wide range of interests and intellectual approaches Coverage spans 100,000 years: from the Paleolithic to Hellenistic times Explores the connections between modern-day politics and the social context of archaeological practice and various underutilized approaches to archaeological interpretation Designed for student use

THEMATIC ISSUE: RETHINKING URBANIZATION AND ITS LIVING LANDSCAPES FROM THE INSPIRING PERSPECTIVE OF A GREAT “MAESTRO” Edited by Marcella Frangipane and Linda Manzanilla INTRODUCTION. THE MANY DIMENSIONS OF THE “CITY” IN EARLY SOCIETIES Marcella Frangipane THE ORIGINS OF CIVIC LIFE – A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE David Wengrow MESOPOTAMIA AND NEIGHBOURING REGIONS SIXTY YEARS AFTER CITY INVINCIBLE, SURVEYS AND THE URBAN REVOLUTION IN QUESTION Pascal Butterlin THE CITY OF URUK AND ITS HINTERLAND Hans J. Nissen (Hainfeld) THE TYRANNY OF FRICTION Guillermo Algaze REFLECTIONS ON SURVEY AND SURVEILLANCE IN THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF WESTERN ASIA Susan Pollock, Reinhard Bernbeck LEVANT THE URBANIZATION OF THE SOUTHERN LEVANT IN ITS NEAR EASTERN SETTING Pierre de Miroschedji FAR FROM THE RIVER: PHYSICAL AND METAPHORICAL USE OF THE TERRITORY AND ITS WATER RESOURCES IN EARLY AND MIDDLE BRONZE AGE SYRIA Davide Nadali, Frances Pinnock AFRICA THE ORIGIN OF URBAN SOCIETIES IN THE NILE VALLEY Maria Carmela Gatto URBANISATION IN THE CENTRAL SAHARA IN GARAMANTIAN TIMES: A LOOK FROM THE SOUTH Lucia Mori MESOAMERICA AND THE ANDES CORPORATE SOCIETIES WITH EXCLUSIONARY SOCIAL COMPONENTS: THE TEOTIHUACAN METROPOLIS Linda R. Manzanilla POPULATION, SCALE, AND THE FRAMING OF LONG-TERM HISTORY Gary M. Feinman, Linda M. Nicholas ANCIENT MAYA LOWLANDS: FROM FAKE FEUDS ABOUT “URBANISM” TO RENEWED STUDIES OF SETTLEMENT PATTERNS Dominique Michelet, Philippe Nondédéo ECOLOGICAL VARIATION AND TRAJECTORIES OF PREHISPANIC ANDEAN URBANISM R. Alan Covey WEST OF EDEN: ADAMS VISITS THE ANDES Terence N. D'Altroy EUROPE THE QUESTION OF “PROTO-URBAN” SITES IN LATER PREHISTORIC EUROPE Anthony Harding SETTLEMENT PATTERNS AND DEVELOPMENTS TOWARDS URBAN LIFE IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ITALY DURING THE BRONZE AGE Alberto Cazzella, Giulia Recchia BEFORE THE CITY: THE LAST VILLAGES AND PROTO-URBAN CENTRES BETWEEN THE PO AND TIBER RIVERS Andrea Cardarelli Per acquistare l'ebook dei singoli estratti clicca qui

The collection of essays in this book focuses on the highlands of Iran in pre-modern times, reaching from the Paleolithic to the medieval period. What holds the diverse contributions together is an issue that is closely related to debates in our own times: crises and how societies in the past dealt with them. We start from the premise that general circumstances in the fractured topographic structure of the Iranian highlands led to unique relations between ecol.

Thematic issue: THE ORIGIN OF INEQUALITY Edited by Andrea Cardarelli, Alberto Cazzella and Marcella Frangipane Indice / Contents NOTE INTRODUTTIVE / FOREWORD Andrea Cardarelli, Alberto Cazzella, Marcella Frangipane INCREASING INEQUALITIES – FROM THE EDEN TO THE PRESENT Mario Liverani A NEW WORLD OF WORK: ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES IN 4TH MILLENNIUM BC MESOPOTAMIA Augusta McMahon MATERIAL AND SOCIAL WORLDS IN NEOLITHIC AND EARLY CHALCOLITHIC FARS, IRAN Susan Pollock THE APPEARANCE OF SOCIAL INEQUALITIES: CASES OF NEOLITHIC AND CHALCOLITHIC SOCIETIES Johannes Müller, Vesa P. J. Arponen, Robert Hofmann, René Ohlrau CHIEFDOM SOCIETIES IN PREHISTORIC MALTA? Alberto Cazzella, Giulia Recchia THE EMERGENCE OF ELITE IDENTITIES IN BRONZE AGE EUROPE Anthony Harding FROM WANAX TO BASILEUS: ASPECTS OF MILITARY AND POLITICAL LEADERSHIP IN THE LATE MICENEAN SOCIETY Marco Bettelli DIFFERENT FORMS OF SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN THE BRONZE AGE OF ITALY Andrea Cardarelli WEALTH INEQUALITY AND THE PRISTINE HAWAIIAN STATE: A POLITICAL ECONOMY APPROACH Timothy Earle THE ORIGINS OF INEQUALITY IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL NARRATIVES: THE CASE OF MESOAMERICA IN THE FORMATIVE PERIOD Richard Lesure

THIS ISSUE CONTAINS FOOD AND URBANIZATION. MATERIAL AND TEXTUAL PERSPECTIVES ON ALIMENTARY PRACTICE IN EARLY MESOPOTAMIA Maria Bianca DAnna, Carolin Jauß, J. Cale Johnson (eds.) INTRODUCTION Maria Bianca DAnna, Carolin Jauß, J. Cale Johnson VESSEL

Inequalities take many forms, ranging from class distinctions to those based on gender or age. In this paper I examine some of the early steps in the development of social inequalities in the early settlement history (Late Neolithic through Early Chalcolithic) of the Fars region of southern Iran. I focus on contexts and mechanisms in and by which the social reproduction of egalitarian relations began to break down, paving the way for the emergence of inequalities. I draw on evidence of built space, pottery production, the ornamentation of bodies and sealing practices to consider the mutual constitution of subjects and material worlds as well as the Handlungsräume that allowed and constrained their actions. | Le ineguaglianze assumono forme differenti che vanno dalle distinzioni di classe a quelle basate su differenze di genere o età. In questo articolo verranno esaminati alcuni dei più antichi passi nello sviluppo delle ineguaglianze sociali nell’antica storia insediamentale (dal Tardo Neolitico al Calcolitico antico) della regione del Fars, nel sud dell’Iran. Lo studio si concentrerà sui contesti e i meccanismi attraverso i quali la riproduzione sociale di relazioni egalitarie cominciò a disgregarsi, aprendo la strada all’emergenza delle ineguaglianze. Verranno esaminate le evidenze degli spazi edificati, della produzione ceramica, dell’ornamentazione corporale e delle pratiche di sigillazione al fine di considerare la costituzione mutuale di soggetti e mondi materiali insieme alla Handlungsräume che permise e limitò le loro azioni.