The Near East: Archaeology in the 'Cradle of Civilization' (Social Ethics and Policy Series)

The transition from foraging, farming and the neolithic village to the city-state is a complex and fascinating period. Studies on the prehistory of the Near East by nineteenth and twentieth century pioneers in the field transformed archaeology through the creation of the 'Ages System' of Stone, Bronze and Iron. The Near East provides a developmental account of this period contextualised by discussion of the emergence of archaeology as a discipline. The Near East details the causes and effects - enviromental, organizational, demographic and technological - of the world's first village farming cultures some eight thousand years ago. Charles Maisels explains how cities such as Uruk and Ur, Nippur and Kish formed as a result of geological factors and the role of key organizational features of Sumerian society in introducing the world's first script, system of calculation and literature. The transition from foraging, farming and the neolithic village to the city-state is a complex and fascinating period. Studies on the prehistory of the Near East by nineteenth and twentieth century pioneers in the field transformed archaeology through the creation of the 'Ages System' of Stone, Bronze and Iron. __The Near East__ provides a developmental account of this period contextualised by discussion of the emergence of archaeology as a discipline.__The Near East__ details the causes and effects - enviromental, organizational, demographic and technological - of the world's first village farming cultures some eight thousand years ago. Charles Maisels explains how cities such as Uruk and Ur, Nippur and Kish formed as a result of geological factors and the role of key organizational features of Sumerian society in introducing the world's first script, system of calculation and literature. The transition from foraging, farming and the neolithic village to the city-state is a complex and fascinating period. Studies on the prehistory of the Near East by nineteenth and twentieth century pioneers in the field transformed archaeology through the creation of the 'Ages System' of Stone, Bronze and Iron. The Near East provides a developmental account of this period contextualised by discussion of the emergence of archaeology as a discipline. The Near East details the causes and effects - environmental, organizational, demographic and technological - of the 1. Introduction -- 2. An Artefactual Basis For The Past -- 3. Digging Before Excavation -- 4. Practical Pioneers And Theoretical Problems -- 5. Harbingers In The Levant -- 6. The Land That Two Rivers Made -- 7. The Ubaidian Inheritance -- 8. The Household As Enterprise -- 9. What We're Getting To Know And What We Need To Do. Charles Keith Maisels. Maps On Lining Papers. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 214-227) And Index. Charles Maisels follows the course of discovery of 'the land between the rivers' over more than a century, to our present conclusions - very different from the first discoveries.