CITY STATE Window on Humanity The First Cities and States Overview Origin of the state Attributes of states State formation in the Middle East and Mesoamerica Other early Old World states Collapse of states The First Cities and States The origin of the state State – a form of social and political organization that has a formal, central government and a division of society into classes Multiple factors contribute to state formation Hydraulic systems (Wittfogel) In certain arid areas, states have emerged to manage systems of irrigation, drainage, and flood control Hydraulic agriculture is neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition for state formation Water control increased agricultural production population growth political systems to regulate production as well as interpersonal and intergroup relations The First Cities and States The origin of the state Long-distance trade routes Some states may have emerged at strategic locations in regional trade networks Long-distance trade (like hydraulic agriculture) is neither a sufficient nor a necessary condition for state formation The First Cities and States The origin of the state Population, war, and circumscription (Carneiro) Multivariate theory of state formation Environmental circumscription + increasing population warfare state formation Environmental circumscription may be physical or social Physically bounded environments – e.g., small islands, river plains, oases, valleys Social circumscription – neighboring societies block expansion, emigration, or access to resources Explains many, but not all, cases of state formation Highland Papua New Guinea – environmental circumscription (Boundary), warfare, and dense populations have not led to state formation The First Cities and States The origin of the state Food production did not predictably lead to the formation of chiefdoms and states Not all chiefdoms developed into states The First Cities and States Attributes of states Control of specific territories Much larger than territories controlled by kin groups and villages in prestate societies Early states were expansionist – arose when one chiefdom conquered others, extending its rule over a larger territory Productive farming economies, supporting dense populations Populations nucleated in cities Agricultural economies usually involved water control or irrigation Tribute and taxation to support specialists The First Cities and States Attributes of states Social stratification – social classes (e.g., elites, commoners, slaves) Imposing public buildings and monumental architecture (e.g., temples, palaces, storehouses) Record-keeping systems – usually a written script The First Cities and States State formation in the Middle East Urban life Jericho (Israel) Earliest known town, settled by the Natufians around 11,000 B.P. Walled town with some 2,000 inhabitants Destroyed (ca. 9000 B.P.) then rebuilt First pottery around 8000 B.P. Çatal Hüyük (Anatolia, Turkey) Probably the largest Neolithic settlement Settled 8000-7000 B.P. Up to 10,000 inhabitants The First Cities and States State formation in the Middle East The elite level Halafian pottery (7500-6500 B.P.) Widespread, delicate pottery style, first found in northern Syria Elite level and the first chiefdoms emerged during the Halafian period Ubaid pottery (7000-6000 B.P.) First discovered at Tell el-Ubaid, southern Iraq Associated with advanced chiefdoms and maybe the earliest states in southern Mesopotamia The First Cities and States State formation in the Middle East Egalitarian society (Democratic) Most typical among foragers Lack status distinctions except for those based on age, gender, and individual qualities, talents, and achievements Status distinctions are usually achieved by individuals during their lives, rather than being inherited (ascribed) Ranked society Hereditary inequality, but not social stratification Continuum of status – individuals ranked in terms of their genealogical distance from the chief Only those ranked societies in which there is a loss of village autonomy are called chiefdoms The First Cities and States State formation in the Middle East Chiefdoms Ranked society in which relations among villages as well as among individuals are unequal Competition among chiefdoms led to primary state formation One chiefdom conquered its neighbors, integrating them into a larger political unit First appeared in the Middle East around 7300 B.P. and in Mesoamerica around 3000 B.P. Advanced Chiefdoms Excavations at Tell Hamoukar (northeastern Syria) The First Cities and States State formation in the Middle East Uruk Period (6000-5200 B.P.) First cities in southern Mesopotamia Economies managed by centralized leadership Settlements spread north (Syria) Writing First developed in Sumer (southern Mesopotamia) ( Developed to handle record keeping associated with a centralized economy Mesopotamian writing = cuneiform Used to write both the Sumerian (southern Mesopotamian) and the Akkadian (northern Mesopotamian) languages The First Cities and States State formation in the Middle East Temples and writing Economic activities recorded in cuneiform Temples managed herding, farming, manufacture, storage, trade Metallurgy – the knowledge of the properties of metals, including their extraction and processing and the manufacture of metal tools Discovery of smelting (using high temperatures to extract pure metal from an ore) – vital to the invention of metallurgy Rapid evolution of metallurgy after 5000 B.P. Bronze Age – bronze (an alloy of copper and arsenic or tin) became common, greatly extended the use of metals Iron Age (starting around 3200 B.P.) – high-temperature iron smelting was mastered The First Cities and States State formation in the Middle East Mesopotamian states Economy based on craft production, trade, and intensive agriculture Population growth, increased urbanism Large, densely concentrated populations in walled cities By 4600 B.P.: Temple rule replaced by secular authority – office of military coordinator developed into kingship Social stratification – nobles, commoners, and slaves The First Cities and States Other early Old World states Indus River Valley (Harappan) civilization – northwestern India and Pakistan State flourished between 4600 and 3900 B.P. Urban planning Social stratification Early writing system Major cities (Harappa and Mohenjo-daro) with carefully planned residential areas and wastewater systems State collapse resulted from warfare The First Cities and States Other early Old World states China Shang dynasty – first state Arose in the Huang He (Yellow) River area of northern China around 3750 B.P. Urbanism Palaces Human sacrifice Sharp division between social classes Bronze metallurgy Elaborate writing system The First Cities and States State formation in Mesoamerica Early Chiefdoms and elites Three centers of early chiefdom development in Mesoamerica: Olmec area (Gulf Coast), Valley of Oaxaca, Valley of Mexico Olmec chiefdoms flourished between 3200 and 2500 B.P. Chiefly centers with large earthen mounds, plazas Massive carved stone heads (images of chiefs or ancestors?) Long-distance exchange networks linked regions of early chiefdom development Chiefdoms evolved rapidly as a result of intense competitive interaction The First Cities and States State formation in Mesoamerica ( Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras,Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica) Early states State formation – one chiefdom incorporates several others Zapotec state – Valley of Oaxaca Capital city of Monte Albán founded around 2500 B.P. Teotihuacan Capital of a state that developed in the Valley of Mexico Flourished between 1900 and 1300 B.P. (A.D. 100-700) The First Cities and States State formation in Mesoamerica States in the Valley of Mexico By A.D. 1 – complex settlement hierarchy (archaeological evidence of state organization) with Teotihuacan as the dominant site Teotihuacan state was characterized by urban planning, large-scale irrigation, status differentiation, complex architecture After A.D. 700, rapid decline in Teotihuacan’s size and power Toltec period (A.D. 900-1200) Renewed agricultural intensification, population increase, and urban growth in Valley of Mexico, leading to Aztec state (A.D. 1325-1520) – capital at Tenochtitlan The First Cities and States Why states collapse Various factors can threaten the economy and political institutions of a state – e.g., invasion, disease, famine, prolonged drought, environmental degradation Classic Maya civilization (A.D. 300-900) Longstanding debate concerning Classic Maya decline around A.D. 900 Explanations now emphasize social, political, and military upheaval and competition, rather than solely natural environmental factors The First Cities and States Why states collapse Earlier explanations of state formation and collapse focused on natural environmental factors (e.g., climate change, habitat destruction, demographic pressure) Social and political factors are more prominent in current explanations of the origin and decline of states
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 08:08:05 +0000