Chapter 11

The Emergence of Cities and States

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When and Where Did the World’s First Cities Develop?

What Changes in Culture Accompanied the Rise of Cities?

Why Did Cities Develop into States?

When and Where Did the World’s First Cities Develop?

Civilization: What Is It?

In anthropology, civilization = a type of society marked by the presence of cities, social classes, and the state.

The word “civilization” comes from the Latin civis, which refers to one who is an inhabitant of a city, and civitas, which refers to the urban community in which one dwells.

The concept of civilization therefore contains the idea of “citification” or “the coming-to-be of cities.”

Major Early Civilizations

The Features of Early Cities large populations and the large size of the

cities organized planning by a central authority,

technological intensification, and social stratification

peoples incorporated their spiritual beliefs and social order into the cities they built

evidence of economic and social diversity

Example: Teotihuacan City Plan

At the center is the Street of the Dead, running from the Pyramid of the Moon (near top), past the Pyramid of the Sun, and, south of the San Juan River (Rio), the palace compound. Note the grid layout of surrounding apartment compounds and the channeled San Juan River.

Visual Counterpoint: For Class Discussion

Compare Teotihuacan’s Street of the Dead(left) and the Champs Elysées in Paris (right). How are these city plans similar or different?

Tikal: A Case Study

The ancient Mayan city of Tikal, one of the largest lowland Maya centers in existence, is situated in Central America about 300 kilometers north of Guatemala City.

The Maya settled here 3,000 years ago.

Because the Maya calendar can be precisely correlated with our own, it is known that their civilization flourished until 1,100 years ago.

Tikal

At Tikal only the tallest temples are visible above the forest canopy. The two farthest temples are at either end of the Great Plaza, the civic and ceremonial heart of the city.

Tikal: A Case Study

At its height, Tikal covered about 120 square kilometers, and its center was the Great Plaza, a large, paved area surrounded by about 300 major structures and thousands of houses.

Starting from a small, dispersed population, Tikal swelled to at least 45,000 people.

By 1,550 years ago, its population density had reached 600 to 700 persons per square kilometer, which was three times that of the surrounding region.

Tikal: Evidence from the Excavation Evidence of trade in nonperishable items:

Granite, quartzite, hematite, pyrite, jade, slate, and obsidian all were imported as raw materials or finished products.

Evidence also exists for trade in perishable goods such as textiles, feathers, salt, and

cacao.

Merchants and Trade at Tikal

This painting from Cacaxtla in southern Mexico shows a deity with the typical backpack of a Maya merchant.

Imported raw materials and finished objects made from exotic materials provide abundant evidence of the presence of merchants and trade at Tikal.

Tikal: Evidence from the Excavation Technology:

Specialized woodworking, pottery, obsidian, and shell workshops have been found.

Skillful stone carving displayed on stone monuments suggests that specialists did the work.

There are clues to the existence of textile workers, dental workers, makers of bark-cloth “paper,” scribes, masons, astronomers, and other occupational specialists.

Tikal: Evidence from the Excavation Bureaucratic organization:

From written records we know that government was headed by a hereditary ruling dynasty with sufficient power to organize massive construction and maintenance.

Religion: The Maya priests tried to please the deities in times of

drought and honor them in times of plenty. Priests determined the most auspicious time to plant crops

and were concerned with other agricultural matters.

Tikal Monuments

Carved monuments like this were commissioned by Tikal’s rulers to commemorate important events in their reigns.

Portrayed on this one is a king who ruled about 1,220 years ago.

Tikal: Evidence from the Excavation New methods of food production:

They planted fruit trees and other crops that could be grown around their houses in soils enriched by human waste.

They constructed artificially raised fields in areas that were flooded each rainy season.

What Changes in Culture Accompanied the Rise of Cities?

Cultural Change and The Rise of Cities

1. Agricultural innovation

2. Diversification of labor.

3. Emergence of central government

4. Social stratification

Agricultural Innovation

Ancient Sumerians built an irrigation system that enabled them to control water resources and increase crop yields.

The ancient Maya constructed raised fields in seasonally flooded swamplands to supplement slash-and-burn farming.

Agricultural Innovation

This clay tablet map of farmland outside of the Mesopotamian city of Nippur dates to 3,300 years ago.

Shown are irrigation canals separating the various fields, each of which is identified with the name of the owner.

Diversification of Labor

Some people could provide sufficient food for others to work as full-time artisans and craftspeople (specialization).

Led to the development of new technologies and the beginnings of extensive trade systems.

Sciences such as geometry and astronomy were first developed.

This 2,900-year-old Etruscan vase is a fine example of the artistry that became possible with the introduction of bronze.

Diversification of Labor

European explorers attributed the structure to white non-Africans until archaeologists found they were part of a city with 12,000 to 20,000 inhabitants that served as the center of a medieval Bantu state – Great Zimbabwe.

Diversification of Labor

The Bronze Age

The period marked by the production of tools and ornaments of bronze.

Copper and tin (the raw materials from which bronze is made) were smelted, or separated from their ores, then purified, and cast to make plows, swords, axes, and shields.

Began about 3000 B.C. in China and Southwest Asia and about 500 years earlier in Southeast Asia.

Central Government

Cities faced many challenges due to their size and complexity.

The governing elite saw to it that different interest groups, such as farmers or craft specialists, provided their respective services and did not infringe on one another.

In some cases, the activity of central governments required record keeping that necessitated the development of writing.

Emergence of Centralized Authority

Made sure that different interest groups did not infringe on one another’s rights.

Ensured that the city was safe from its enemies by constructing fortifications.

Levied taxes and appointed tax collectors.

Writing and Written Records

The impermanence of spoken words contrasts with the relative permanence of written records. In human history, writing has been independently invented at least five times.

Social Stratification

Ways archaeologists recognize stratification in ancient civilizations:

1. the comparative size of dwellings (e.g. palaces)

2. symbols of special status and privilege (such as grave goods)

3. written documents (e.g. laws of Hammurabi)

4. Age at death and evidence for disease (comparative health of elites)

Grave Goods

Grave goods frequently indicate the status of deceased individuals in stratified societies.

For example, China’s first emperor was buried with 7,000 life-size terra cotta figures of warriors.

Why Did Cities Develop into States?

The Making of States: Theories

Hydraulic theory - effort to build and control an irrigation system required a degree of social organization that eventually led to civilization.

Trade networks - a system was needed to distribute food products throughout the population.

The Making of States: Theories

Circumscription - civilization develops where populations are circumscribed by environmental barriers or other societies.

Religious theories - beliefs and values regulate interaction between people and their environment.

The Making of States: Theories

Action theory - focuses on the actions of leaders who play a role in social change.

Social Stratification and Disease

Civilization affects disease through social stratification (e.g. TB and HIV thrive on poverty)

When Europeans came to the Americas for the first time, they brought these devastating diseases with them: influenza, smallpox, typhus, and measles.

Millions of Native Americans, who had never been exposed to these microbes died as a result.

Problems in Civilizations

Sanitation problems and a large number of people in close proximity made infectious diseases rampant.

Dense population, class systems, and a strong centralized government created internal stress.

Warfare was common; Cities were fortified, and armies served to protect the state.

The same problems that faced cities and civilizations in the past will still affect them in the future.