Download The Earliest Human Settlements

The Earliest Complex
Human Settlements
Conceptual and Linguistic
Foundations
A Goal in UST606
► To
explain the processes through which
existing settlements have come about
► More
specifically, we are interested in the
processes underlying changes in human
settlements as they interact with their
environments through long periods of time
“Changes”
► Sequences
of events that evolve one out of
another over time
► Inevitability of…….
► Evolutionary change occurs through progressive
variations of ancestral forms interacting with their
respective environments (variation, interaction,
selection)
► Processes of change can be “explained” as such
only insofar as they are systematic –
Explanation vs. Interpretation
The interpretivist “project” holds that:
(a) social practices, institutions, and behavior are
intrinsically meaningful and that their meanings
are constituted by the meanings social actors give
to them
(b) social phenomenon can be understood only by
unraveling the meanings that constitute them
(c) causal explanation, inductive generalization,
and predictions have little or no importance in
social science
Scientific Explanation
► To
scientifically explain an event is to exhibit
it as occupying its place in the discernible
patterns of the world
► “Causal” explanation looks for positive
assertions of the form “X occurred,
therefore Y had to occur” (positive)
► Cybernetic explanation answers why the
observed outcome, rather than one of the
feasible alternatives, occurred (negative)
Human Settlement as System
Outputs
Inputs
Demographic change
Political change
Built environment
Economic change
Land uses
Human settlement
Social change
Social ecology
Technological change
Institutions
Environmental resources
Artifacts
Locally and historically
contingent factors
Generic Structure of a System
Environment
Inputs
Process
Feedback loop
Environmental Boundary
Time
Outputs
Some Systems Theoretic Terms
► “Open
system” – the environmental
boundary is permeable
► “Closed system” – the environmental
boundary is impermeable
► “Black box” – the process is unspecified
► “Cybernetics” – the study of control,
organization, and communication of systems
► Note: According to most cybernetic thinking,
a system is an observer’s construct
“Organization”
► The
system is organized in the sense that it
contains relations that define it as a unity,
and determine the dynamics of interaction
and transformations which it may undergo
as such a unity
► The relations that define a system
constitute the organization of that system
“Control”
► Control
is exercised by selection of the mix
or level of inputs to the system so as to
make the state or outputs change in (or
close to) some desired way
► The controller possess a representation of
the system
► The representation yields information
► The controller selects inputs so as to
achieve a goal
“Representation”
► If
something stands “in place of” or is
“chosen to substitute for” something else,
the former is considered a “representation”
of the latter
► E.g., representation of constituencies in
government, linguistic representation of an
event using a symbol
Selected Principles of Evolutionary
Change
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Change (progress in human society) is based on a trial
and error process of randomly produced variation and
“natural selection” of systems at all levels of complexity
Selection is “natural” in the sense that there is no actor
or purposive system making the selection….. there is no
plan or design involved
The "implicit goal" of the selection is maintenance or
reproduction of a configuration at some level of
abstraction
Higher levels of complexity are generated through
processes in which control shifts from one level of
organization to higher levels
Changes in Levels of Control
► control
of position = movement
► control of movement = irritability (simple
reflex)
► control of irritability = (complex) reflex
► control of reflex = associating (conditional
reflex)
► control of associating = human thinking
► control of human thinking = culture
“Complex” Settlements
► Complex
settlements, by definition, are systems
containing a multiplicity of different,
interdependent parts
► Parts may include artifacts, architecture,
settlement layout, location, economic
specializations, social strata, and so on
► To demonstrate the existence of a complex
settlement system, archeologists must be able to
(a) identify the parts, (b) demonstrate that they
are different (specialized), and (c) show that they
form an interconnected system
Precursors to Complex Human
Settlements
Lower Paleolithic
► “Old
Stone Age” found in Europe, Asia, and Africa,
700,000-40,000 years ago
► First stages, individuals had only one type of tool,
stone hand axe, primitive, crudely shaped
► Last stages, individuals had two distinct types of
hand tools, pointers and scrapers, as well as
object made of bone and horn, and fire was
universally used
► Enormous increase in brain size over the period
Upper Paleolithic
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40,000 years ago, with the appearance of modern man,
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At this point nature begins to invest its evolutionary energy
in the culture of human society, not in the biology of the
human individual
First stages, even more types of tools, blades, chisels, etc.,
sewing equipment
In the later stages, throwing spears and other combination
tools appear, using stone and wood together, shows new
cognitive abilities in humans
Visual art appeared
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Homo sapiens
Neolithic Revolution
► About
7,000 year ago
► Different cultures started showing diversity and
specialization
► Great advances in clothing and construction
► Greatest change in transition from huntergatherers to livestock herding and farming
► Grew wheat, rye, oats and domesticated dogs,
pigs, cattle, sheep, and goats
Age of Metal
► Started
about 4,000 BC
► Characterized by use of metal in tools and
tool production
► Bronze, then iron, then various kinds of
steel
► Eventually gave rise to other materials, like
rubber, paper, glass, leather, so sometimes
called age of materials
Somewhere Along the Way:
The Emergence of the Language of
Relationships
► Responses
to complex phenomenon
demand the language of relationships
► Language thus somehow developed for
describing world not as an aggregate of
objects that posses certain attributes, but
rather as an aggregate of objects that
stand in certain relations to one another
Relational Language Enabled
Conscious Thought
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At any given time, humans are only able to access a
certain number of representations to think about, our
consciousness
This consciousness is usually regulated by us to adapt to
our environment (e.g. prioritize stimuli)
“Linguistic representation” occurs when we picture a
certain word, and bring it into our consciousness
Thinking is a stream of linguistic representations in which
associations are controlled
The crucial distinguishing feature in human thinking is the
presence of control of associations, which manifest itself
above all as a capability for imagination
From Primitive to Modern
Thinking
► Difference
between primitive and modern thought
-- primitive people explain the world through
invisible phenomena, supernatural beings,
animism, in which mystics force existed between
objects and their images or names
► The transition to modern thinking is characterized
by an emergence of linguistic activity directed to
linguistic activity
► Modern thinking understands language as models
and associations, and this allows not only
observation, but also critical thinking
Primitive Thinking
► Redirection
of language toward itself creates a
stairway effect: each level of logical (language)
thinking, which has emerged as a result of
analysis of logical thinking, becomes, in its turn,
an object of logical analysis
► Thus, some words (and combinations of words)
may be deemed “meaningless”
► Because primitive people were unable to make
their representations an object of analysis, thus
they could not have meaningless words……..”
Mathematics: A Milestone in the
Natural History of Homo sapiens
► Enables formal reasoning through relationships
► A necessary precondition for the development of
all coherent, systematic, cognitively-significant
organization of information in such a way as to
guide purposive interaction with the world
► Without quantitative reasoning we could not have
markets, industrial production, scientific
knowledge, or any calculated action which
requires gathering, storing, processing, and/or
presenting information
Mathematics Before the
Greeks
► Egyptians:
developed capacity to count and
measure
► Greeks: invented number notation in the 8th
century BC
► Babylonians: specified a place-value system
► These capacities enabled individuals to
psychologically represent and fix the attributes of
definite material objects through the systematic
assignment of numerals to them
Thales to Gödel
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Thales: development of the idea of a geometric “proof”
Descartes: laid the foundation for describing phenomena of
reality by means of formalized symbolic language
Bourbaki: defined “formal languages” and explained how to
use formal languages to ensure correct and reliable
thought
Gödel: (incompleteness theorems) showed that it is
impossible to obtain a complete and consistent set of
axioms for mathematics
The Logic of Godel’s Theorems
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Someone introduces Godel to a Universal Truth Machine
(UTM), capable of truly answering any question at all
Godel asks for the program and the circuit design. It is
complicated, but finitely long. Call it P(UTM)
Godel writes out the following sentence: “P(UTM) will
never say that this sentence is true.” Call this sentence G.
Note that G is the same as “UTM will never say G is true”
Godel says, “I know a truth that UTM can never utter” and
he proceeds to ask UTM whether G is true or not
UTM will never say G is true
Therefore UTM is not truly universal
Recent Developments in
Mathematics
► Help
to understand our thoughts about
"non-existent" objects (e.g. linguistic
symbols and incorporeal intelligibles),
negatives, and imaginary numbers
► Useful in collective decision-making (e.g.
computer/human interface)
► Useful in anti-terrorism and other operations
research and management science
applications
The Linguistic Evolution of
Science
► The
organization of matter is constantly growing
more complex
► Complex organization culminates in the human
intellect
► Science is the highest level of the hierarchy in the
organization of matter
► The scientific method has enabled a “stairway
effect” in the production of knowledge (e.g. baby
climbing the stairs -- once the baby is able to
climb the first step, it can climb them all)
Scientific Control of Society
► The
problems of controlling science are now, given
the state of scientific knowledge, inseparable from
the problems of controlling society as a whole
► How, then, do we scientifically control society?
► Not by creating mechanisms for rigidly regulating
the behavior of citizens by imposing constraints
upon them from without
► Rather, by release of the human spiritual potential
Integration and Freedom
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Basic contradiction between the necessity of including the
human being in the social system as a product of biology
and culture, one on hand, and the necessity of preserving
the individual as a free, creative personality on the other
This contradiction has to be resolved in successive, small
steps
Achieved through the creation and application of scientific
knowledge
Guiding principle: Do not irreversibly cut off any
possibilities
Earliest Complex Settlements
Factors Contributing to The First
Complex Settlements
Population growth
► Appropriate factors in natural environment--topography,
climate, natural resources
► Technology—rudimentary tools and techniques
► Emergence of agriculture
► Organization--arrangement of population into functional
institutions (e.g. religion, government)
► Trade
► Division of labor (agricultural and non-agricultural
specialists)
► Transportation technologies (wheels, domestic animals)
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Complex Settlements become
“Urbanized” with the Advent of……
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Systems of writing
Urban planning (wells, drainage systems, grids)
Public architecture
Systems of weights and measures
Social stratification
Political differentiation (the “state”)
Economic specialization
Bureaucracies (including religious organizations)
Militaries
Emergence of “central place hierarchies”
The “Central Place” Organization of an
Urban System
A Hierarchical System of Central
Places
Earliest Traces of Civilization?
► Mesopotamia:
the land between the rivers Tigris
and Euphrates…a broad open plain surrounded by
deserts and, beyond the deserts, mountains
► The earliest traces of civilization seem to have
appeared in the region of Sumner, in what is now
southern Iraq… also possibly in northeastern Syria
► 3800 – 3200 B.C. inventions included wheel and
plow, planting of date, fig, and olive orchards,
development of metal casting, cuneiform writing,
cities with walls, temples, kings,
Which Settlements Urbanized First?
► Could
debate all day (to no practical avail)
► The Neolithic Revolution occurred, on
average, 9,000 – 10,000 years ago
► Urbanization arose first about 5,000 years
ago in Mesopotamia and Egypt, 4,000 –
about 5,000 years ago in the Far East,
maybe 2,600 years ago in the Indus Valley
A Brief Look at Selected Early Far
Eastern Settlements
Early Chinese Settlements
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Rice domesticated in Jiangxi province around 10,000 years
ago
Yangshao and Longshan cultures started in northern China
between 6,000 and 7,000 years ago
5,000 years ago people in north China and in Sichuan
began to mine and smelt copper, tin, and other metals and
to cast bronze objects
The first uncontested and clearly complex society is
probably associated with the Xia dynasty, near the
confluence of the Yellow and Wei Rivers, a bit over 4000
years ago
Early Korean Settlements
► The
earliest known Korean pottery dates back to
8000 BC or before
► Rice was first cultivated in Korea somewhere after
8000 BC
► A number of settlements such as Amsa-dong and
Chitam-ni existed in west–central Korea between
3500–2000 BC
► Agricultural societies and the earliest forms of
social-political complexity emerged 1500–300 BC
Early Japanese Settlements
7,500 B.C. - 250 B. C. (Jomon Period): from 5-6 to several
dozen dwellings were grouped together in horseshoeshaped settlements, with open, commons-space in center
► Larger settlements and tools for working soil indicate crop
cultivation toward the middle of this era
► 250 B.C. – 250 A.D. (Yayoi Period) Chinese and Korean
influences led to the beginnings of rice cultivation, the
development of a bronze industry, and the establishment
of complex settlements
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Mesopotamian Civilization
Map of Ancient Mesopotamia
Earliest Traces of Mesopotamian
Civilization
► Mesopotamia:
a broad open plain surrounded by
deserts and, beyond the deserts, mountains
► The earliest traces appeared in the region of
Sumner, in what is now southern Iraq… also
possibly in northeastern Syria (Tell Hamoukar)
► Numerous city-states emerged
► Earliest buildings invariably temples (Ziggurats)
► 3800 – 3200 B.C. inventions included wheel and
plow, planting of date, fig, and olive orchards,
development of metal casting, cuneiform writing,
cities with walls, temples, kings,
Ziggurats
Originally the temples at the center of each city-state were
built on a platform
► Later these platform temples evolved into temple-towers
called ziggurats
► The ziggurat was the first major building structure of the
Sumerians
► The ziggurat housed each city-state's patron god or
goddess (they were not places of worship)
► Only priests were permitted inside the ziggurat
► There are 32 known ziggurats around Mesopotamia. Four
of them are in Iran, and the rest are mostly in Iraq.
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An Ancient Mesopotamian Ziggurat
The Sumerian Ziggurat of Ur
Features of Early
Sumerian/Mesopotamian Culture
► People
were polytheists: Gods and goddesses had
supernatural powers
► Religion was pessimistic and fatalistic and had no
ethical dimensions (Noble)
► Individual forces of nature were invested with
divine power
► Laws, issued by priests, kings, and councils of
notables, were based upon principle that all
people are subject to law and that law, not men,
rule
Mesopotamian City-States
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At first, largely agricultural (wheat, barley, sheep, goats)
Walled cities with populations of about 25,000
Wheeled vehicles
Houses of dried or fired mud brick
Winding streets, narrow and unpaved
Poor sanitation, refuse thrown into streets
Farmers lived just outside city walls within walking distance of fields
Poor lived at periphery but inside walls
Merchants and craftsman closer to center
Nobility, priests, warriors lived at center
Fire, out of control cooking fires
Disease, linked to poor sanitation
From 2800 – 2350 BC, constant threat of invasion by enemies
Mesopotamian Cuneiform
► As
city-states' wealth increased, government
officials realized that an efficient method of
keeping records had to be developed.
► Evolved from simple pictographic writing,
cuneiform emerged as the world's first
writing system.
► The term cuneiform means "wedge-shaped"
The Code of Hammurabi
► About
1800 B.C. a city-states named Babylon was
built, and it was ruled by a king named
Hammurabi
► Hammurabi established and provided uniformity
among the areas he conquered using a written
code of laws
► Among other things it codified interest rates, fines
for 'wrong doing', inheritance rules, and laws
concerning how private property is to be taxed or
divided.
► The code did not provide for an opportunity for
explanation or justification
Kudur-Lagmer Storming the Town of Canaan
Building the Temple of Warka in the Time of Urukh
Ancient Egyptian Civilization
The Pyramids at Giza (constructed over 4500 years ago)
The “Gift of the Nile”: Egypt
► Developed
along the banks of the Nile, about 750
miles long, but only 5 – 15 miles wide
► Reported evidence of agriculture going back as far
as 7000 B.C.
► As early as 5000 B.C. small agrarian communities
began to drain marshes, irrigate, and plant regular
crops (mainly cereal grains)
► The need to control irrigation seems to have led to
a political unification of the communities
A Scene from the Nile (from the Egyptian Picture Gallery)
A Scene from the Nile (from the Egyptian Picture Gallery)
Egyptian Farmland (from the Egyptian Picture Gallery)
More Egyptian Farmland (from the Egyptian Picture Gallery)
Still More Egyptian Farmland (from the Egyptian Picture Gallery)
An Egyptian Village Scene (from the Egyptian Picture Gallery)
Another Egyptian Village Scene (from the Egyptian Picture Gallery)
An Egyptian House (from the Egyptian Picture Gallery)
Another Egyptian House (from the Egyptian Picture Gallery)
Predynastic Period (4500 – 3000 BC)
► Settlements
recorded in Upper Egypt
► Most well known: Hierakonpolis (population, 5000
– 10,000 in 3600 BC)
► Most settlements remained small and
undifferentiated
► Largely oval huts and underground dwellings
occupied by people who ate cereal as well as
hunting and gathering
► Ritual systems and political authority evolved
The “Old Kingdom”
► 2695
– 2160 B.C.
► The great “Pyramid Age” (symbolized by the
Great Pyramids and Gizeh)
► An era of great vitality, security and
prosperity, untroubled by invaders
► A distinctive Egyptian kingship (“pharaoh”)
arose
► Retained a largely non-urban character
An Ancient Egyptian Wall Painting (From the Egyptian Picture Gallery)
Man Kneels before Osiris, Tomb of Pashed
Queen Nefretete
The body was the link to a spiritual existence in the after life
The “Middle Kingdom”
► 2025
– 1786 B.C.
► Power disbursed somewhat to provincial
administrations
► Emphasis moved from exclusive focus on royal
dynasty to nobles and, at times, even ordinary
people
► Temples and religious groups proliferated
► The concept of Ma’at (truth) appeared
► Around 1700 B.C., Semitic-speaking people from
Palestine conquered Egypt
The “New Kingdom”
► 1550
– 1075 B.C.
► An army from Upper Egypt drove out the
conquerors
► Never wanting to be conquered again, Egypt built
an empire that extended into Mesopotamia and
eastern Mediterranean
► This was a brilliant and cosmopolitan period which
dazzled Greeks, Romans and other visitors to
Egypt
Urbanization in the Indus Valley
Harappan Urbanization
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Urban life emerged around 2,600 BC along Indus River in
what is now western Pakistan
Important cites included Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro
Streets were straight and laid out in a gridiron pattern
forming rectangular blocks (first cities to show signs of
planned development)
Precincts/areas distinguished by specific economic activities
Western edge of city was religious, political and
educational center
Sophisticated, technically advanced culture with high
priority on hygiene (world’s first sanitation systems for
sewerage and trash)
The Range of Indus Valley Civilization
Indus River at Mohenjo-daro
The Indus River and "lower town"
Farmlands to the west of Mohenjo-daro
Indus Valley Cities
► Each
city had its own storage area for food. The
people grew all kinds of different crops, including
wheat, peas, and dates; and they stored the food
in the town granary
► Mohenjo-Daro had its own central bath, with
several surrounding buildings. This setup
resembles the Roman bath, which came much
later
► Most city dwellers appear to have been traders or
artisans, who lived with others pursuing the same
occupation in well-defined neighborhoods.
Houses and streets in Mohenjo-Daro
More houses and streets in Mohenjo-Daro
Great Bath and Granary
Great Bath
Toilet
A Covered Drain
Harappan Trade
► Bowls
of bronze and silver have been found
among the remains of these two great cities.
Neither of these metals was available nearby. This
suggests that the ancient Indians traded with
civilizations far away.
► Trade was also in evidence by materials from
distant regions used for constructing seals, beads
and other objects
Some Essential Features of
Harappan Culture
The houses were mostly the same in size and shape. Each
one had walls surrounding a courtyard, with its own well
and bathroom. Pipes led to sewers.
► Although some houses were larger than others, all had
access to water and drainage facilities
► Remarkable for apparent egalitarianism and low wealth
concentration
► Lastly, archaeologists have found absolutely no evidence of
an empire in this area. Other civilizations at that time had
kings and emperors (Mesopotamia and Egypt)
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Questions for Discussion
► What
is a “human settlement”?
► Can principles of evolution explain the variety and
extent of human settlements we observe today?
► If so, is it possible that these are the same
principles as are used to explain the variety and
extent of biological organisms we observe today?
► Under what conditions, if any, would human
settlements fail to exist?
► Why
are not all human settlements the same size?
► Do you think that the current human settlements
will remain for the indefinite future? What would
cause a major change in the extent of human
urbanization?
► What impact do you expect the World Wide Web
and other communications technologies to have
on the size of human settlements?
► What trends or patterns do we see in the
evolution of human settlements today?