Intro to Anthropology
Week 6: Agriculture and the Rise of Complex Societies
Samantha Ellens
September Oct. 3, 2023
Questions for Revolutions and
the Origins of Civilizations:
How do we define cities?
What are the key features of a civilization?
When, how, and why did civilizations develop?
How can we recognize these in the archaeological record?
Civilizations
What makes a civilization?
- Cities
- States
- Social Complexity & Political Organization
- Combo of other factors (Ripple effects)
The Revolutions
Origins of Civilizations…
Neolithic Revolution
ca. 9,000 BC – 3,500 BC
period of transition from huntergatherer lifestyle to settlement
and agricultural production
Göbekli Tepe
Urban Revolution
begins ca. 3,500 BC in
Mesopotamia
period of transformation from kin-based
and smaller agricultural villages into
complex, state-level urban societies
The idea of
Revolutions
Tell El-Judeidah, Turkey
V. Gordon Childe, 1930s
Cultural Evolution
(Childe’s inspiration)
Unilinear Cultural Evolution
(pre-state à state)
advanced
CIVILIZATION (complex societies)
BARBARISM (chiefdoms, herdsmen, early agriculture)
SAVAGE (hunter-gatherer)
time
**Problematic and ethnocentric terminology/ideology used to
support unjust and racist social practices (ex. colonialism)!!**
Hunter-gatherers
-- Mobility
-- Small village settlements
-- Seasonal foodstuffs
-- Subsistence cultivation
-- Minimal surpluses
-- Limited social stratification
From at least 3 million
years ago!
NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION:
From hunter-gatherer
lifestyle to permanent
settlement and agriculture
Neo (new) + lithic (stone) Revolution
beginning ca. 9,000 BC in southern Turkey
TURKEY
EGYPT
*Dates on map are BP, not BC
Domestication
Domestication
Einkorn wheat = single
grain
Domestication
Mafdet says,
“meow!”
Çatalhöyük
6,500-5,500 BC
The Debate: It is definitely
Neolithic, but is it ALSO the
oldest city in the world?
Civilization and / or City?
What makes a city?
- Permanence
- Large Population Size
- High Population Density
- Social Diversity
Renfrew says: “A city is a
substantial population center
offering specialized services to
a wider society”
& How the settlement
functioned!
- How the settlement
impacted region
- Resources redistributed toRome, Circus Maximus and Coloseum in 302CE (4th
century)
Hinterland
Çatalhöyük
Çatalhöyük
Urban Revolution + Mesopotamia
Urban Revolution
Complex Civilizations Emerge
Urban Settlements
State-level
Administration &
Organization
Writing / Recording
Systems
Complex Civilizations Emerge
> Agriculture is fixed and concentrated
> Settlements form near agriculture
> Larger crops support growing populations
> Cultivation is more labor intensive and time consuming
> Dwellings are permanent
> New Architectural styles develop
> Specialized crafts and trades emerge to support urban life
> Surpluses are produced
> Surpluses are stored
> Surpluses are traded
> Trade alliances and networks – new materials
> Supervision of Production activities – hierarchies develop >Communications
systems established: recordkeeping, writing
> Religions institutionalized
> States define selves in relation to others (nation-states, heads-of state)
> Alliances are formed and broken
> Conflicts, Warfare, emergence of Empires
> Stresses on environment, health, resources, social welfare
These are the ingredients of a
COMPLEX CIVILIZATION!
Ripple Effects…
4 types of archaeological evidence
common to all civilizations:
1. Complex social organizations - consisting of urban
settlements
2. Centralized economies based on accumulation of
capital. Ex. Tribute, taxation, social status, trade, craft
specialization, division of labor
3. Public buildings and monumental architecture
4. State religion – ruler also plays a role in the religion,
often as sacred figure.
Success based on balancing Power: Political, Social, Economic