ACHM 501: Readings: Part I
Sept. 26: Origins of Agriculture and Sedentism
Terrell, John E. et al
2003 Domesticated Landscapes: The Subsistence Ecology of Plant and Animal
Domestication. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 10(4): 323368.
Read pages 323-334
Renfrew, Colin
2006 Inception of agriculture and rearing in the Middle East. C.R.Palevol 5:
395-404.
Jared Diamond
1997 Guns, Germs, and Steel. New York:W.W. Norton.
Read ch. 6, 7
(Turkish translation on reserve for Hist. 205)
For discussion: compare the more “popular” account of the origins of agriculture (Jared
Diamond) with the academic theory article (Terrell et al). What are some of the key
issues and questions concerning the origins of agriculture. What is the traditional idea of
the “Neolithic Revolution” and how is that being revised.
Sept. 28: Neolithic sites in Anatolia
Özdogan, Mehmet.
1996. From Huts to Houses: "Firsts" in Architecture. In Housing and Settlement
in Anatolia A Historical Perspective. ed. Yildiz Sey. pp. 19-30. History
Foundation Publications, Istanbul.
Hodder, Ian
1996. Çatal Höyük: 9000 Year Old Housing and Settlement in Central Anatolia.
In Housing and Settlement in Anatolia A Historical Perspective. ed.
Yildiz Sey. pp. 43-48. Istanbul: History Foundation Publications.
Ufuk, Esin
1996. Asikli, Ten Thousand Years Ago: A Habitation Model from Central
Anatolia. In Housing and Settlement in Anatolia A Historical Perspective.
ed. Yildiz Sey. pp. 31-42. Istanbul: History Foundation Publications.
Oct. 3 Social structure
Wason, Paul K.
1992 The Archaeology of Rank. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Read ch. 8.
LeBlanc, Steven
2003 The Prehistory of War. Archaeology 2003: 18-25
Begler, Elsie
1978 Sex, Status and Authority in Egalitarian Society. American Anthropologist
80(3): 571-588.
Available online through JSTOR
For discussion: What are some of the popular assumptions or myths about “primitive”
societies. Why do you think these kinds of ideas/myths appeal to people? What are some
of the issues with studying stratification and power in past societies? What types of
evidence does Wasson consider?
Oct. 5 Neolithic religion, What do the figurines mean?
Russel, Pamela
1998 The Palaeolithic Mother-Goddess: Fact or Fiction? In Reader in Gender
Archaeology. Ed. Kelley-Hays-Gilpin and David S. Whitley. pp. 261-268.
New York: Routledge
Voigt, Mary M.
1991 The Goddess from Anatolia: An Archaeological Perspective. Oriental Rug
Review 11: 33-39
Ucko, Peter J.
1962 The Interpretation of Prehistoric Anthropomorphic Figurines. Journal of the
Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 92: 38-54.
Available through JSTOR
“Discussions with the Goddess community”
www.catal.arch.com.ac.uk
For discussion: What is the popular interpretation of Neolithic female figurines? What are
some of the problems with this interpretation? How is it linked to current day feminist
issues? How should an archaeologist, such as Hodder interact with the Mother Goddess
community? If you were in charge of studying the figurines at a Neolithic site, what
criteria would you use?
Oct. 10 Mesopotamia –emergence of cities, background
Schmandt-Besserat, Denise
1995 Record Keeping Before Writing. In Civilizations of the Ancient Near East.
Ed. Jack Sasson, pp. 2097-2106, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Nissen, Hans J.
1995 Ancient Western Asia Before the Age of Empires. In Civilizations of the
Ancient Near East. Ed. Jack Sasson, pp. 791-806, New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons.
Oct. 12 Uruk colonies
Algaze, G.
1993 The Uruk World System. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Read: Ch. 4 “The Function of Uruk Settlements in the Syro-Mesopotamian Plains
and Surrounding Highlands”
Joan Oates
1993 Trade and Power in the Fifth and Fourth Millennia BC: New Evidence from
Northern Mesopotamia. World Archaeology 24 (3): 403-422.
For discussion: What is Algaze’s theory to explain the settlements in Syria and Anatolia?
What is his evidence? Do you think there is enough evidence? Are there other
possibilities?
Oct. 19 Social complexity
Wenke, Robert
1980 Patterns in Prehistory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Read ch. 8 “The Origins of Complex Societies”
Hayden, B.
1995 Pathways to Power: Principles for Creating Socioeconomic Inequalities.
Foundations of Social Inequality. Edited T. P. Price and G. M. Feinman. New
York: Plenum Press, 15-86.
For discussion: What is the idea of cultural evolution? What are some of the problematic
aspects of it? What are some of the theories for the development of social complexity?
What is a chiefdom? What is Hayden’s theory for how certain individuals come to have
more power than others? Do you see problems with this theory?
Oct. 26 Early Bronze Age in Western Anatolia
Eslick, Christine
1988 Hacilar to Karatas: Social Organization in South-western Anatolia.
Mediterranean Archaeology 1: 10-40.
Vasif Sahoglu
2005 The Anatolian Tread Network and the Izmir Region During the Early
Bronze Age. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 24(4): 339-361.
K. Aslihan Yener; Pamela B. Vandiver
1993 Tin Processing at Göltepe, an Early Bronze Age Site in Anatolia
American Journal of Archaeology 97 (2): 207-238