ARH 360: Prehistory of the Near East

Winter Term 2005





Instructor: Lisa Maher
Office: South Borden Building, Room 209
Office Hours: Tuesdays 2-4 pm, or by appointment
Email: lmaher@chass.utoronto.ca
Lecture: Thursdays 2-4 pm. Sid Smith Building, Room 1083

Neolithic Readings
Chalcolithic Readings - lecture notes posted each weeh
Early Bronze Age Readings - lecture notes posted each week
Related Websites
Near Eastern Sites, Chronology, and Maps
Term Paper Due March 31!

Tips for February 24 Mid-Term
New! Tips for Final Exam
April 7

Pottery Neolithic Lecture
Levantine Chalcolithic Lecture

Winter Term Schedule
Date
Topic

The Beginnings of Village Life
January 6
Introduction and Domestication of Humans I
January 13
Domestication of Humans II: What happended when people began to settle in villages?
January 20
The Neolithic: Why did agricultural communities arise?
Pre-Pottery Neolithic culture, settlement, ritual, and art
January 27
Did the PPNB collapse?
Technological changes: textiles, pottery, and others

The Pottery Neolithic
February 3
Did the PPNB collapse?
Origins of Pottery
February 10
Byblos and Yarmukian Neolithic: Villages, small farms, and pastoral nomads
February 17
Reading Week :)
February 24
Mid-Term :(
March 3
Levantine Chalcolithic

A Background to Urbanism and Greater Mesopotamia
March 10
Rise of Complex Societies I: Chiefdoms and Pastoralists
March 17
Rise of Complex Societies II: Halafian and Ubaid Cultures
March 24
Issues of Settlement Size and Hierarchies: Uruk and Jemdet Nasr Cultures

Complex Societies in the Ancient Near East
March 31
Rise of Complex Societies III: Levantine EBA
Paper Due
April 7
Final Exam

        Winter Marking Scheme
          20% Paper (see below for tips)
          10% Mid-Term
          15% Final Exam
          5% Participation


Remember that all of the lecture material (usually figures too) can be found in your readings or on recommended websites! Although I have assigned only a few required readings for each lecture, also reading (or at least browsing) the recommended ones will ensure you do well on the tests and will serve as excellent starter references for your papers.

Required Readings:

January 6th

Banning, E.B.
    1998  The Neolithic Period: Truimphs of architecture, agriculture, and art. Near Eastern Archaeology* 61: 188-237.

*In order to get this online, you have to go to the JSTOR page for Near Eastern Archaeology, volume 61, issue 4 from a computer connected to Robarts Library. Then, click on the title for Dr. Banning's article "The Neolithic Period...". This will bring you to a page that lists the publication details of the paper. Click on the link saying Check SFX For Availability. In the new window, click on Full text available through EBSCO ATLA Serials. At the next new window, go to page 21 where you will see a bibliographic reference for Dr. Banning's article. Here click on Full Text From ATLA: Click here for electronic resource. You show now be able to read the full text!
You can also get this reference on short-term loam from Robarts (check under ARH360) or, if it has been returned by other students, in my mailbox in the Department of Anthropology.

Bar-Yosef, O.
    1998  The Natufian Culture in the Levant, Theshold to the Origins of Agriculture. Evolutionary Anthropology 6(5): 159-177.


January 13th

Lev-Yadun, S., A. Gopher, and S. Abbo
    2000  Cradle of Agriculture. Science 288(5471):1602-1603.

Kuijt, I. and N. Goring-Morris
    2002  Foraging, Farming, and Social Complexity in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Southern Levant: A Review and Synthesis. Journal of World
    Prehistory 16 (4): 361-440.

Banning, E.B.
    1998  The Neolithic Period: Truimphs of architecture, agriculture, and art. Near Eastern Archaeology 61: 188-237.

Banning, E.B.
    2003  Housing Neolithic Farmers. Near Eastern Archaeology 66:4-21.

      
Recommended Readings (FYI and to get you started on your papers)
     
Bar-Yosef, O., and Belfer-Cohen, A.
           1989. The origins of sedentism and farming communities in the Levant. Journal of World Prehistory 3:447-498.

         
       
Bar-Yosef, Ofer, and A. Belfer-Cohen
            1992  From foraging to farming in the Mediterranean Levant. In Transitions to Agriculture, edited by A. B. Gebauer and T. D. Price, pp. 21-48.
            Prehistory Press, Ann Arbor.


        Bar-Yosef, Ofer, and R. H. Meadow
            1995  The origins of agriculture and animal husbandry in the Near and Middle East. In Last Hunters, First Farmers: New Perspectives on the
            Prehistoric Transition to Agriculture, edited by T.D. Price and A.G. Gebauer, pp 39-94. SAR Press, Santa Fe.


        Binford, Lewis R.
            1968  Post-Pleistocene adaptations. In New Perspectives in Archeology, edited by Sally R. and L. R. Binford, Aldine Publishing, Chicago.

        Braidwood, R., et al.
            1953  Symposium: Did Man Once Live by Bread Alone? American Anthropologist 55 (4):15-526.


        Childe, V. Gordon
            1952  New Light on the Most Ancient East. Routledge & Paul, London.


        Cohen, Mark

            1977  The Food Crisis in Prehistory. Yale Univ. Press, New Haven, CT


            1989  Health and the Rise of Civilization. Yale University Press, New Haven.


        Flannery, Kent V.
            1969  Origins and ecological effects of early domestication in Iran and the Near East. In The Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and
            Animals,
edited by Peter J. Ucko and G. W. Dimbleby, pp. xxx. Aldine Publishing, Chicago.


        Hayden, Brian
            1996  Feasting in prehistoric and traditional societies. In P. Wiessner & W. Schiefenhovel (eds), Food and the Status Quest. Berghahn Books:
            Providence. Pp. 127-147.


        Henry, Donald O.
            1989  From Foraging to Agriculture: The Levant at the End of the Ice Age. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia.


        Katz, S.H., and Mary Voigt
            1986  Bread and beer: The early use of cereals in the human diet. Expedition 28 (2):23-34.


       
Moore, A.M.T.
            1982  Agricultural origins in the Near East: a model for the 1980's. World Archaeology 14(2): 224-236.  

        McCorriston, J. and F. Hole
            1991  The Ecology of Seasonal Stress and the Origins of Agriculture in the Near East. American Anthropologist 93(1): 46-69.

        Rindos, David
            1984. The Origins of Agriculture: An Evolutionary Perspective . Academic Press


        Sauer, Carl
            1952  Agricultural Origins and Dispersals. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.


        Smith, P.E.L., and T. Cuyler Young
            1983  The force of numbers: Population pressure in the central western Zagros 12,000-4,500 B.C. In The Hilly Flanks and Beyond: Essays on
            the Prehistory of Southwestern Asia Presented to Robert J. Braidwood,
edited by T. C. Young, Jr., P. E. L. Smith, and P. Mortensen, Studies in
            Ancient Oriental Civilization 36. Oriental Institute, Chicago.


        Watkins, T.
             1990  The Origins of House and Home?  World Archaeology 21(3): 336-347.


         Zohary, Daniel
            1989  Domestication of the Southwest Asian Neolithic crop assemblage of cereals, pulses, and flax: The evidence from the living plants. In Foraging             and Farming: The Evolution of Plant Exploitation, edited by D. Harris and G. Hillman, pp. 358-373. Unwin Hyman, London.



January 20th

Kuijt, I. and N. Goring-Morris
    2002  Foraging, Farming, and Social Complexity in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Southern Levant: A Review and Synthesis. Journal of World
    Prehistory 16 (4): 361-440.

Banning, E.B.
    1998  The Neolithic Period: Truimphs of architecture, agriculture, and art. Near Eastern Archaeology 61: 188-237.

Byrd, B.
    1994  Public and private, domestic and corporate: The emergence of the Southwest Asian village. American Antiquity 49(4): 639-666.

          Recommended Readings
          Bar-Yosef, O. and D. Alon
             1988  Excavations in the Nahal Hemar Cave. Atiqot 18.

          Bienert, H.D.
             2001  The Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) of Jordan: A First Step Towards Proto-Urbanism? In Studies in the History and Archaeology of
             Jordan VII
. Department of Antiquities of Jordan, Amman, pp. 107-119.

         
Cauvin, Jacques
             1994. Naissance des Divinités, Naissance de l'Agriculture. CNRS Editions, Paris.


          Ducos, P.
             1993. Proto-élevage et élevage au Levant Sud au VIIe millénaire B.C. les données de la Damascène. Paléorient 19: 153-173.


          Garfinkel, Y.
             1987  Yiftahel: A Neolithic Village from the Seventh Millenium B.C. in Lower Galilee, Israel. Journal of Field Archaeology 14(2): 199-212.

          Gebel, H.-G. and B.D. Hermansen
             2000  The 2000 season at Late Neolithic Ba'Ja. Neo-Lithics 2(3): 20-22.

         
Goren, Y., Goring-Morris, N. and I. Segal
             2001  The Technology of Skull Modelling in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB): Regional Variability, the Relation of Technology and Iconography
             and their Archaeological Implications. Journal of Archaeological Science 28: 671-690.

          Goring-Morris, N.
             2001  A PPNB Settlement at Kfar Hahoresh in Lower Galilee: A Preliminary Report of the 1991 Season. Mitekufat Haeven 24: 77-101.
        
          Hodder, I (ed)
             2000  Towards Reflexive Method in Archaeology: The Example at Çatalhöyük. McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research / British
             Institute of Archaeology at Ankara Monograph No.28

 
          Kenyon, K.
             1981  Excavations at Jericho. Volume III: The Architecture and Stratigraphy of the Tell. British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, London.

          Kirkebride, D.
             1968  Beidha 1967: An Interim Report. Palestine Exploration Quarterly 100: 90-96.

         
Kozlowski, S.K.
             1990  Architecture of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic Settlement in Nemrik, Iraq. World Archaeology 21(3): 348-362.
        
          Mellaart, J.
             1967  Çatal Hüyük: A Neolithic Town in Anatolia. Thames and Hudson: London.


          Mellaart, J.
             1975  The Neolithic of the Near East. Thames and Hudson, London.

          Najjar, M.
             1994  Ghwair I, a Neolithic site in Wadi Feinan. In The Near East in Antiquity, ed. by S. Kerner. Al Kutba, Amman, pp. 75-85.

          Nissen, H.J., Muheisen, M. and H.G. Gebel
             1988  Report on the First Two Seasons of Excavation at Basta. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 31: 79-119.
         

          Özdögan
, M. and A. Özdögan
             1989 
Cayönü. Paleorient 15:65-74.

          Rollefson, G.
             1998  The Aceramic Neolithic. In The Prehistoric Archaeology of Jordan, ed. by D.O. Henry, Archaeopress, Oxford, pp. 102-126.

         
Rollefson, G., A. Simmons, and Z, Kafafi
             1992  Neolithic Cultures at 'Ain Ghazal, Jordan. Journal of Field Archaeology 19(4): 443-470.

          Simmons, A. Rollefson, G., Kafafi, Z., and K. Moyer
             1989  Test Excavations at Wadi Shu'eib, A Major Neolithic Settlement in Central Jordan. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan 33:
              27-42.

          Watkins, T.
             1990  The Origins of House and Home?  World Archaeology 21(3): 336-347.


         
        
January 27th

Banning, E.B.
    1998  The Neolithic Period: Truimphs of architecture, agriculture, and art. Near Eastern Archaeology 61: 188-237.

Kuijt, I.
    2000  People and Space in Early Agricultural Villages: Exploring Daily Lives, Community Size, and Architecture in the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic.
    Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 19: 75-102. Just browse quickly through this one!

Kuijt, I. and N. Goring-Morris
    2002  Foraging, Farming, and Social Complexity in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Southern Levant: A Review and Synthesis. Journal of World
    Prehistory 16 (4): 361-440.

Rollefson, G., A. Simmons, and Z, Kafafi
    1992  Neolithic Cultures at 'Ain Ghazal, Jordan. Journal of Field Archaeology 19(4): 443-470.

          Recommended Readings
          Rollefson, G. and I. Köhler-Rollefson
             1989  The Collapse of the Early Neolithic Settlements in teh Southern Levant. In People and Culture in Change, ed. by I. Hershkovitz, British
            Archaeology Reports, International Series, 508, Oxford, pp. 73-89.

          Simmons, A.
             2000  Villages on the Edge: Regional Settlement Change at the End of the Levantine Pre-Pottery Neolithic. In Life in Neolithic Farming
             Communities: Social Organization, Identity, and Differentiation
, ed. by I. Kuijt, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York,
             pp. 211-230.


February 3rd

Kuijt, I.
    2000  People and Space in Early Agricultural Villages: Exploring Daily Lives, Community Size, and Architecture in the Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic.
    Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 19: 75-102.

Rice, P.M.
    1999  On the Origins of Pottery. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 6(1):1-54.


Rollefson, G., A. Simmons, and Z, Kafafi
    1992  Neolithic Cultures at 'Ain Ghazal, Jordan. Journal of Field Archaeology 19(4): 443-470.

        Recommended Readings
          Gopher, A. and R. Gophna
             1993  Cultures of the Eighth and Seventh Millennia BP in the Southern Levant: A Review for the 1990's. Journal of World Prehistory 7(3):
             297-353.

          Kafafi, Z.
             1998  The Late Neolithic in Jordan. In The Prehistoric Archaeology of Jordan, edited by D.O. Henry, BAR International Series volume 705,
             Oxford, pp. 127-138.

          Kaplan, J.
             1969  'Ein al-Jarba: Chalcolithic Remains in the Plain of Esdraelon. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 194: 2-39.

          Moore, A.M.T.
             1995  The Inception of Pottery in Western Asia and its Impact on Economy and Society. In The Emergence of Pottery: Technology and
             Innovation
in Ancient Societies, edited by W.K. Barnett and J.W. Hoopes, Smithsonian Institute Press, Washington, pp. 39-53.

         
February 10th

Pottery Neolithic Lecture

Banning, E.B.
    1998  The Neolithic Period: Truimphs of architecture, agriculture, and art. Near Eastern Archaeology 61: 188-237.

Garfinkel, Y.
    1993  The Yarmoukian Culture in Israel. Paleorient 19(1): 115-134. This article is also online. Click here for its link.

        Recommended Readings
          Akkermans,  P. and M. Verhoeven
             1995  An Image of Complexity: The Burnt Village at Late Neolithic Sabi Abyad, Syria. American Journal of Archaeology 99: 5-32.

          Gopher, A. and R. Gophna
             1993  Cultures of the Eighth and Seventh Millennia BP in the Southern Levant: A Review for the 1990's. Journal of World Prehistory 7(3):
             297-353.  (A very good summary for the Southern Levant)

          Maisels, Charles Keith
             1999  Early Civilizations of the Old World: The Formative Histories of Egypt, The Levant, Mesopotamia, India and China.  Routledge, New York,
             pp. 80-185.

         Garfinkel, Y. and M. A. Miller
            2002    Sha'ar Hagolan Volume 1: Neolithic Art in Context. Oxbow, Oxford.

         Gilead, I.
            1990    The Neolithic-Chalcolithic Transition and the Qatifian of the Northern Negev and Sinai. Levant 22:47-63.

         Gopher, A. and R. Greenberg
            1996    The Pottery Neolithic Levels. In Dan I: A Chronicle of the Excavations, the Pottery Neolithic, the Early Bronze Age and the Middle
            Bronze Age Tombs
, edited by A. Biran, D. Ilan and R. Greenberg, pp. 67-81. Annual of the Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology.
            Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Jerusalem.

         Gopher, A. and E. Orrelle
            1996    An Alternative Interpretation for the Material Imagery of the Yarmukian, a Neolithic Culture of the Sixth Millennium BC in the Southern
            Levant. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 6(2):255-279.

         Hijjara, I.
            1997    The Halaf Period in Northern Mesopotamia. EDUBBA 6. Nabu, London.

         Kafafi, Z.
            1987    The Pottery Neolithic in Jordan in Connection with other Near Eastern Regions. Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 3:33-
            39.

         Kafafi, Z.
            1992    Pottery Neolithic Settlement Patterns in Jordan. Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan 4:115-122.

         Kafafi, Z.
            1993    The Yarmoukians in Jordan. Paléorient 19(1):101-114.

         Kafafi, Z.
            1998    The Late Neolithic in Jordan. In The Prehistoric Archaeology of Jordan, edited by D. O. Henry, pp. 127-138. vol. 705. BAR
            International Series, Oxford.

         Kaplan, J.
            1958    Excavation at Teluliot Batashi in the Vale of Sorek. Eretz-Israel 5:83-84.

         Kaplan, J.
            1958    Excavations at Wadi Rabah. Israel Exploration Journal 8:149-160.

         Kaplan, J.
            1959    The Neolithic Pottery of Palestine. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 156:15-22.

         Kaplan, J.
            1960    The Relation of the Chalcolithic Pottery of Palestine to Halafian Ware. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 159:
            32-36.

         Kaplan, J.
            1969    'Ein el Jarba: Chalcolithic Remains in the Plain of Esdraelon. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 194:2-39.

         Kenyon, K. M. and T. A. Holland
            1982    Excavations at Jericho, volume four: The pottery type series and other finds. British School of Archaeology in Jerusalem, London.

         Lovell, J. L.
            2001    The Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic Periods in the Southern Levant: New Data from the Site of Teleilat Ghassul, Jordan. Bar
            International Series 974. Archaeopress, Oxford.

         Moore, A. M. T.
            1973    The Late Neolithic in Palestine. Levant 10:36-68.

         Muheisen, M., H. G. K. Gebel, C. Hannss and R. Neef
            1988    Excavations at 'Ain Rahub, a Final Natufian and Yarmoukian Site near Irbid. In The Prehistory of Jordan: The State of Research in
            1986
, edited by A. N. Garrard and H. G. K. Gebel, pp. 473-502. vol. 396 (ii). BAR International Series, Oxford.

         Orrelle, E. and A. Gopher
            2001    The Pottery Neolithic Period: Questions about Pottery Decoration, Symbolism, and Meaning. In Life in Neolithic Farming Communities:
            Social Organization, Identity, and Differentiation
, edited by I. Kuijt, pp. 295-308. Kluwer Academic/Plenum, New York.

         Rollefson, G. O.
            1993    The Origins of the Yarmoukian at 'Ain Ghazal. Paléorient 19(1):91-100.

         Simmons, A. H., G. O. Rollefson, Z. Kafafi, R. D. Mandel, M. al-Nahar, J. Cooper, I. Köhler-Rollefson and K. Roler Durand
            2001    Wadi Shu'eib, A Large Neolithic Community in Central Jordan: Final Report of Test Excavations. Bulletin of the American Schools of
            Oriental Research
321:1-39.

         Stekelis, M.
            1950-1951       A New Neolithic Industry: the Yarmukian of Palestine. Israel Exploration Society 1:1-19.

         Stekelis, M.
            1972    The Yarmoukian Culture of the Neolithic Period. The Magnes Press, Jerusalem.


February 17th


Reading Week
    Although not required, I highly recommend reading Dug to Death: A Tale of Archaeological Method and Mayhem by Adrian Praetzellis. Its a crazy
    combination fieldguide/mystery novel for archaeology students. It actually makes learning archaeological methods and techniques fun - no really, I mean it!

February 24rd

    Mid-Term (too late if you haven't done the readings...)

March 3rd

Levantine Chalcolithic Lecture (Note: this is not the complete lecture, only what I told you I would put on the website in class).

Levy, T.E.
    1986  The Chalcolithic Period. Biblical Archaeologist 82-108. This article is now available on short-term loan at Robarts Library.
Or, you can
    come to my office and sign out the article from me to photocopy!


Moorey, P.R.S.
    1988  The Chalcolithic hoard from Nahal Mishmar, Israel, in context. World Archaeology 20(2): 171-189.

Sherratt, A.
    1983  The secondary exploitation of animals in the Old World. World Archaeology 15(1): 90-104.

Levy, T.E.
    1983  The emergence of specialized pastoralism in the southern Levant. World Archaeology 15(1): 15-36.

         Recommended Readings (Remember, all recommended readings are FYI and to help on your paper, you will not
         be tested on them)
            Abdi, K.
                2003  The Early Development of Pastoralism in the Central Zagros Mountains. Journal of World Prehistory 17(4): 395-448.

           Bourke, S.J.
                2002  The Origins of Social Complexity in the Southern Levant: New Evidence From Teleilat Ghassul, Jordan. Palestine Exploration
                Quarterly
134(1): 2-27.

           Galili, E., D.J. Stanley, J. Sharvit, and M. Weinstein-Evron
                1997  Evidence for Earliest Olive-Oil Production in Submerged Settlements off the Carmel Coast, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 24:
                1141-1150.

           Gilead, I.
                1989  Grar: A Chalcolithic Site in the Northern Negev, Israel. Journal of Field Archaeology 16: 377-394.

           Golden, J., T.E. Levy, and A. Hauptmann
                2001  Recent Discoveries Concerning Chalcolithic Metallurgy at Shiqmim, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 28: 951-963.

          
Levy, T.E.
                1995  Cult, Metallurgy and Rank Societies - Chalcolithic Period (CA. 4500-3500 BCE). In The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land, ed.
                by T.E. Levy, pp. 226-243. Leicester University Press: London.

           Levy, T.E. and S. Shalev
                1989  Prehistoric metalworking in the southern Levant: archaeometallurgical and social perspectices. World Archaeology 20(3): 352-372.

          

March 10th

Levantine Chalcolithic Lecture (Note: this is not the complete lecture, only what I told you I would put on the website in class).

Levy, T.E.
    1986  The Chalcolithic Period. Biblical Archaeologist June: 82-108. This article is now available on short-term loan at Robarts Library. Or, you can
    come to my office and sign out the article from me to photocopy!


Moorey, P.R.S.
    1988  The Chalcolithic hoard from Nahal Mishmar, Israel, in context. World Archaeology 20(2): 171-189.

Sherratt, A.
    1983  The secondary exploitation of animals in the Old World. World Archaeology 15(1): 90-104.

Levy, T.E.
    1983  The emergence of specialized pastoralism in the southern Levant. World Archaeology 15(1): 15-36.


           Recommended Readings
           Abdi, K.
                2003  The Early Development of Pastoralism in the Central Zagros Mountains. Journal of World Prehistory 17(4): 395-448.

           Bourke, S.J.
                2002  The Origins of Social Complexity in the Southern Levant: New Evidence From Teleilat Ghassul, Jordan. Palestine Exploration
                Quarterly
134(1): 2-27.

           Galili, E., D.J. Stanley, J. Sharvit, and M. Weinstein-Evron
                1997  Evidence for Earliest Olive-Oil Production in Submerged Settlements off the Carmel Coast, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 24:
                1141-1150.

           Gilead, I.
                1989  Grar: A Chalcolithic Site in the Northern Negev, Israel. Journal of Field Archaeology 16: 377-394.

           Golden, J., T.E. Levy, and A. Hauptmann
                2001  Recent Discoveries Concerning Chalcolithic Metallurgy at Shiqmim, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science 28: 951-963.

          
Levy, T.E.
                1995  Cult, Metallurgy and Rank Societies - Chalcolithic Period (CA. 4500-3500 BCE). In The Archaeology of Society in the Holy Land, ed.
                by T.E. Levy, pp. 226-243. Leicester University Press: London.

           Levy, T.E. and S. Shalev
                1989  Prehistoric metalworking in the southern Levant: archaeometallurgical and social perspectices. World Archaeology 20(3): 352-372.

          

March 17th
Let's try something new . . . many of your readings this week are actually academic-ish websites about the Halafian and Ubaid periods - everyone should have no problems accessing them. Some of these are websites from other courses and others are somewhat academic sources (the Ancient Near East source). Remember, for your papers - always go to the real source!!!
The Halafian Culture (follow the links to Tepe Gawra, Arpachiyah, Carchemish)
Prehistoric Ubaid Culture (follow the links to Arpachiyah, Ur)
The Ubaid Culture
H3: An Ubaid Site in Arabia
The Site of Eridu
Images of Ubaid Culture
Ancient Sumer History (follow the links to Eridu, Uruk, Ur)

Halafian and Ubaid Lecture

Maisels, Charles Keith
    1999  Ubaid. In Early Civilizations of the Old World: The Formative Histories of Egypt, The Levant, Mesopotamia, India and China. Routledge,
    New York, pp. 136-185. This is a book section entitled 'Ubaid' now available on short-term loan from Robart's Library. Only read the parts entitled
    'Ubaid' and 'Childe's Checklist'. Don't worry about the rest. Or, you can come to my office and sign out the book section from me to photocopy.


Sherratt, A.
    1983  The secondary exploitation of animals in the Old World. World Archaeology 15(1): 90-104.

         Recommended Readings
           Bernbeck, R.
                1995  Lasting Alliances and Emerging Competition: Economic Development in Early Mesopotamia. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 14:
                1-25.

           Eslick, C.
                1980  Middle Chalcolithic Pottery from Southwestern Anatolia. American Journal of Archaeology 84: 5-14.

           Gilbert, A.S.
                1983  On the origins of specialized nomadic pastoralism in western Iran. World Archaeology 15(1): 105-119.

           Pollock, Susan
                 1999  Ancient Mesopotamia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 78-116. Of those posted here, this is by far the best summary on
                 the Ubaid and Uruk cultures.


           Stein, G.J., R. Bernbeck, C. Coursey, A. McMahon, N. Miller, A. Misir, J. Nicola, H. Pittman, S. Pollock, and H. Wright
                1996  Uruk Colonies and Anatolian Communities: An Interim Report on the 1992-1993 Excavations at Hacinebi, Turkey. American Journal of
                Archaeology 100: 205-260.

March 24th
The Uruk Period
Ancient Sumer History (follow links to Ur, Uruk, Nippur)
Hacinebi: An Uruk Site (know this site!)
Images of the Uruk Culture
Uruk - The British Museum
Uruk, Iraq

Uruk Lecture

Algaze, G.
   
2001  The Prehistory of Imperialism. In Uruk Mesopotamia and its Neighbours: Cross-Cultural Interactions on the Era of State Formation, by
    M.S. Rothman (ed.). School of American Research Press, Santa Fe, p. 27-46. Two copies are on short-term loan at Robart's Library.
Or, you can
    come to my office and sign out the book section from me to photocopy.

   
Oates, Joan
    1993  Trade and power in the fifth and fourth millennia BC: new evidence from northern Mesopotamia. World Archaeology 24(3): 403-422.

Pollock, S. M. Pope, and C. Coursey
    1996  Household Production at the Uruk Mound, Abu Salabikh, Iraq. American Journal of Archaeology 100: 683-98.

Rothman, M.
    2004  Studying the Development of Complex Society:  Mesopotamia in the Late Fifth and Fourth Millennia BC. Journal of Archaeological Research
    12(1): 75-119.  This is a very long article that you will NOT be tested on and is technically not required reading; however, it is an excellent summary of
    Uruk culture!


         Recommended Readings
           Algaze, G.
                1993  The Uruk World System: The Dynamics of Expansion of Early Mesopotamian Civilization. University of Chicago Press, Chicago,
                pp. 162. (particularly chapters 5 and 6)

           Pollock, Susan
                1999  Ancient Mesopotamia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 78-116. Of those posted here, this is by far the best summary on
                the Ubaid and Uruk cultures.


           Rothman, M.S. (editor)
                2001  Uruk Mesopotamia and its Neighbours: Cross-Cultural Interactions on the Era of State Formation. School of American Research
                Press, Santa Fe, pp. 556. (particularly chapter 1, 2 and 6)

           Stein, G.J., R. Bernbeck, C. Coursey, A. McMahon, N. Miller, A. Misir, J. Nicola, H. Pittman, S. Pollock, and H. Wright
                1996  Uruk Colonies and Anatolian Communities: An Interim Report on the 1992-1993 Excavations at Hacinebi, Turkey. American Journal of
                Archaeology 100: 205-260.
         


March 31st
   Early Bronze Age Lecture

     Herr, L.G.
       2002  5,000-year-old burials in Jordan. Near Eastern Archaeology 65(4): 282-283.
   
     Ilan, D.
       2002  Mortuary Practices in Early Bronze Age Canaan. Near Eastern Archaeology 65(2): 92-104.

    Mazar, A.
       1990  The Emergence of Cities: The Early Bronze Age (ca. 3300-2300 BCE).  In Archaeology of the Land of the Bible: 10,000-586 B.C.E.
        DoubleDay, New York, pp. 91-111. This reference is available on short-term loan at Robart's Library as of Mon, March 28. Or, you can
        come to my office and sign out the book section from me to photocopy.


        Recommended Readings
          The Early Bronze Age of the Levant: AncientNearEast.Net
         
A PDF document by G. Wright detailing the Early Bronze Age in Southwestern Asia

         Avner, U. and I. Carmi
                2001  Settlement Patterns in the Southern Levant Deserts During The 6th-3rd Millennia BC: A Revision Based on 14C Dating. Radiocarbon
                43(3): 1203-1216.               

         Chesson, M. and G. Philip
                2003  "Tales of the City? 'Urbanism in the Early Bronze Age Levant from Mediterranean and Levantine Perspectives". Journal of Mediterranean
               Archaeology 16(1): 79-102.

        
Curvers, H.H. and G.M. Schwartz
                1997  Umm el-Marra, A Bronze Age Urban Center in the Jabbul Plain, Western Syria. American Journal of Archaeology 101: 201-239.

          Falconer, S.E.
                1995  Rural Responses to Early Urbanism: Bronze Age Household and Village Economy at Tell el-Hayyat, Jordan. Journal of Field Archaeology
                22: 399-419.
 
          Falconer, S.E. and S. Savage
                1995  Heartlands and Hinterlands: Alternative Trajectories of Early Urbanization in Mesopotamia and the Southern Levant. American Antiquity
                60(1): 37-58.

Some Recommended Websites to Check Out!

Dhra': A PPNA village in Jordan

Aswad and Goraife: Two PPNA sites in Syria

The PPNA in the Levant

Abu Hureyra: A PPNA site in Syria

The Emergence of Agriculture

Bioarchaeology of the Agricultural Transition

'Ain Ghazal: A Neolithic Village in Jordan or The Town of 'Ain Ghazal

Çatalhöyük: Excavations of a Neolithic Anatolian Höyük

Cave of the Treasure (Chalcolithic)

Cave of the Warrior (Chalcolithic)

Royal Tombs of Ur


Sites, Chronology, and Maps discussed in class.

Some major PPNA sites

al-Khiam                                        Netiv Hagdud                                        Abu Hureyra                              Jarmo
Jerf al-Ahmar                                 Gilgal I                                                   Dhra'                                         Zahrat adh-Dhra' 2
Jericho                                           Nahal Oren                                            Abu Madi                                  Nachcharini
Mureybit                                        Hallan Çami                                           Iraq ad-Dubb                             Çayönü
Tell Aswad

Some major PPNB (and contemporary) sites

'Ain Ghazal                                        Jericho                                        Basta                                        Beidha
Ba'ja                                                 Munhata                                     Wadi Shu'eib                             Kfar HaHoresh
Godin Tepe                                      Ganj Dareh Tepe                         Abu Salem                                Nahal Lavan 109
Çatal Höyük                                     Çayönü                                        Jilat 7                                        Jebel Queisa
Yiftahel                                             Ghwair I                                      Nahal Hemar                            Tell Aswad
Nevali Çori                                       Mureybit                                     Cafer
Höyük                             Nahal Oren
Beisamoun                                        Bouqras                                      Abu Hureyra                             Boytepe

Some major Final PPNB/PPNC sites

'Ain Abu Nekhaleh                           Basta (?)                                       Tell Ramad (?)                           'Ain Ghazal
Wadi Shu'eib                                   Abu Hureyra                                  Bouqras                                     el-Kowm
Çayönü (?)

Some major Late or Pottery Neolithic sites

Sha'ar HaGolan                                 Jericho                                          Byblos                                      Munhata
'Ain Ghazal                                        Jebel Abu Thawwab                     Wadi Rabah                              Tabaqat al-Buma
Tell Halaf                                          Tell Hassuna                                 Umm Dabaghiya                        Yarim Tepe I     
Tell as-Sawwan                                Arpachiyah                                   Tell Batashi                                 Tell Sotto
'Ain al-Jarba                                     Ganj Dareh                                  
Çatal Höyük                               Tell Sarab
Tell Guran

Some major Chalcolithic sites

In the Levant:
Teleilat Ghassul                                 Shiqmim                                          Nahal Mishmar                         Wadi Feinan  
'Ein Gedi                                           'Ain ar-Hariri                                   Hadera                                      Azor
Gilat                                                  Bir as-Safedi                                   Beer Sheba

In Mesopotamia (Halafian and Ubaid):
Tell Halaf                                          Arpachiyah                                       Tell Sabi Abyad                        Yarim Tepe
Tell 'Oeuili                                        Tell Abada                                        Tell al-Ubaid                             Eridu
Susa                                                 Ur                                                    Tepe Gawra                              Uruk                                               

Some major Uruk and Jamdet Nasr (Late Chalcolithic) sites
Uruk/Warka/Erech                          Ur                                                      Hacinebi                                   Godin Tepe
Nineveh                                           Susa                                                   Habuba Kabira                        Jamdet Nasr
Farukhabad                                     Tell Brak

Some major Early Bronze Age sites in the Levant
Yarmuth                                         Megiddo                                             Beth Shean                              Arad
'Ein Teo                                          Beth Yerah                                         Tel Malhata                             Yiftahel
Byblos                                            Jawa                                                   Bab edh-Dhra'                         Hartuv
Tell el-Far'ah                                  'Ai                                                       Tell Umm Hamad                    Tell Rakan
Tell Erani                                        Jericho
   

Term Paper Topics
    As we discussed in class, your term paper will focus on a particular archaeological site. You may choose any Near Eastern site (including sites in Egypt) as long as it falls within the time periods covered for the winter term (Neolithic to Early Bronze Age). I would recommend either a site mentioned in class that you were particularly interested in, or a site that has enough publications to allow you to talk academically about the issue you have chosen (see below).

How to go about writing your paper?
    Do not simply summarize the excavation reports for the site. And, you do not need to reinterate everything found at the site. Instead, use the site to discuss a relevant arena of research. I want you to use that site as an example to talk about a particular issue, archaeological problem, or area of research that we discussed in class, such as...
         a) the social and ideological consequence of sedentism and village life,
         b) how the site contributes to or disputes our current hypotheses regarding the origins of agriculture,
         c) what particular aspects of the site provide evidence for the shift to urbanism, etc.
    Alternatively, you could choose a site occupied over several time periods and discuss (and evaluate) a particular aspect of the site. For example, if you chose 'Ain Ghazal, you could research and discuss the evidence for changes in architecture from the MPPNB to the Yarmoukian. Of course, you would also want to discuss the social, economic, technological, and ideological implications of these changes, such as how compartmentalizing space affects social relationships within and outside the house, public versus private space, mechanisms for unifying an increasingly household-based community, etc... (you could also propose alternative explanations, but ensure that you can back up your interpretations).
    Remember to research the site thoroughly, evaluate and/or critique the various arguments, and use these to frame your own points and arguments.

Tips for Writing Your Term Paper

  1. Paper Length:
                You paper should be no longer than 8 pages, double-spaced, 12 point font, single-sided. Part of your mark will incorporate the ability to be clear and concise in your arguements.
  1. Address an Issue:
                You paper should have a point - an argument or research issue that you are addressing. Don't just summarize other people's work. Clearly state the issue at the beginning of the paper and focus your writing on this issue. You do not have to summarize everything that has been written on this topic - only discuss things that directly relate to the issue/argument you are addressing.
  1. Appropriate References:
                Encyclopedias, websites, and other online resources (except online academic journals) are not appropriate for this assignment. Go to the original source! That means you will probably have to make one, or several, trips to Robarts and other libraries. So, PLAN AHEAD. Do not wait until the last minute because references you want may not be available or may require you to request them through inter-library loan. Not being able to find references is an unacceptable excuse for a poorly-researched paper.
                Use the required and recommended reading lists to find references on your topic. If you are unsure about appropraite references or how to find them, email me.

  1. Due Date:
                Your paper is due March 31, 2005. A late penalty of 10% per day will apply after this date. This means that if you hand you paper in on April 1st, the best you can possibly get is 90/100.


I'll post more information here as the term progresses. If you have questions about the paper, email me or make an appointment to see me. I will post everyone's relevant questions and my answers.