Making Ancient Cities

Space and Place in Early Urban Societies

Andrew T. Creekmore, III, Kevin D. Fisher

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2014
• Print ISBN:
  9781107046528
• eBook ISBN:
  9781139899352
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

This volume investigates how the structure and use of space developed and changed in cities, and examines the role of different societal groups in shaping urbanism. Culturally and chronologically diverse case studies provide a basis to examine recent theoretical and methodological shifts in the archaeology of ancient cities. The book's primary goal is to examine how ancient cities were made by the people who lived in them. The authors argue that there is a mutually constituting relationship between urban form and the actions and interactions of a plurality of individuals, groups, and institutions, each with their own motivations and identities. Space is therefore socially produced as these agents operate in multiple spheres.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title
• Title page
• Copyright information
• Dedication
• Table of contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• Preface
• 1 Making Ancient Cities: New Perspectives on the Production of Urban Places
• 2 The Social Production of Space in Third-Millennium Cities of Upper Mesopotamia
• 3 North Mesopotamian Urban Neighborhoods at Titriş Höyük in the Third Millennium BC
• 4 Swahili Urban Spaces of the Eastern African Coast
• 5 The Production of Space and Identity at Classic-Period Chunchucmil, Yucatán, Mexico
• 6 Making the First Cities on Cyprus: Urbanism and Social Change in the Late Bronze Age
• 7 Urbanization and the Emergence of the Greek Polis: The Case of Azoria, Crete
• 8 The Rise of a Minoan City and the (Re)Structuring of Its Hinterlands: A View from Galatas
• 9 Cahokia: The Processes and Principles of the Creation of an Early Mississippian City
• 10 Comparing East and West: Aspects of Urban Manufacture and Retail in the Capitals of the Roman and Han Empires
• 11 Ancient Open Space, Gardens, and Parks: A Comparative Discussion of Mesoamerican Urbanism
• 12 Different Cities
• Index