Proto-city

A model of Çatalhöyük, a commonly cited example of a proto-city.

A proto-city is a large, dense Neolithic settlement that is largely distinguished from a city by its lack of planning and centralized rule.[1] While the precise classification of many sites considered proto-cities is ambiguous and subject to considerable debate,[2] common examples include Jericho, Çatalhöyük and the mega-sites of the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture.[3][4] Sites of the Ubaid period in Mesopotamia have also been classed as proto-cities. These sites pre-date the Mesopotamian city-states of the Uruk period that mark the development of the first indisputable urban settlements, with the emergence of cities such as Uruk at the end of the Fourth Millennium, B.C.[5]

The emergence of cities from proto-urban settlements is a non-linear development that demonstrates the varied experiences of early urbanization. Whilst the proto-urban sites of the Ubaid period in northern Mesopotamia anticipate the social and political developments of the first Sumerian cities, many proto-cities show little correlation with later urban settlements.[5][6] The development of cities and proto-cities and the transition away from hunting and gathering toward agriculture is known as the Neolithic Revolution.

  1. ^ Grant, Jim; Gorin, Sam; Fleming, Neil (2015-03-27). The Archaeology Coursebook: An Introduction to Themes, Sites, Methods and Skills. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-54110-3.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Ur, Jason (2017), Tsuneki, Akira; Yamada, Shigeo; Hisada, Ken-ichiro (eds.), "The Birth of Cities in Ancient West Asia", Ancient West Asian Civilization, Singapore: Springer Singapore, pp. 133–147, doi:10.1007/978-981-10-0554-1_9, ISBN 978-981-10-0553-4, retrieved 2022-05-16
  4. ^ Videiko, Mykhailo (2011-12-31). "The 'disappearance' of Trypillia culture". Documenta Praehistorica. 38: 373–382. doi:10.4312/dp.38.29. ISSN 1854-2492.
  5. ^ a b Oates, Joan; McMahon, Augusta; Karsgaard, Philip; Quntar, Salam Al; Ur, Jason (2007-09-01). "Early Mesopotamian urbanism: a new view from the north". Antiquity. 81 (313): 585–600. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00095600. ISSN 0003-598X.
  6. ^ Mazzucato, Camilla (2019-05-09). "Socio-Material Archaeological Networks at Çatalhöyük a Community Detection Approach". Frontiers in Digital Humanities. 6: 8. doi:10.3389/fdigh.2019.00008. ISSN 2297-2668.