Models of Mesopotamian Landscapes: How small-scale processes contributed to the growth of early civilizations

Description

This volume demonstrates how models can contribute to an understanding of the development of ancient Mesopotamian settlement and landscape. The models are intended to show that early settlements co-evolved in an intimate relationship with their physical and social environments. Local rules that determined the subsistence practices of the householder then developed into more complex social mechanisms which culminated in the emergence of complex systems of settlement. Data for the models is drawn from archaeological surveys, environmental archaeology, anthropology and cuneiform texts. Although initially intended as an investigation of how agent-based models can contribute to understanding urban growth, this volume adopts a more broad-brush approach to include both 'bottom-up' and 'top-down' models as well as mathematical and qualitative methods. Front Cover Title Page Copyright Table of Contents List of Figures List of Tables List of Contributors Preface and Acknowledgements Foreword CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND, RESEARCH DESIGN AND STRUCTURE OF THE MODELING PROGRAM CHAPTER 2: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE AND THE ROLE OF WATER CHAPTER 3: SETTLEMENT ARCHAEOLOGY OF MESOPOTAMIA CHAPTER 4: LAND USE OF THE MODEL COMMUNITIES CHAPTER 5: STAPLE PRODUCTION, CULTIVATION AND SEDENTARY LIFE: MODEL INPUT DATA CHAPTER 6: CONSUMPTION AND STORAGE IN THE BRONZE AGE CHAPTER 7: HOUSEHOLD & VILLAGE IN EARLY MESOPOTAMIA CHAPTER 8: PASTORAL SYSTEMS AND ECONOMIES OF MOBILITY CHAPTER 9: THE ‘EXTERNAL ECONOMY’: NETWORKS AND TRADE CHAPTER 10: THE MODELING FRAMEWORK CHAPTER 11: OUTPUT FROM THE AGENT-BASED MODELING PROGRAM CHAPTER 12: MODELING NOMAD-SETTLEMENT INTERACTIONS CHAPTER 13: SIMULATING THE EFFECTS OF SALINIZATION ON IRRIGATION AGRICULTURE IN SOUTHERN MESOPOTAMIA CHAPTER 14: THE APPLICATION OF AN ENTROPY MAXIMISING MODEL TO THE RISE OF URBANISM CHAPTER 15: DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS