{"id":1530,"date":"2010-03-28T03:46:23","date_gmt":"2010-03-28T07:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=1530"},"modified":"2018-08-06T21:11:28","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T01:11:28","slug":"sunday-march-28-2010-a-lay-of-ancient-toronto-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=1530","title":{"rendered":"Sunday, March 28, 2010 \u2014 A Lay of Ancient Toronto, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I received Dorothea\u2019s book <\/span>[see <\/span>pre\u00advi\u00adous blog entry<\/span><\/a><\/span>] from the Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty of Toron\u00adto\u2019s com\u00adpact stor\u00adage facility.[1] I was reward\u00aded in a way that I could not have guessed. In fact, the coin\u00adci\u00addence involved is so extreme that I hes\u00adi\u00adtate to relate it, for fear of being thought a hoaxer.<\/span><\/p>\n

What I had expect\u00aded was that the grown-up girl of Mil\u00adlais\u2019 paint\u00ading would have writ\u00adten a con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal Eng\u00adlish Lady\u2019s book of mem\u00adoirs, and Vic\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan gen\u00adtil\u00adi\u00adty, unre\u00adlat\u00aded to my con\u00adcerns. Instead, it turned out to be pro\u00adfound\u00adly rel\u00ade\u00advant to the dis\u00adcus\u00adsion in the pre\u00advi\u00adous blog. Dorothea Thor\u00adpe, grown up to be Lady Charn\u00adworth, wrote about her hob\u00adby: col\u00adlect\u00ading the hand-writ\u00adten let\u00adters of intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal fig\u00adures of the past which seem to her to reveal their char\u00adac\u00adters, or bring alive the his\u00adto\u00adry of their times. Mere sig\u00adna\u00adtures, she stat\u00aded flat\u00adly, did not inter\u00adest her. Nor did the usu\u00adal list of \u201cwor\u00adthies\u201d (arch\u00adbish\u00adops, land\u00aded gen\u00adtry and gen\u00ader\u00adals). Her inter\u00adest lay in pre\u00adcise\u00adly the kind of explo\u00adration and his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion that was the point of my blog entry! She was par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly inter\u00adest\u00aded in his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans, philoso\u00adphers, and econ\u00ado\u00admists. A prize of her col\u00adlec\u00adtion was a series of let\u00adters con\u00adnect\u00ading David Hume, William Richard\u00adson, Adam Smith, and Edward Gib\u00adbon. She wrote about the con\u00adtents of the let\u00adters with charm and intel\u00adli\u00adgence: \u201cI shall nev\u00ader for\u00adget tak\u00ading a doc\u00adu\u00adment signed by Coleridge to the great lit\u00ader\u00adary man whom I have ven\u00adtured to call my friend. He gave one glance at it and said \u2018Ah, this was writ\u00adten at a very dark peri\u00adod of his life, you know\u2019 \u2014 but that is just what I did not, and I felt as I always do when in read\u00ading Macaulay I meet with his heart-break\u00ading school\u00adboy. This branch of eru\u00addi\u00adtion with regard to an auto\u00adgraph col\u00adlec\u00adtion is nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly the hard\u00adest and slow\u00adest to come by and of course the rarest.<\/em>\u201d Macaulay, the author with which my lit\u00adtle explo\u00adration began, makes sev\u00ader\u00adal appear\u00adances. She refers to him as \u201cwarm and pas\u00adsion\u00adate, but often unfair<\/em>\u201d on the evi\u00addence of his let\u00adters. She reveals that her hob\u00adby began when, as a child, she was crip\u00adpled by a car\u00adriage acci\u00addent and con\u00adfined to a couch for three years. This must have hap\u00adpened just after Mil\u00adlais\u2019 por\u00adtrait, just at the time when the Macaulay vol\u00adume was pre\u00adsent\u00aded to her. Her inter\u00adests are relent\u00adless\u00adly human\u00adis\u00adtic, and she seems attract\u00aded to the rebels and shit-dis\u00adturbers. How could I not see a kin\u00addred spir\u00adit in this lady?<\/span><\/p>\n

My lit\u00adtle quest, start\u00ading in a Toron\u00adto book\u00adshop, has fold\u00aded upon itself in an intrigu\u00ading way. In both sci\u00adence and the art of fic\u00adtion, we strive to avoid intro\u00adduc\u00ading coin\u00adci\u00addences, but in real life they play a con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adable role. This is one of the rea\u00adsons that the study of his\u00adto\u00adry will nev\u00ader be well served by the rote appli\u00adca\u00adtion of for\u00admu\u00adla\u00adic the\u00ado\u00adries and grand schemes of destiny.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such schemes, in fact, are more like\u00adly to impede than to aid the appli\u00adca\u00adtion of his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion. Imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion, such as I exer\u00adcised in the first part of this entry, remains a key ele\u00adment in explor\u00ading the past. The evi\u00addence we have of events in the past is always frag\u00admen\u00adtary, ambigu\u00adous, and itself the end result of many accidents.<\/span><\/p>\n

A com\u00admon fail\u00ading of his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans is to mis\u00adtake the sur\u00adviv\u00ading evi\u00addence for the whole of the past, and to imag\u00adine that times and places which have left abun\u00addant doc\u00adu\u00admen\u00adta\u00adtion were by their nature rich\u00ader, fuller and more impor\u00adtant than times and places that have not. Acci\u00addent has pre\u00adserved for us more of the archives of Assyr\u00adia than of Urar\u00adtu and Elam, so shelves of books con\u00advey the impres\u00adsion of Assyr\u00adi\u00ada\u2019s impor\u00adtance, while a few slim vol\u00adumes belie the fact that Urar\u00adtu and Elam were sub\u00adstan\u00adtial places with sub\u00adstan\u00adtial pow\u00ader and sub\u00adstan\u00adtial influ\u00adence. Spe\u00adcial\u00adists con\u00adcerned with these areas will try to draw atten\u00adtion to this dis\u00adtor\u00adtion, but usu\u00adal\u00adly to no avail. Celebri\u00adty cul\u00adtures, like celebri\u00adty actors, will always fill up our minds disproportionately.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because Athens is one of only a few ancient cities that left us a detailed record of its inter\u00adnal pol\u00adi\u00adtics, a myth has grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly con\u00adsol\u00adi\u00addat\u00aded that it was absolute\u00adly unique in its polit\u00adi\u00adcal devel\u00adop\u00adment. We must not dare guess that the thou\u00adsands of cities we know exist\u00aded across the ancient world might have had sim\u00adi\u00adlar inter\u00adnal con\u00adflicts between pro\u00adto-demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic and aris\u00adto\u00adcrat\u00adic meth\u00adods of rule. For almost all of these cities, we have absolute\u00adly no record of their inter\u00adnal gov\u00ader\u00adnance. But his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans have been remark\u00adably reluc\u00adtant to pro\u00adpose that they might as eas\u00adi\u00adly have expe\u00adri\u00adence Athen\u00adian-style events as not. If ancient pro\u00adto-democ\u00adra\u00adcy has not been assumed to be unique\u00adly Athen\u00adian, it has been assert\u00aded to be unique\u00adly Greek. That such events should be con\u00adfined to a sin\u00adgle lin\u00adguis\u00adtic group, when that group exist\u00aded in intense eco\u00adnom\u00adic, social, polit\u00adi\u00adcal and artis\u00adtic inter\u00adac\u00adtion with a maze of phys\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly sim\u00adi\u00adlar small cities across the Mediter\u00adranean and West\u00adern Asia, is a rather pecu\u00adliar assumption.[2] But it has been gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly regard\u00aded as the \u201cbase line\u201d assump\u00adtion from which any oth\u00ader pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty must be argued uphill, so to speak. Even when forced to acknowl\u00adedge that Ancient India also had republics, and their known his\u00adto\u00adry reveals pre\u00adcise\u00adly the same con\u00adflicts and out\u00adcomes, there is an ingrained resis\u00adtance to the notion that sim\u00adi\u00adlar process\u00ades might have shaped the inter\u00adnal pol\u00adi\u00adtics of many of the thou\u00adsands of cities that lay between them. It is as if future archae\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgists found traf\u00adfic court records from only Hal\u00adi\u00adfax and Van\u00adcou\u00adver, and con\u00adclud\u00aded that the inhab\u00adi\u00adtants of Toron\u00adto prob\u00ada\u00adbly did\u00adn\u2019t pos\u00adsess cars. As a mat\u00adter of fact, as new records turn up, or old ones are inter\u00adpret\u00aded with less blink\u00adered approach\u00ades, hints of pro\u00adto-demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic ele\u00adments keep appear\u00ading in pre\u00adcise\u00adly the places that were assumed to be \u201cnat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly\u201d monar\u00adchi\u00adcal and despot\u00adic. The records of Mari, a state in the upper Euphrates, reveal a long and intri\u00adcate his\u00adto\u00adry of col\u00adlec\u00adtive gov\u00ader\u00adnance com\u00adpet\u00ading and some\u00adtimes inte\u00adgrat\u00aded with cen\u00adtral\u00adized monar\u00adchi\u00adcal insti\u00adtu\u00adtions, and, most sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant\u00adly, they do not fol\u00adlow any clich\u00e9 pro\u00adgres\u00adsion from \u201cprim\u00adi\u00adtive\u201d coun\u00adcils to \u201csophis\u00adti\u00adcat\u00aded\u201d kingship.[3]<\/span><\/p>\n

It has often been said that \u201chis\u00adto\u00adry is writ\u00adten by the win\u00adners,\u201d and a cor\u00adre\u00adlate of the acci\u00addent of sur\u00adviv\u00ading evi\u00addence is the acci\u00addent of sequence. In medieval Rus\u00adsia, two states vied for pre\u00adem\u00adi\u00adnence among the many Slav\u00adic prin\u00adci\u00adpal\u00adi\u00adties: Moscow and Nov\u00adgorod. Even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly, Moscow won out over Nov\u00adgorod. Moscow was a cen\u00adtral\u00adized monar\u00adchy, and since pow\u00ader\u00adful monar\u00adchies, and then a monar\u00adchi\u00adcal dic\u00adta\u00adtor\u00adship sub\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly ruled over the land, it was tak\u00aden as self-evi\u00addent by many schol\u00adars that Rus\u00adsia was some\u00adhow pre\u00ador\u00addained to be ruled by tyrants. But for cen\u00adturies, the chief eco\u00adnom\u00adic pow\u00ader, and most vibrant cul\u00adtur\u00adal cen\u00adter of Rus\u00adsia was Nov\u00adgorod, which was a func\u00adtion\u00ading repub\u00adlic of a unique sort. It even went so far as to devel\u00adop a ver\u00adsion of the Ortho\u00addox Church which pop\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly elect\u00aded its bish\u00adops. This repub\u00adlic encom\u00adpassed a vast ter\u00adri\u00adto\u00adry and last\u00aded for four cen\u00adturies \u2015 con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adably longer than the Unit\u00aded States has exist\u00aded, or than Britain or France main\u00adtained any sub\u00adstan\u00adtial nation\u00adal demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic insti\u00adtu\u00adtions. But because of sub\u00adse\u00adquent events, and not because of any bal\u00adanced assess\u00adment of its scale and impor\u00adtance, Nov\u00adgorod is con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly dis\u00admissed as a mere curios\u00adi\u00adty, a tiny bit of irrel\u00ade\u00advant his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal triv\u00adia. His\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans will often bland\u00adly assume that its sys\u00adtem of elect\u00aded veche<\/em> was \u201cprob\u00ada\u00adbly\u201d a mere epiphe\u00adnom\u00ade\u00adnon of a rigid oli\u00adgarchy, and that its demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic com\u00adpo\u00adnent was neg\u00adli\u00adgi\u00adble or illu\u00adso\u00adry. They will make this assump\u00adtion with\u00adout any effort to find out if this was the case. In fact, Nov\u00adgorod\u2019s repub\u00adli\u00adcan insti\u00adtu\u00adtions under\u00adwent as com\u00adplex a sto\u00adry as those of Athens or Venice. The influ\u00adence of the veche<\/em> was deep. Its accom\u00adplish\u00adments, includ\u00ading large scale pub\u00adlic works, were very impres\u00adsive for any com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty in the mid\u00addle ages.[4] Nov\u00adgorod was able to fend off the Teu\u00adton\u00adic Knights and the Mon\u00adgols, but in the end suc\u00adcumbed to Ivan the Ter\u00adri\u00adble. This does not make its cen\u00adturies of pro\u00adto-demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic exper\u00adi\u00adment unim\u00adpor\u00adtant, or its lessons irrel\u00ade\u00advant. Today, Nov\u00adgorod is prob\u00ada\u00adbly the most eco\u00adnom\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly suc\u00adcess\u00adful and lib\u00ader\u00adal of the Post-Sovi\u00adet Russ\u00adian regions, though it was among the least-favoured at the time of the Sovi\u00adet col\u00adlapse. It seems that it\u2019s local lead\u00ader\u00adship chose to iden\u00adti\u00adfy sym\u00adbol\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly with the Medieval repub\u00adlic, and used that sym\u00adbol\u00adism to \u201csell\u201d lib\u00ader\u00adal reforms, as well as to fuel their own con\u00adfi\u00addence and determination.[5] The \u201cdes\u00adtiny\u201d card was played in reverse: Look what sub\u00admis\u00adsion to Moscow cost us in the long run, it was argued, when we had the right idea in the begin\u00adning. Some post-Sovi\u00adet Rus\u00adsians have decid\u00aded that Nov\u00adgorod rep\u00adre\u00adsents the \u201creal\u201d Russ\u00adian her\u00aditage, and not Romanov-Sovi\u00adet autoc\u00adra\u00adcy. Of course, nei\u00adther is any more or less real than the oth\u00ader. In the long run, all humans will see that they can draw on a her\u00aditage of rea\u00adson and democ\u00adra\u00adcy, because it is all \u201cours\u201d, wher\u00adev\u00ader we hap\u00adpen to live.<\/span><\/p>\n

But in the mean\u00adtime, our abil\u00adi\u00adty to imag\u00adine the past (We will always be imag\u00adin\u00ading it, not recre\u00adat\u00ading, recon\u00adstruct\u00ading, or \u201cknow\u00ading\u201d it, because these are impos\u00adsi\u00adble) remains fet\u00adtered and crip\u00adpled by an over-reliance on unex\u00adam\u00adined for\u00admu\u00adlas. The most per\u00adsis\u00adtent of these is the false anal\u00ado\u00adgy of social evo\u00adlu\u00adtion. His\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans, arche\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgists and econ\u00ado\u00admists often pro\u00adfound\u00adly mis\u00adun\u00adder\u00adstand the bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion that they think they are repro\u00adduc\u00ading in the con\u00adcept of \u201ccul\u00adtur\u00adal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion.\u201d They draw their ideas of \u201cevo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u201d from a car\u00adtoon ver\u00adsion of biol\u00ado\u00adgy that was nev\u00ader, in fact, employed by biol\u00ado\u00adgists. In bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion, there is no fixed sequence of \u201cstages\u201d (in fact, there are no \u201cstages\u201d at all). Con\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly, the notion of fixed \u201cevo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary\u201d stages for cul\u00adtures, civ\u00adi\u00adliza\u00adtions, and oth\u00ader neb\u00adu\u00adlous col\u00adlec\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adties, is also a car\u00adtoon. In that sad car\u00adtoon, democ\u00adra\u00adcy is always assigned a \u201cprim\u00adi\u00adtive\u201d sta\u00adtus. Most archae\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgists and his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans auto\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly repeat a litany in which \u201cprim\u00adi\u00adtive\u201d egal\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan insti\u00adtu\u00adtions give way in a fixed \u201cevo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary\u201d sequence to \u201ccom\u00adplex\u201d monar\u00adchy and caste divi\u00adsions. Cities are rou\u00adtine\u00adly defined by \u201cdivi\u00adsion and spe\u00adcial\u00adiza\u00adtion of labour\u201d and \u201chier\u00adar\u00adchies of wealth and sta\u00adtus\u201d, as well as \u201cmon\u00adu\u00admen\u00adtal build\u00ading\u201d \u2014 tem\u00adples and palaces felt to be the prod\u00aduct of such ranking.<\/span><\/p>\n

The trou\u00adble is, nei\u00adther the his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal and archae\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal record, nor mod\u00adern anthro\u00adpol\u00ado\u00adgy sup\u00adport this car\u00adtoon. While Euro\u00adpean archae\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgists take any con\u00adstruct\u00aded object larg\u00ader than a pil\u00adlow to be proof of direc\u00adtion from an aris\u00adtoc\u00adra\u00adcy or pow\u00ader\u00adful chief\u00adtains (they are always telling us how many man-hours had to be admin\u00adis\u00adtered by these high-mucky-mucks), North Amer\u00adi\u00adcan anthro\u00adpol\u00ado\u00adgists have no trou\u00adble point\u00ading to iden\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly com\u00adplex projects which we know were rou\u00adtine\u00adly accom\u00adplished with con\u00adcil\u00adiar direc\u00adtion and task-spe\u00adcif\u00adic man\u00adagers who held no gen\u00ader\u00adal\u00adized polit\u00adi\u00adcal pow\u00ader. The notion that non-urban soci\u00adeties do not have craft spe\u00adcial\u00adiza\u00adtion is non\u00adsense. Let\u2019s look at an assort\u00adment of native soci\u00adeties on the Great Plains of North Amer\u00adi\u00adca, for exam\u00adple. Nobody would accuse the Lako\u00adta, Black\u00adfoot, or Plains Cree of being \u201curban\u201d, or of being ruled by mon\u00adarchs. But in Plains soci\u00adeties, almost all crafts were the prod\u00aduct of spe\u00adcial\u00adists, often entre\u00adpre\u00adneurs who under\u00adtook pro\u00adduc\u00adtion to enrich them\u00adselves by sup\u00adply\u00ading every\u00adone else, often orga\u00adnized into guilds with entrance fees and reg\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtions, and often pro\u00adduc\u00ading not only for inter\u00adnal trade, but for export. Most aspects of the \u201cevo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary\u201d car\u00adtoon have been explod\u00aded over and over again, but it still remains a pow\u00ader\u00adful force con\u00adstrain\u00ading our abil\u00adi\u00adty to imag\u00adine the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll give you a par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly annoy\u00ading exam\u00adple of this con\u00adstraint. I recent\u00adly read, with great plea\u00adsure, a work on the ori\u00adgins of the Indo-Euro\u00adpean lan\u00adguage fam\u00adi\u00adly, focus\u00ading on the pre\u00adhis\u00adto\u00adry of the Ukraine. The book is The Horse, the Wheel, and Lan\u00adguage<\/em>, by David W. Anthony.[6] Don\u2019t get me wrong. I have a bone to pick, but it is not about the main issues of the book, which is a bril\u00adliant bring\u00ading togeth\u00ader of cur\u00adrent evi\u00addence on the ori\u00adgins of Indo-Euro\u00adpean speech. It suc\u00adceed\u00aded in chang\u00ading my mind dra\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly. For decades, a debate has gone on between the posi\u00adtion iden\u00adti\u00adfied with Mar\u00adi\u00adja Gimbu\u00adtas, who saw the Indo-Euro\u00adpean lan\u00adguages as orig\u00adi\u00adnat\u00ading among horse-back war\u00adriors of the Ukraine, who spread as con\u00adquerors in all direc\u00adtions dur\u00ading the Bronze Age, and the posi\u00adtion of Col\u00adin Ren\u00adfrew, who saw the I\u2011E fam\u00adi\u00adly as orig\u00adi\u00adnat\u00ading in Ana\u00adto\u00adlia and spread\u00ading at a much ear\u00adli\u00ader time with neolith\u00adic agri\u00adcul\u00adture. Antho\u00adny dis\u00adpos\u00ades of much of the super\u00adstruc\u00adture of ideas that Gimbu\u00adtas past\u00aded onto her orig\u00adi\u00adnal the\u00adsis, but comes to the con\u00adclu\u00adsion that its core was cor\u00adrect. He mar\u00adshals the lin\u00adguis\u00adtic and archae\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evi\u00addence (to which much has been added in recent years) sys\u00adtem\u00adat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly and per\u00adsua\u00adsive\u00adly. I was inclined to lean towards Ren\u00adfrew\u2019s the\u00adsis, but now I\u2019m total\u00adly con\u00advert\u00aded. So I don\u2019t wish to belit\u00adtle David Antho\u00adny. My annoy\u00adance refers only to a small side-issue with\u00adin this mas\u00adter\u00adful work. It demon\u00adstrates how a bril\u00adliant mind and a care\u00adful schol\u00adar can still be mis\u00adled by the \u201cevo\u00adlu\u00adtion\u00adary\u201d cartoon.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ear\u00adly, pre\u00adsum\u00adably Pro\u00adto-IndoEu\u00adro\u00adpean speak\u00ading horse\u00admen of the Ukraine inter\u00adact\u00aded with an agri\u00adcul\u00adtur\u00adal soci\u00adety, the Cucuteni-Tripolye, which built numer\u00adous vil\u00adlages along the Bug and Dni\u00adester rivers. After 4000 BCE<\/span>, these vil\u00adlages began to expand dra\u00admat\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly in both size and num\u00adber. There was sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant tech\u00adni\u00adcal inno\u00adva\u00adtion and pro\u00adduc\u00adtion of flint tools and pot\u00adtery, includ\u00ading whole towns engaged in mass pro\u00adduc\u00adtion. Between 3700 and 3400 BCE<\/span>, set\u00adtle\u00adments that Antho\u00adny labels \u201csuper towns\u201d appeared. The three largest cov\u00adered 450, 250, and 250 hectares, respec\u00adtive\u00adly. Geo\u00admag\u00adnet\u00adic scans revealed more than 1,500 struc\u00adtures in the sec\u00adond largest site, alone. These seem to have been large, often two-sto\u00adried hous\u00ades, built close to one anoth\u00ader in con\u00adcen\u00adtric oval rings, around a cen\u00adtral plaza. It appears that these three \u201csuper towns\u201d each housed twice the pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion of the \u201cfirst cities\u201d of Mesopotamia, such as Uruk, with which they were contemporary.<\/span><\/p>\n

You would think that the dis\u00adcov\u00adery of com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties twice the size of Uruk in Europe at this peri\u00adod would have been trum\u00adpet\u00aded to every hori\u00adzon, and the accept\u00aded nar\u00adra\u00adtive of urban pre\u00adhis\u00adto\u00adry sub\u00adject\u00aded to a much-need\u00aded overhaul.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet few peo\u00adple, out\u00adside of the hand\u00adful of spe\u00adcial\u00adists in Antho\u00adny\u2019s field, have even heard of these aston\u00adish\u00ading dis\u00adcov\u00ader\u00adies. More impor\u00adtant, to my way of think\u00ading, is this ques\u00adtion: why does Antho\u00adny call them \u201csuper towns\u201d and not \u201ccities\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, because they have no palaces or tem\u00adples. In the car\u00adtoon of cul\u00adtur\u00adal evo\u00adlu\u00adtion, you are sup\u00adposed to have tem\u00adples and\/or palaces to be a city. Now this con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal view per\u00adsists because it per\u00adsists, jus\u00adti\u00adfy\u00ading itself by its self-jus\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adtion. Because it has been pound\u00aded into him in every text he has read in his life that cities emerge when \u201cegal\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan\u201d soci\u00adeties \u201cevolve\u201d into monar\u00adchies that build palaces, or priest-ruled tem\u00adple states, then some\u00adthing which com\u00admon sense tells you is a city has to be rede\u00adfined as some\u00adthing else. Hence, \u201cSuper Towns\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is Antho\u00adny deal\u00ading as best he can with the ten\u00adsion between ortho\u00addoxy and evidence:<\/span><\/p>\n

Videiko and Shmagli sug\u00adgest\u00aded a polit\u00adi\u00adcal orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion based on clan seg\u00adments. They doc\u00adu\u00adment\u00aded the pres\u00adence of one larg\u00ader house for each five to ten small\u00ader hous\u00ades. The larg\u00ader hous\u00ades usu\u00adal\u00adly con\u00adtained more female fig\u00adurines (rare in small hous\u00ades) , more fine paint\u00aded pots, and some\u00adtimes facil\u00adi\u00adties such as warp-weight\u00aded looms. Each large house could have been a com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty cen\u00adter for a seg\u00adment of five to ten hous\u00ades, per\u00adhaps an extend\u00aded fam\u00adi\u00adly (or \u201csuper-fam\u00adi\u00adly col\u00adlec\u00adtive,\u201d in Videiko\u2019s words). If the super-towns were orga\u00adnized in this way, a coun\u00adcil of 150\u2013300 seg\u00adment lead\u00aders would have made deci\u00adsions for the entire town. Such an unwield\u00adly sys\u00adtem of polit\u00adi\u00adcal man\u00adage\u00adment could have con\u00adtributed to its own collapse.
\n<\/em>
My instinct, con\u00adfront\u00aded with this archae\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal evi\u00addence, is not to con\u00adclude that some\u00adthing twice the size of Uruk, obvi\u00adous\u00adly engaged in large scale trade and man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adtur\u00ading, is not a city, but that the con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal def\u00adi\u00adn\u00adi\u00adtion of a city must be wrong. By this absurd con\u00adven\u00adtion, nei\u00adther Ams\u00adter\u00addam nor New York are cities (Nei\u00adther has ever been dom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded by a palace or a tem\u00adple). Instead, I would con\u00adclude that monar\u00adchy and tem\u00adple priest\u00adhoods are not essen\u00adtial to the appear\u00adance and flour\u00adish\u00ading of cities, at any \u201cstage\u201d or era. Such insti\u00adtu\u00adtions char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adized Mesopotami\u00adan cities. Fine. But city life clear\u00adly emerged else\u00adwhere with\u00adout them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Notice the assump\u00adtions built into Antho\u00adny\u2019s last sen\u00adtence. Else\u00adwhere in the book, he con\u00adveys the impres\u00adsion that the Tripolye \u201csuper towns\u201d were ephemer\u00adal. They only last\u00aded sev\u00ader\u00adal cen\u00adturies (i.e., longer than the Unit\u00aded States has). But Uruk and the oth\u00ader Mesopotami\u00adan \u201cfirst cities\u201d only last\u00aded a few cen\u00adturies before being reduced to dust. They were not replaced, at least not in the same loca\u00adtion. Sub\u00adse\u00adquent Near East\u00adern urban cen\u00adters appeared else\u00adwhere, fur\u00adther up the Tigris and Euphrates. The acknowl\u00adedged \u201cfirst cities\u201d were no more durable than these unac\u00adknowl\u00adedged ones. The idea that a con\u00adsular sys\u00adtem, if that was indeed how they were gov\u00aderned, was dis\u00adas\u00adtrous\u00adly \u201cunwield\u00adly\u201d is mere car\u00adtoon imagery, based on the assump\u00adtion that monar\u00adchy or dic\u00adta\u00adtor\u00adship are inher\u00adent\u00adly more effi\u00adcient than democ\u00adra\u00adcy. This is a belief that should be very doubt\u00adful to any\u00adone who has payed atten\u00adtion to the events of the last century.<\/span><\/p>\n

These urban com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties, in what is now Mol\u00addavia and West\u00adern Ukraine, have every bit as good a claim to being the \u201cfirst cities\u201d as Uruk and Eridu have. True, they do not ful\u00adfill the unex\u00adam\u00adined con\u00adven\u00adtion\u00adal image of cities as the pas\u00adsive side-effect of aris\u00adtoc\u00adra\u00adcy. Boo hoo. They do ful\u00adfill a ratio\u00adnal def\u00adi\u00adn\u00adi\u00adtion of a city, as a set\u00adtle\u00adment in which large num\u00adbers of peo\u00adple, far more than char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adize a farm\u00ading vil\u00adlage, engage in tech\u00adni\u00adcal inno\u00adva\u00adtion, inter\u00adnal as well as exter\u00adnal trade, and the process of replac\u00ading imports with domes\u00adtic pro\u00adduc\u00adtion. As for their even\u00adtu\u00adal demise and dis\u00adap\u00adpear\u00adance, a far more plau\u00adsi\u00adble expla\u00adna\u00adtion than the sup\u00adposed short\u00adcom\u00adings of con\u00adsular gov\u00adern\u00adment presents itself. Set\u00adtle\u00adments of such size would inevitably have exposed them\u00adselves to those infec\u00adtious dis\u00adeases which thrive in high pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion den\u00adsi\u00adty, and for which this pio\u00adneer\u00ading pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion would have had no pre\u00advi\u00adous expe\u00adri\u00adence or immu\u00adni\u00adty. It is espe\u00adcial\u00adly sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant that it took place in a region that was com\u00ading into close inter\u00adac\u00adtion with a new domes\u00adtic ani\u00admal, the horse. Domes\u00adtic ani\u00admals are the usu\u00adal vec\u00adtors of new plagues. The horse-herd\u00ading and rid\u00ading cul\u00adtures of the adja\u00adcent steppes would have long acquired resis\u00adtance to these dis\u00adeases, giv\u00ading them a strate\u00adgic advan\u00adtage over lit\u00adtle cities pre\u00adcar\u00adi\u00adous\u00adly exposed in this loca\u00adtion. This, and the cli\u00admate change which sub\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly parched the region, can eas\u00adi\u00adly account for the fact that these ear\u00adly cities declined and were not sub\u00adse\u00adquent\u00adly replaced. Blam\u00ading pro\u00adto-demo\u00adc\u00adra\u00adt\u00adic orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion for it is lazy thinking.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whether one is mere\u00adly intrigued by a sig\u00adna\u00adture in an old book, or inves\u00adti\u00adgat\u00ading the remotest antiq\u00adui\u00adty, the exer\u00adcise of the his\u00adtor\u00adi\u00adcal imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion is the most fun when it is freed from unques\u00adtioned ortho\u00addoxy, and has an open\u00adness to being surprised.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014
[1] My thanks to Skye Sepp, for bring\u00ading it to me quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] There\u2019s a reluc\u00adtance to impute polis insti\u00adtu\u00adtions even for cities with\u00adin walk\u00ading dis\u00adtance of Greek ones, such as the cities of Lycia, even though the sur\u00adviv\u00ading epi\u00adgraph\u00adic evi\u00addence strong\u00adly sug\u00adgests it. The trump card of \u201cprob\u00ada\u00adble\u201d lat\u00ader Hel\u00adlenis\u00adtic influ\u00adence is invari\u00adably played. See Bryce, Tevor R. \u2014 The Lycians in Lit\u00ader\u00adary and Epi\u00adgraph\u00adic Sources [vol.1 of The Lycians: A Study of Lycian His\u00adto\u00adry and Civil\u00adi\u00adsa\u00adtion to the Con\u00adquest of Alexan\u00adder the Great]<\/em> \u2014 Muse\u00adum Tus\u00adcu\u00adlanum Press, Copen\u00adhagen \u2014 1986.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3] Bril\u00adliant\u00adly pre\u00adsent\u00aded in Flem\u00ading, Daniel E. \u2014 Democ\u00adra\u00adcy\u2019s Ancient Ances\u00adtors: Mari and Ear\u00adly Col\u00adlec\u00adtive Gov\u00ader\u00adnance<\/em> \u2014 Cam\u00adbridge U P \u2014 2004
[4] Dejevsky, Niko\u00adlai J. \u2014 Nov\u00adgorod in the Ear\u00adly Mid\u00addle Ages: The Rise and Growth of an Urban Com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty<\/em> \u2014 British Archae\u00ado\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal Reports; Inter\u00adna\u00adtion\u00adal Series 1642 \u2014 2007<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] Petro, Nico\u00adlai N. \u2014 Craft\u00ading Democ\u00adra\u00adcy: How Nov\u00adgorod has Coped with Rapid social Change<\/em> \u2014 Cor\u00adnell Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty Press \u2014 2004, describes these devel\u00adop\u00adments in detail. Petro makes the point that how inter\u00adpre\u00adta\u00adtions of the past are used sym\u00adbol\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly is rel\u00ade\u00advant to a place\u2019s future.<\/span><\/p>\n

[6] Antho\u00adny, David W. \u2014 The Horse, the Wheel, and Lan\u00adguage \u2015 How Bronze-Age Rid\u00aders from the Steppes shaped the Mod\u00adern World<\/em> \u2014 Prince\u00adton U P \u2014 2007.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I received Dorothea\u2019s book [see pre\u00advi\u00adous blog entry] from the Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty of Toron\u00adto\u2019s com\u00adpact stor\u00adage facility.[1] I was reward\u00aded in a way that I could not have guessed. In fact, the coin\u00adci\u00addence involved is so extreme that I hesitate \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,8,946,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-aq-blog-2010","category-b-reading","category-bq-reading-2010"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1530"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3341,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1530\/revisions\/3341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}