BOSTON UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL of ARTS and SCIENCES Dissertation BEYOND the MOUND: LOCATING COMPLEXITY in NORTHERN MESOPOTAMI
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BOSTON UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES Dissertation BEYOND THE MOUND: LOCATING COMPLEXITY IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA DURING THE ‘SECOND URBAN REVOLUTION’ by CAITLIN J. CHAVES YATES B.A., Cornell University, 2006 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2014 Approved by First Reader _______________________________________________ Christopher Roosevelt, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Archaeology Second Reader _______________________________________________ Michael D. Danti, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Archaeology Third Reader ________________________________________________ Marilyn Kelly-Buccellati, Ph.D. Professor Emerita of the Department of Art California State University, Los Angeles Acknowledgements No dissertation is written without a number of supporters – academic, financial and personal – helping to turn an idea into a finished work. I have been extremely lucky to have been part of several communities that have encouraged and supported my work. At Boston University, I have greatly benefited from the collegial atmosphere and the friendships I formed. Chris Roosevelt has served as more than a reader, as a mentor and as a compassionate guide through what is always a difficult journey. He has been an invaluable resource as I tackled survey data and GIS systems and without his help, and valuable editing skills, this dissertation would never have been completed. Michael Danti supervised me through the numerous steps of the Ph.D. including coursework, exams and the proposal for which I am grateful. Andrea Berlin’s sharp insights made this dissertation much stronger than it would have been otherwise. I benefitted greatly from my coursework with Mary Beaudry, M. Rafique Mughal, and Kathryn Bard, all of whom shaped my early graduate school experience. I am thankful for the valuable class discussions and guidance they provided. Working at Tell Mozan has been one of the great privileges of this dissertation process, and I hope to be able return to Mozan, and Syria, in a more peaceful future. As directors at Mozan and supervisors for my work, Giorgio Buccellati and Marilyn Kelly- Buccellati have taught me so much about archaeology, Syria, and the value of teamwork. Their insights and guidance have been hugely influential in shaping me as a scholar. I wish to thank them for allowing me to work at Mozan and for permission to use their data iii in this dissertation. I would also like to thank them for all the personal support they have provided, particularly in some difficult times. They have assembled a wonderful group of people on the Mozan team and the friendship and academic collegiality of the team has served me well. I would like to thank Jim Walker for many cups of tea and thoughtful comments on my work and career. Lorenzo Crescioli, Hiba Qassar, Yasmine Mahmoud, and Patrizia Camatta provided friendship and hospitality across continents and made my field experience that much better. I cannot forget Federico Buccellati who has served as supervisor and friend, and taught me valuable field skills. Many thanks for the shared pints of beer – both Syrian and German. He also introduced me to the next group of people who have also been influential in the development of my dissertation. In addition to the Mozan team, I have also had the privilege to work with the Tell Chuera team at Goethe-Universität Frankfurt. I am grateful to Prof. Jan Meyer for granting me permission to use unpublished data from Chuera for my dissertation. His team, in particular, Tobias Helms and Alex Tamm, have provided valuable information on the archaeology at Chuera. I am grateful to their whole team for welcoming an outsider and treating me as one of their own, welcoming me into their homes and offices. I am happy to count them friends and look forward to the day when we can collaborate in the field. I would also like to acknowledge Katja Burger who served as the field supervisor for the field data I used for this dissertation. Financial support has come from a variety of places. The Tell Mozan project has supported my project with logistical support and facilities since 2007. The Alan Flaherty and Patti Myers Scholarship supported my travel to Mozan for two years. The Graduate iv Research Abroad Fellowship (GRAF) at Boston University supported my time in Germany working on the Tell Chuera project materials. Both the Graduate Student Association (GSO) and American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR) have provided financial assistance for conference travel. It takes more than an academic community to sustain a graduate student and I have been very fortunate in the support of my friends and family. The group of women who formed my graduate class is a supportive and friendly community and I hope we will continue to be good friends. Special thanks to Karen Hutchins and Eliza Wallace who listened to various complaints as we all worked to complete our projects. Many friends and family have encouraged me, especially Amanda Newhouse and Kristin Kuntz, to whom I am grateful for all the non-academic chats and support. My husband, Anthony, has been my greatest support throughout this journey, although when I began graduate school he probably had no idea what he was in for. I am extraordinarily grateful for his patience, his unconditional belief in me and his ability to crack a joke in the tensest moments. However, before any of these people came into my life, it was my parents, Marc and Heidi Chaves, who put me on the path of lifetime learning and have supported me along every step down that path. This dissertation is dedicated to them with love and admiration. v BEYOND THE MOUND: LOCATING COMPLEXITY IN NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA DURING THE ‘SECOND URBAN REVOLUTION’ (Order No. ) CAITLIN J. CHAVES YATES Boston University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 2014 Major Professor: Christopher Roosevelt, Associate Professor of Archaeology ABSTRACT In this dissertation, I investigate the organization of urban activities in Early Bronze Age cities of Northern Mesopotamia. I combine evidence from archaeological survey, magnetometric studies, and excavations to demonstrate that cities were broadly integrated in terms of function and use of space: inhabitants in outer cities, lower towns, and extramural areas all pursued a range of diverse activities. The organization of urban life in Northern Mesopotamia is best described as “distributed,” a conclusion at odds with the prevailing belief that public institutions were concentrated in city centers and outer city areas were solely residential. I analyze new excavations and surveys from two major cities—Tell Mozan and Tell Chuera—and compare those remains with information from other excavated cities across third-millennium BCE Northern Mesopotamia. I identify nine individual components of urbanism within third-millennium cities: city walls, water resources, roads and streets, agricultural and pastoral land, houses, workshops, temples and shrines, vi burials, and administrative buildings. The spatial distribution suggests regular correlations between certain components, particularly houses/workshops, houses/burials, city walls/administrative buildings, and extramural workshops/roads. This overall pattern reveals multifunctional neighborhoods with a range of ceremonial, domestic, and production-related activities situated within the stable boundaries of city walls, water courses, and major roads. Single-function areas often occur alongside other activity or mixed-use areas. I found the distribution of activities to be similar across cities, despite variations in overall layout and size. Widespread co-occurrence, especially of houses and workshops, indicates a kind of "dual economy" of elite and non-elite production, with lower-class inhabitants producing their own lithics, ceramics, and agricultural/pastoral products. Furthermore, although large temples and palaces are located in city centers, the existence of smaller shrines and non-domestic buildings in lower towns indicates that religious and administrative functions also occurred beyond the city center. The surveys and excavations illuminate two important patterns: first, that administrative, productive, and religious activities took place throughout the city; and second, that social rank did not preclude the pursuit of a range of activities. The stability afforded by this broadly integrated organization and heterarchical social organization may have been instrumental in a city’s longevity. vii Table of Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................................................iii Abstract.............................................................................................................................. vi Table of Contents.............................................................................................................viii List of Tables ...................................................................................................................xiii List of Figures.................................................................................................................. xiv List of Abbreviations .....................................................................................................xviii Chapter 1. Introduction...................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Introduction.............................................................................................................