Uruk Period Kings

The Uruk Period lasted from 4100-3000 B.C. (time frame not set in stone) and exemplified the dawn of civilization and city-state growth. New cities emerged; arts and crafts became more advanced; social hierarchies were created and molded by system administrators; writing and documenting trade transactions took place on cuneiform; and warfare stretched the Mesopotamian landscapes as city states popped up around the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

The landscape during the Uruk Period was dominated by agricultural growth, as cities competed for resources and warfare and hostilities sparked from disputes over water rights and property. Mudbrick walls were constructed around the developing and urbanizing cities in order to cut tensions. Ziggurats were created by the Uruk kings to protect the people and house the gods. The question remains, however, were there actual kings during the Uruk Period?

The answer is yes, albeit the evidence suggests that kings were more mythological in nature. After priests, who held economic and political powers, still retaining their religious mystique of course, Uruk period kings emerged as dual rulers in an effort to combat warfare and forge sociocultural bonds with their people.

Historians believe priests and priestesses of several early city-states played an essential role in ruling (Spielvogel 2009). Sumerians, however, believed kings derived their power from the gods, and in so doing, were agents of the gods. Therefore, ruling power was primarily in the hands of kings.

“You in your judgment, you are the son of Anu [god of the sky]; your commands, like the word of a god, cannot be reversed; your words, like rain pouring down from heaven, are without number” (Spielvogel 2009). This quote was recited by one being as a petition to his king. Is there evidence for this event? There’s only one documented source available for this meeting, however there’s also no archaeological records to dispute this actually occurred.

Looking at the archaeological record of Mesopotamia, there is at least one centrally located temple that housed the deities or deity who watched over the community. Each centrally located temple is controlled by a priest who manages the deity’s wealth. These priests appear to have been the most prominent political and economic forces in early Mesopotamian communities (Bulliet et al. 2008:36-37). Were they the Uruk kings?

The kings most often mentioned during the Uruk period are regarded as antediluvian; relating to the period before the flood described in the Bible. A problem arises, however. These mythological kings, some of which ruled for over 60,000 years, have very little support for their actual existence, with the exception of faith. Furthermore, it’s quite difficult to place certain kings with the time frame of the Uruk period since all were regarded as existing prior to 2900 B.C. and many were mythological and undocumented.

Sumerian King List

The only documented antediluvian kings mentioned in text, possibly reigning during the Uruk period or shortly thereafter, are mentioned in an ancient Sumerian King list. The list, mentioned in I Studied Inscriptions from Before the Flood": Ancient Near Eastern Literary, and Linguistic Approaches to Genesis 1-11, includes Alulim of Eridu, Alalgar of Eridu, Enmenluanna of Badtibiria, Enmengalanna of Badtibira, Dumanzi of Badtibira, Ensipazianna of Larak, Enmeduranki of Sippar, Ubar-Tutu of Shuruppak, and the Sumerian flood-hero Ziusudra (Xisuthros) of Shurappak (1994). There’s another list, however, pertaining to Uruk, published by J.J.A. van Dijk. Hess and Tsumura (1994) noted Dijk’s list includes seven antediluvian kings including (Ajalu= Alulim of Enmeduranki) and seven antediluvian sages, presumed to have lived under these kings: U-An, U-An dugga, Enmedugga, Enmegalamma, Enmebulugga, An-Enlilda, and Utuabzu (p. 225).

The “Lugar” or “Big Man”, mentioned by Kramer (1963), emerged in Sumerian cities during the third millennium B.C.E. (p.74). It’s not clear as to why these regent rulers appeared, however with the ongoing conflict occurring between city-states for water, food, and other resources, there’s seems to have been a need for control, and indeed there was. Pressures from (Kramer [1963] barbaric peoples from the east and west of Sumer increased), therefore military leadership became a pressing need. The “Big Man” took his rightful superior place.

The kings led armies, built city walls and defenses, protected people against crime, supervised public works projects, initiated legislation, provided courts, and organized workers for irrigation projects, on which Mesopotamia agriculture depended (Spielvogel 2009 ). The Sumerian priest-kings received advice from a general assembly made up of free men. The army, government bureaucracy, and the priests and priestesses all aided the  Uruk kings in their rule. By about 3000 B. C., they took their place as permanent kings (Kramer 1963). As time went by, the king’s power rivaled that of the priesthood. Why? The temples started to grow weaker in a sense as palaces were the center for political and economic assemblies. Furthermore, the army now followed the rule of the king.

So are we to assume that priests just evolved into kings? Text based evidence seems to support this notion. However, if we assume, or rather deny the flood or mythological kings prior to the flood, how does this explain the archaeological evidence at Uruk discovered in the 1920s?



In 1929, Leonard Woolley discovered a clay deposit laid down by the legendary Great Flood. “On top of this deposit was the stratum that contained the famous Royal Tombs of Ur, which belong to the period called Early Dynastic III (c.2600-2400 BCE); underneath it was a settlement from what is called the Late Ubaid period, which ended in c.3100” (Woolley 1934). What exactly does this have to do with the Uruk Period? The following evidence may substantiate the existence of a king who founded the First Dynasty.

In Ur: Royal Inscr. 268 was published the inscription which I should now transcribe nin-TUR nin; dam mes-an-ni-pdd-da; i.e. 'the lady NIN-TUR^, wife of Mesannipadda' ; from a seal (U. 8981) found loose in the stratum between the Sargonid and the older part of the cemetery. Mesannipadda is naturally assumed to be the king of that name who founded the First Dynasty. In 1928/9 it appeared that a stratum of rubbish was laid down above the older cemetery during (probably) the First Dynasty. In 1929/30 the stratum SIS I was discovered and named, and determined by the excavator to be, together with SIS II, continuous with the dividing stratum that elsewhere divides the lower cemetery from the upper. In SIS I was a seal-impression containing the inscription \ine\s-an-ni-pdd-da; lugal kis^'; dam-nu-gig'^ [Woolley 1994:312].

Stele of Vultures

One of the earliest archaeological depictions of warfare in Mesopotamia was on the Stele of Vultures, kept in the Louvre, dating to the Early Dynastic III (2600-2330 BC) during the reign of Eannatum, King of Lagash (Pollock 1999). Indeed, the stele date doesn’t fall in the time frame of the Uruk Period, however it does allude to patron deities who were heavily involved in battle when his city was threatened. Pollock (1999) noted King Eannatum’s reign falls in the 1^st Dynasty of Lagash, following the 2^nd Dynasty of Uruk, one ponders if there was such a parallel to warfare led by divine kings and nature of deities during the Uruk Period (p. 184). Indeed there is.


The Mask of Warka may be one of the most fascinating archaeological finds of the Uruk period, dating to 3100 B.C. Jan Russell (2008) that the Mask of Warka is believed to be the world's oldest known naturalistic sculpture of a human face (p.86). Even more fascinating is the fact the face is off a women, and not just any women, Inanna.

The kingship of Sumer is given to Ninisinna, otherwise known as Inanna, the daughter of An, documented in the Lipit Ishtar Code. Inanna is often depicted as a fickle person who first attracts men and then rejects them, a richly dressed goddess, or as a naked woman (Collins 1994). Did Uruk period kings exist? Let’s look at some archaeological evidence.

Ward (1910) noted a cylindrical seal kept at the British Museum, dating about 3000 B.C Uruk Period, clearly depicts a 'priest-king', Bin-Gur-Akhi, King of Erech. The seal reads “To Bin-Gur-Akhi, King of Uruk; the scribe; thy servant”. This is indeed one of the most valuable seals The British Museum has ever procured (p. 21).

The Royal Tombs of Ur discovered by Leonard Woolley have yielded evidence of kings dated to 2600 B.C. The most complete of the burials was that of Pu-abi, a high ranking woman. Her name is known because a cylinder seal was found in the tomb and is engraved with a banquet scene. It has been suggested that this indicates that the owner was female and a queen. The cuneiform inscription on this seal reads 'Pu-abi nin’, with ‘nin’ formally read as Shubad. This would be the feminine equivalent of “lugal”.

When lugal is applied to a mortal it means “queen”. A seal discovered next to Pu-abi had been an unknown person; however Woolley seems to have believed the cylinder read “A-bra-ge”, the king and husband of Pu-abi (Moorey 1977).

How does this pertain to Uruk kings? Let’s take a step back to the cylindrical seal kept at the British Museum, dating about 3000 B.C Uruk Period. The seal of the priest-king represents a new social organization in the city-states, and although warfare is missing from the seal, it doesn’t rule out the existence of kings during that time. Is this evidence that kings existed during that time? Possibly so.

Conclusion

Indeed, the existence of archaeological texts and written records are lacking for the Uruk period. However, based on the Stele of Vultures, the cylindrical piece at the British Museum, and the Mask of Warka, it is possible there could be more. Further excavation and investigation needs to take place, especially in light of the evidence found during the 1920s. If cylindrical and seal devices can be found depicting kings in warfare during the Uruk period, arguments for the existence of actual kings could be heavily changed. The seal discovered by Woolley depicting A-bra-ge dates to 3200 B.C. and clearly shows a priest-king making an offering. The Uruk period ended in 3000 B.C., so it seems anomalous, and hardly feasible, that kings should only exist 200 years after this time.

REFERENCES CITED

• Bulliet, Richard W., Pamela Kyle Crossley, Daniel R. Headrick, Lyman L. Johnson, and Steven W. Hirsch. 2008 The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History, Volume I. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston.
• Collins, Paul. 1994 The Sumerian goddess Inanna (3400.2200 BC). Institute of Archaeology, UCL, Los Angeles.
• Hess, Richard S. (editor) and David Toshio Tsumura (editor).1994 I Studied Inscriptions From Before The Flood: Ancient Near Eastern, Literary, and Linguistic approaches to Genesis 1-11, Volume 4. Einsenbrauns, Inc. Winona Lake.
• Kramer, Samuel N. 1963 The Sumerians: their history, culture, and character. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
• Moorey, P.R.S 1977 What do we know about the people buried in the Royal Cemetery? Penn Museum Documents and Publication. Accessed February 18, 2011.
• Pollock, Susan. 1999 Ancient Mesopotamia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
• Russell, Jan, J. (editor). 2008 They Lived to Tell the Tale: True Stories of Modern Adventure from the Adventurers Club. The Explorers Club. Lyon’s Press, Guilford.
• Spielvogel, Jackson J. 2009 Western Civilization, Volume 1: To 1715, Seventh Edition. Thomson Higher Education. Belmont.
• Ward, William, H. 1910 The Seal Cylinders of Western Asia. Carnegie Institute of Washington, Washington D.C.
• Woolley, C.L. 1934 Ur Excavations: The Royal Cemetery. A Report on the Predynastic and Sargonid Graves Excavated Between 1926 and 1931, Volume II. British Museum and The University of Pennyslyvania. Oxford University Press, London.
• Stele of Vultures picture.
• Mask of Warka picture. BBC
• Leonard Woolley
• Royal Tomb photo © Answers in Genesis
• Sumerian King List photo © Christina Mina

In the Days of Pharaohs and Deities

If you loved "The Mummy", you're going to love this ancient Egyptian music, composed by my friend Mary Gunderson. As many of you already know, Mary composed the Ancient Digger theme song, but she also composes my music for slideshows and projects.

This piece entitled  In the Days of Pharaohs and Deities is an epic tale of ancient peoples traveling through the desert. Pharaohs fighting on chariots. The gods overlooking the construction of the pyramids.


In the Days of Pharaohs and Deities by maryslyrics

If you loved this piece, make sure to check out Mary's information at the bottom of the page, as well as 1149Productions.

Evidence for Pharaonic Seagoing Ships in Egypt

I recently stumbled upon an article by The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology entitled Evidence for Pharaonic Seagoing Ships at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis, Egypt, written by Sheryl Ward and Chiara Zazzaro.

Sheryl Ward is from the Department of Anthropology at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida and Chiara Zazzaro is from the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, UK.

If you weren't aware of the archaeological data collected at the site, this article is a great resource.

Did Modern Humans Have An Evolutionary Edge Over Other Species?

Did modern humans really have an evolutionary edge over other species? Well, we have to consider what particular species we’re referring to which humans had the evolutionary edge over, or the possibility there of.

Since behavior of pre-human hominins is largely determined by their artifacts, and in this case, the tools or technology that were used, we have to compare the archaeological data on record to even venture a guess about fitness of modern humans.

Read More: Was Behavior Enough to Give Modern Humans an Evolutionary Edge?

Edited From Factoidz By Lauren Axelrod

Picture © source

Egyptian Museums Reopen after Limited Theft and Damage

After the uprising in Egypt that precipitated the unexpected downfall of the Hosni Mubarak regime, much of the country was left in chaos. Though the protests were generally peaceful, and the world over is celebrating the victory of the Egyptian people's mass protests, many archeologists, anthropologists, and cultural and art enthusiasts feared the worst for what is one of the most established museum sites of ancient history in the world.

After conflict in Iraq in 2003, looters devastated the country's museums and artifact collections, and it would not have been surprising if the same had happened in Egypt. Astonishingly, however, museums suffered little damage, and while some artifacts were stolen, Egyptian Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass said in an interview with the German newspaper Spiegel International that many items were returned.

Hawass noted:

(Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass during the Feb. 16 press conference. He says that many of the items that were stolen on the night of Jan. 29 have now been recovered.) AFP


"Imagine a city with millions of residents where complete lawlessness reigned for several hours. Where the prisons were opened and there were actually no more police. That is what happened in Cairo on the evening of Jan. 29. A lot more could have been robbed and destroyed in this horror scenario What happened in Cairo could also have happened in New York, in London, in any museum in the world. As I said, considering the circumstances it is a miracle that more was not stolen."

According to an AOL news article, much damage and looting was mitigated because protesters and military both conscientiously joined together to protect Egypt's many museums and historical sites, in one instance forming a human shield around the Egypt Museum. The director of another historical hotspot, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, sent a special thanks to the country's demonstrating youth, who played a big role in the protection of the library's historical collection.

Hawass reports that only about 18 items were missing from the Egypt Museum, and some objects were found scattered in different places in the city. Tombs at Saqqara and Abusir, as well as storage areas at Cairo University, had also been broken into, although the total accounting of lost or damaged items has not yet been reported. An earlier Washington Post article noted that antiquities experts were working hard to restore the damage done to some 70 items in the Victorian-era Egypt Museum.

According to Hawass, the most important item damaged was a statue of King Tutankhamen standing on a panther. Removed from the panther, the figure of the boy king was also missing its arm.

It will certainly take some time for tourism, among Egypt's most lucrative industries, to pick up to the levels it had experienced before the uprising. However, as of Sunday, February 19th, the Egypt Museum along with many others throughout the country, have officially reopened, with understandably poor attendance.

Sorry this post has been removed March 14, 2013

Sorry this post has been removed March 14, 2013

Fort Hoskins Reconstruction By Archaeologist David Brauner

Ancient Digger loves a great fort discovery, but how about a fort reconstruction?

For 35 years, archaeologist David Brauner has studied and reconstructed the history of Fort Hoskins, a Civil War-era Army outpost in the Oregon Coast Range that existed for less than a decade before it was decommissioned, dismantled and consigned to the past.

Since 1976, the Oregon State University professor has led five digs at the site 20 miles northwest of Corvallis, unearthing thousands of artifacts from buttons and belt buckles to brandy bottles and chamber pots.

He has mined nuggets of information from official correspondence, military maps, inspectors' reports and soldiers' diaries, patiently piling detail on detail to assemble an ever-clearer picture of the fort in his mind's eye.

With no surviving photographs to compare it to, he thought that mental image was as close as he would ever come to seeing what Fort Hoskins actually looked like - until he saw the painting.

Read the entire story at Gazette Times:  Portrait of the past

Picture © Oregon State

Doc Holliday: Dentist to Gambler

A gentleman asked me several days ago whether I was aware of Doc Holliday’s transition from a dentist to a professional poker player. Odd subject to bring up at  wedding, however the day before the wedding, the ladies and gents played a few games of online poker and table games at the casino 30 minutes from the hotel. I had struck up a conversation with a history professor, what a small world, and we were talking about the origins of poker and best players out west.

I informed him my father and I used to watch Old West movies years ago when I was younger, one of my favorite movies being Tombstone with Val Kilmer as Doc. Silly, I never realized or even questioned the nature of Holliday’s name, however I was young and didn’t appreciate the history as much I do now. Furthermore, I never understood why he transitioned from dentistry to gambling and gun slinging. My new friend told me a short story.

From Dentist to Gambler: The Transition

Doc Holliday was a Doctor of Dental Surgery, gaining his degree from the Pennsylvania College of Dental Surgery in 1872. He worked with Dr. Arthur C. Ford in Atlanta shortly after he graduated. Ford was a hot head, and one occasion, was rumored to shoot at some negro boys using his swimming hole. Doc, eager and excited at the site of the six-shooter, shot over the boys’ head. A preview of Doc’s gun fighting days perhaps?

Shortly thereafter, Doc Holliday started his own dental practice, yet his health start to deteriorate after he  was diagnosed with tuberculosis, making it increasingly difficult to work during dental procedures with his coughing spells. Holliday was forced to figure a way to make a living.

Doc was incredibly educated and refined. He was fluent in Latin, played the piano, was a stylish dressed figure, and was a Southern gentlemen, unless involved in a bar fight and he had the chance to use his six shooter.

He was natural gambler as his intelligence gained him the knowledge to read his opponents. He actively participated in games and watched as a spectator. He eventually became a skilled poker player and Faro dealer.

Holliday’s health was always at the back of his mind, however. His mood often created a volatile atmosphere after heavily drinking. He had no fear of death as he had accepted that it was inevitable. Gambling was dangerous during the Old West so he always had a six shooter and a long jagged knife fashioned at his side. Doc’s failing health and inept attitude and intelligence explained the life he ended up living.

---

Check out Legends of America for a full history of Doc Holiday’s life.

The Kallawaya Language of Bolivia

The latest of my anthropological endeavors includes a documentary entitled The Linguists.

Directed by Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller and Jeremy Newberger, The Linguists chronicles the global adventures of Harrison and Greg Anderson, the Harvard and University of Chicago-educated co-founder (with Harrison) of the nonprofit Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, as they race to document vanishing languages from the Andes and Siberia to India and Arizona (Thill 2009).

I almost couldn't get past the fact that David Harrison spoke over 25 languages and was able to assume a more culturally and uncluttered view of individuals questioned.

There were dozens of languages mentioned, however there was one on Bolivia that fascinated me.

Anthropology:  Kallawaya Language

The main language focus in Bolivia was Kallawaya. Kallawaya people are known for their medicinal practices, using their extensive knowledge of the more than 10,000 plants in Bolivia to create remedies. The filmmakers learned there were less than 100 native Kallawaya speakers left in Bolivia. In a country where the Spanish language was gaining ground, the Kallawaya language was still around, and the filmmakers investigated the internal factors allowing this to happen.

The Kallawaya were extremely segregated as the filmmakers quickly learned on their ride though the mountain pass, over the rocky terrain filled with lamas, looking down a steep ravine. Interestingly enough, their first encounter with a Kallawaya speaker, a healer, occurred when their tire went flat.

Kallawaya healers were difficult to track down. However, the healer that was found did not actually understand the form of structure of language they believed he could speak.

Consequently, the team moved forward and was able to meet with a Kallawaya healer, after waiting three hours, to speak about the language. The healer, Max, performed a ritual for the filmmakers prior to engaging in conversation, with coca leaves. Coca leaves are cast and used to read the patterns. Max Churra was able to simply pinpoint exactly what the filmmakers were feeling and he was quite accurate.

When sharing their findings with the Bolivian Cultural Board, they were able to convince those present that Kallawaya is still alive, yet under threat.

Kallawaya language is impossible to transmit by memorization as it’s audibly incomprehensible. Kallawaya is not learned at birth, but rather transmitted from adult males to teenage males, in order to avail themselves of the medicinal knowledge. Language is the Kallawaya’s livelihood.

Unfortunately, small languages are being abandoned in the effort to procure better economical standards. Consequently, globalization and colonialism has left, and is presently still making, a deep incision on the cultural languages.

The filmmakers explained that children didn’t have to give up a language to speak another, as children were really the ones that could preserve their native speak.

Message From the Ancient Digger

Just a quick hello and update from the digger herself.

Greetings everyone,

I wanted to keep all of you in the mix with my schedule as I'm sure you noticed the Sunday and Monday editions were not posted. This past week was my best friend's wedding and this week is midterms. Forgive me for the lack of posts and news as I enjoy keeping all of you up to date on the latest archaeological finds and discoveries.

Just a reminder that we do accept guest posts (send to ancientdigger@gmail.com) and they certainly seem to receive a substantial amount of attention on the Ancient Digger, as they've been picked up by Treehugger, USAToday, India Times, Times, to name a few.

Posting should resume this weekend starting Sunday, possibly earlier if my schedule permits.

Thanks again for your readership.
Lauren

"The President's Speech": An odd reaction to the President's Speech

You gotta love how language and culture collide especially when reading Oliver Sack's article, The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat (And Other Clinical Tales). Yes, the title had be rolling for a bit since I'd never really read the story per se. I had certainly never heard about aphasia before this witty piece.

The basis of this amusing yet educational article was how and why aphasia patients started to laugh as one of the most prolific speakers in presidential history, Ronald Reagan, spoke to the American public on television.

Aphasia.org defines aphasia as an acquired communication disorder that impairs a person's ability to process language, but does not affect intelligence. Aphasia impairs the ability to speak and understand others, and most people with aphasia experience difficulty reading and writing.

The President's Speech: the reaction

There he was, The Old Charmer, the Actor, with his practiced rhetoric, his histrionisms, his emotional appeal . A typical American would have reveled in the president’s keen words and delighted in the fact this president was able to inspire a nation.

On the other hand and in another realm, so to speak, the aphasia ward, filled with “crazies”, exploded with laughter. Why he or she may ask?

Albeit these eccentric individuals couldn’t see the meaning of words, they could understand prose and body language and they couldn't believe the fantastic lies they were being told live on by the President.

Aphasia patients can understand natural speech, as most men and women speak this way every day. Natural speech, the meaning, is somewhat detectable and understandable to patients. Mannerisms and simple utterances flow naturally, and to an aphasia patient, they are more normal. Contrived hand gestures and body movements seem robotic, as seen in the president’s speech.

Furthermore, the tone of the speech most definitely set the patients off, so much so, their laughter flooded the room. Henry Head mentions “he speaks of “feeling tones” in his treatise aphasia, and stresses how it is preserved, and often enhanced, in aphasiacs.”

What does this mean?
 
You cannot lie to aphasiacs. Body language and expression are much more powerful because words have no meaning. Therefore a slight smirk or wink will immediately set aphasiacs off, as a light bulb in your head goes off when you have an idea. It’s immediate sometimes and it acts on reactions, which are normally the right ones the first time you have them.

Therefore the aphasiacs are laughing at the falsified gestures and cadences and the abnormal tone of the speech.


Have you read The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat by Oliver Sacks? Look at page 80 (Chapter 9). Once you have, tell me what you're interpretation was?

Leave comments below. 

Monday Ground Up: Hunter-Gatherers, Agriculture, and Global Warming

Hunter Gatherers: Brief Beginning

Hunter Gatherers are traditionally described as being highly nomadic individuals that traveled with very  few possessions in a marginal environment. Of course, the factors of the environment directly influenced the ability to be mobile. However, up until the Last Age, we can agree hunter gatherers were highly mobile.

Subsistence

Hunter gatherers were either practicing a specialized or generalized subsistence system. In case you don’t know the difference, specialized diets depended on one or a small number of resources, an example being corn or acorns. Generalized diets consisted of any resources available. Both approaches were efficient depending on resources readily available.

Formation of Complex Society

Hunter gather societies were egalitarian, with very limited authority or inequality, others were highly unequal. For instance, slavery was a historically-documented practice of some Northwest Coast and Alaskan hunter-gatherers.

Technologies of Hunter Gatherers

Hunter gatherers are responsible for some of the most widely known technologies, those being ceramics, fired pottery, and domesticated dogs and plants.

Domestication

Complex societies are directly affected by their agricultural subsistence systems, and highly complex societies always rely on domesticated plants and animals.

New World chronologies of domesticated species are poorly understood. The dating problems are due in part to the humid environments of Mesoamerica, where preservation is generally poor compared to the arid Levant. In addition, New World research is at least a generation “younger” than Old World research on domestication. Scholarly attention on plant domestication in the New World did not begin until the 1960s, compared with the 1940s in Southwest Asia.[1]

Domestication occurred all over the world, with no animals to speak of in the Americas, major reliance on domesticated animals and highly productive grasses in the Old World, and tubers, legumes, and fruits in much of the Americas.

Hunter Gathering During the Pleistocene

During the Pleistocene most of the world’s water was locked in ice. Globally, the climate was windier and dryer even nearest to the ice sheets. Hunter gatherers saw the first flora and fauna communities with the climatic shift.

Tropical forests like the Amazon or in Florida were once savannah environments, with spaced trees and shrubs in an open grassland. Even with the abundance of plant life, hunter gathers still preferred meat, as it provided them the most calories with the lest energy output.

Tropical forest hunter gathers had to work much harder than hunter gathers in other environments. Why? Although there was an abundance of plant resources in tropical forests, the plants were scattered, thus taking more time to collect what was needed.

Hunting was just as difficult. Tropical forests yielded smaller species of animals, and usually they were found in the trees due to the lack of ground cover. Hunter gatherers would exert much more energy traveling longer distances to procure plant and animal stuffs as opposed to hunter gatherers living on the savannah.

For example, the tropical Americas had an abundance of large terrestrial animals on the savannah. There’s no evidence for Pleistocene occupations of tropical forest environments.

Most archaeologists now believe that Pleistocene Americans were specialists who emphasized the hunting of terrestrial herd animals like horses, mammoths, and giant bison.  This is not to say that early Americans did not eat smaller mammals and plants, but that their lifeway and technology were focused on acquiring an abundant meat resource.[1]

Temperature Changes in the Pleistocene Tropics

Roughly 20,000 years ago global warming caused a shift in ocean currents, wind patterns, and rainfall. Forests started to expand as well as the plant resources already growing there. Large terrestrial animals started to die out. Hunter gatherers had to adjust their techniques of gathering resources. Specialized communities turned towards a more generalized subsistence system in order to survive.

Hunter-gatherers all over the world made this transition in the early Holocene; it is sometimes called the “broad-spectrum revolution.”

Horticulture to Agriculture

There’s been a debate about the transition to agriculture. Some assume agriculture happened at the exact same time all over the world and others hardly agree with this coincidence.

Archaeologically there was a disappearance of spear heads for hunting and an appearance of grinding technologies. Slash and burn like methods were used to clear forests to encourage the growth of fruits and tubers. Areas were manipulated to create islands of plant resources which hunter gathers returned to periodically to take advantage of the foods growing there.

Over time, individuals spent much more time near the garden plots and started to build semi and permanent settlements nearby. Wild foods started to grow and manipulated plants started to become more dependent on human intervention (ie squashes, sweet potatoes, and several kinds of fruit tree).

Hunter gatherers eventually decreased their mobility and started settling near rivers where they domesticated wild plants and fished. They practiced swidden agriculture; a temporary agricultural plot formed by cutting back and burning off vegetative cover.  Forest farmers’ fields could only be used for a few seasons before it was necessary to move to a new plot of land.

Almost all explanations for the shift from hunting-gathering to farming rely on climate change in some way, even Childe's Oasis Hypothesis.

The Oasis Theory (or Propinquity Theory) is a core concept in archaeology, referring to one of the main hypotheses about the origins of agriculture. First put forward by V.G. Childe in his 1928 book, "The Most Ancient Near-East", the oasis theory argues that the reason people starting living in settlements was because during a dry spell, the only livable place was near oases. .[4]

Agriculture developed in most temperate or sub-tropical parts of the world at the beginning of the Holocene, leading scholars to infer that climate change must have influenced the process. If people living in many environments, with access to very different resources all began domesticating plants at about the same time, was agriculture inevitable? [1][3]

Modern Hunter gatherers - Tribe – BBC

The Babongo of Gabon used to be known, derogatively, as pygmies. They're still treated as second-class citizens by their neighbours. But their expertise and knowledge of the forests is unique and their use of Iboga, a powerful hallucinogenic which lies at the heart of Babongo culture, makes them famous throughout Gabon.

Is global warming in some way responsible for the development of complex societies?

At the end of the late glacial conditions, as mentioned in the article Was Agriculture Impossible during the Pleistocene but Mandatory during the Holocene? A Climate Change Hypothesis., agriculture was impossible. [2]

However, following the conditions, plant intensive resource use was immediately utilized, leading me to believe an action forward approach was instigated by the hierarchical powers that be.

Since intense agriculture is a characteristic of complex societies, and agriculture is indeed sensitive to severe weather conditions, evolution like subsistence characteristic of complex systems could not take place during the Pleistocene. Consequently, in warmer and wetter conditions during the Holocene, evolution of agriculture was made easy, with due access to irrigation.

Population is set, due to the environment and societies with the abilities to obtain resources to acquire and maintain intensive subsistence strategies. Those having the key resources to outmaneuver the smaller societies with less intensive agricultural systems in place will out-compete the weaker of the two.

So was global warming in some way responsible? Evolution of subsistence systems in complex societies was relatively slow during the Pleistocene because of the impeding climatic conditions. However, glacial advances and retreats are not directly relevant to the origins of agriculture because population size grows faster and is able to adapt to cultural evolution. This is not to say global warming didn’t have any effect on complex societies.

Due to the extreme variations in climatic temperatures, evolution of plant use would have been extremely difficult. Consequently, hunting and farming communities would have been able to cope with catastrophic climate events. Complex systems seen within Pleistocene hunter gatherer societies didn’t rely on one resource and remained diversified in the event conservation had to take place.

Pleistocene America saw a rapid change in the environment when global warming altered rainfall amounts, wind, and ocean currents, thus leading to terrestrial animals dying out in masses. Americans were forced to adjust their lifestyles in order to survive. South Americans dealt with the climate change by becoming generalists, thus following all hunter gathers in what was called the “broad spectrum revolution”.

In an essence, although global warming did cause ocean levels to rise resulting in less arid land, complex societies turned to alternative methods of subsistence.

If global warming can cause such incredible changes in human social organization, will the present era of global warming bring about equally massive changes in human society?

As the human population continues to grow, so does the addition of carbon, causing the Earth’s climate to warm further. As we’ve seen from history, life has found a way and survived even the harshest of climatic changes. However, there have been some major re-distributions of species and extinctions associated with this climate shift as well.

Most of the world’s population is concentrated in coaster cities, as opposed to small nomadic tribes, and if sea levels were to rise even a few meters, the geographic landscape would be completely altered, and many cases, destroyed.

Years ago, if sea levels rose a few meters, it would have had very little effect. Consequently, such a sudden change in climate is hard to prepare for.

“Equally, it seems likely that as warming continues some areas may experience less precipitation leading to drought. With both rising seas and increasing drought, pressure for human migration could result on a large scale”. [3]

Also check out:

Evolution of Culture, Genetic Anthropology, and the “Eve Theory”

For decades, anthropologists have debated “The Eve Theory” – the theory that world cultures migrated and evolved from a single source – Eve, a reference to Adam and Eve mentioned in the Bible’s Book of Genesis as the first man and woman and the progenitors of all human life.

Sources

1. Dr. Sarah Barber. UCF. Anthropology of Complex Societies
2. Robert Boyd, Robert L. Bettinger, Peter J. Richerson
   2001 Was Agriculture Impossible during the Pleistocene but Mandatory during the Holocene? A Climate Change Hypothesis. American Antiquity Vol. 66, No. 3, 2001j, pp. 387-411. Society of American Archaeology.
3. "Climate change: evidence from the geological record ." The Geological Society. The Geological Society of London , November 2010. Web. 30 Jan 2011.
4. Oasis Theory
5. Picture Cro Magnon
6. Hunter Gatherer picture
7. Global Warming GIF

Sunday Round Up: Top Archaeology and Anthropology News 2/6/2011

Put those bones back! Future of archaeology threatened by law forcing scientists to rebury ancient remainsA controversial law that requires all human remains unearthed at ancient settlements to be reburied within two years threatens the future of archaeology, it is claimed today.
Under legislation introduced in 2008, bones and skulls found at sites in England and Wales, such as Stonehenge, have to be put back where they were found after 24 months.

A group of leading archaeologists has written to Justice Secretary Ken Clarke to protest that this will vastly diminish their ability to research the history of humans in Britain.

~Guardian

Giant archaeological trove found in Google Earth

Almost two thousand potential archaeological sites in Saudi Arabia have been discovered from an office chair in Perth, Australia, thanks to high-resolution satellite images from Google Earth.

"I've never been to Saudi Arabia," says David Kennedy from the University of Western Australia, Australia. "It's not the easiest country to break into."
Instead Kennedy scanned 1240 square kilometres in Saudi Arabia using Google Earth. From their birds-eye view he found 1977 potential archaeological sites, including 1082 "pendants" - ancient tear-drop shaped tombs made of stone.

~Archaeology Daily

State of Egyptian Antiquities

Today is a new day, but there are still marches in the streets of Cairo. I am personally very sad for my country. I cannot believe the devastation that has happened in the streets, and that so much has stopped in the last 11 days. We have lost so much, and I do not
understand how this could be. It is like a dream for me.

I have come into this new position at a very critical time, but the most important thing about this is that for the first time in history Egypt has a Ministry of Antiquities. The reason that this has never happened before was because archaeology was considered a minor thing. Previously, the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) had fallen under the ministries of education, tourism, and, most recently, culture. Now, I am happy to say that there is a Ministry of Antiquities that is separate from the Ministry of Culture.

~SCA

Tourists find new petroglyph in USVI National Park

Archaeologists say two participants in a petroglyph seminar at the U.S. Virgin Islands National Park have come across the first newly discovered rock carving there since the 1970s.

The carving looks like a spearhead or an elongated leaf. Park archaeologist Ken Wild says the design is different from others on St. John island. "It's the type that's seen in Venezuela or St. Lucia" across the Caribbean.

Rock carvings dot the island and the park's website says they were probably carved by the Indian cultures that lived on the island from about 840 B.C. until the arrival of Europeans brought disease and subjugation that exterminated the native peoples.

Wild said Friday that the petroglyph was found last month.

~Taiwan News

14 Intact Pre-Columbian Tombs, Temple Found in Northern Peru

An important religious temple of the Mochica culture, along with a group of tombs from all the cultures that inhabited the northern coast of Peru from 1,500 B.C. until the Spanish conquest, have recently been discovered in the Lambayeque region of Peru’s north coast.

Edgar Bracamonte, the archaeologist heading the project, told Efe Thursday that the discoveries indicate that the region, famous for the discovery of the magnificent tomb of the Lord of Sipan – considered the Tutankhamun of America – has many more surprises in store.

Work began on the Santa Rosa pre-Colombian tomb last November as part of a series of projects that include new explorations but also entail work to protect the archaeological sites from the weather and to prevent looting by tomb raiders.

~Latin American Herald Tribune

Archaeological dig finds historical chess pieces

Presidents James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, who shared interests in education, architecture and politics, loved to match wits.

Often, the architect of the Bill of Rights and the author of the Declaration of Independence dueled over a chess board.

And now, archaeologists at Madison's home in Orange County say they've unearthed fragments of a chess set they think Madison used when playing his friend from neighboring Albemarle County.

Archaeologists recently found fragments of two pawns while investigating part of Madison's Montpelier estate. Initially, they thought the pieces' quarter-inch tops were sewing bobbins, but then figured out they were shards of chessmen.

Matthew Reeves, director of archaeology at the 2,650-acre estate, called the pieces "a treasure from the past reflecting James Madison's intellectual pursuits and social life."

~Fredericksburg

Ruins of wooden Great Wall discovered in NE China

Archaeologists have identified the dilapidated walls in northeast China to be the remains of the "Wooden" Great Wall, breaking the stereotype that the landmark wall of China was only made of stone and earthen bricks.

Some willow fences, found in the mountainous areas of Dandong City, Liaoning Province, helped corroborate the existence of the "Wooden Great Wall", which is mentioned in ancient history books, according to a report jointly released by Liaoning Culture Relics Bureau and Liaoning Bureau of Surveying and Mapping.

The willow fences were built upon the remains of the oak walls in the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1636 - 1911), after the wooden structures corroded and collapsed, said the report.

~English.xinhuanet.com

U.S. Silk Road show to open without Chinese artifacts

The University of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology said Chinese officials had withdrawn about 100 artifacts and two mummies from the "Secrets of the Silk Road" exhibition, which opens on Saturday and will run until June 5.

The exhibit will include text, images, sound, maps, a recreated excavation site and photographs of the withdrawn items.

The show "has been modified ... at the request of Chinese officials," the museum said in a statement.

~Reuters

Architect unveils ‘pyramid’s secret rooms’

A French architect, who is campaigning for a new exploration of the Great Pyramid of Giza, claims to discovered the existence of two previously unsuspected rooms, antechambers next to the final resting place of the Pharoah Khufu where items like a bed, table and chairs would be placed for the dead leader to use in the afterlife.

~Euronews

Archaeology: a load of old rubbish? As an academic discipline, rather than in popular culture, archaeology finds it rather more difficult to justify itself in these days of university impact statements and funding cuts. Within archaeology debates rage between those unhappy with the rigid but human-centred scientific approach of the 'New Archaeology' of the 1960s ('archaeology is anthropology or it is nothing') and postmodernists who stress the role of interpretation over process, culturally-sensitive self-reflexivity over impartiality.

Ancient Heritage and Archaeology of the Sperrins A wonderful video explaining the hidden gems of the Sperrins Region, which include a visit to Beaghmore Stone Circles in the Cookstown District.

Linguistic Study: Speakers of Vietnamese and An Age Referent's Obligation

Another semester is upon me as I tackle new anthropology classes and gain greater insights into the field. In my Language and Culture class, we've been debating several issues including the hegemony of English as a global language, nonverbal cues used by past and present politicians, and understanding Shakespeare in the African Bush (I know you've heard of that study).

I intend to share with you my experiences in this challenging and fascinating class. To begin, I wanted to discuss the Vietnamese language.

Part of acquiring Vietnamese language and understanding their culture is by making a distinction between the father's side of the family and the mother's. A distinction constantly reinforced by the terms that must be used when referring to these people. There are also differing expectations of these people as a result of the way Vietnamese reckon kinship and descent.

What is the world do you mean? Simply, there's a way in which to approach or speak to someone, as this works about the same way in American culture.

In Vietnamese society, the predominant sentiment in the relation between members of a social group is respect.

Speakers of Vietnamese must choose the appropriate word depending upon relative age, social status, gender, degree of acquaintance, respect, and affection between speakers and hearers who are not related to each other by blood or marriage.

This form of respect, so to speak, has its roots in the teachings of Confucianism, whereby the Vietnamese describe a position of a person in society. Their behavior towards age and seniority is an obligation or form of respect they must pay to one another, based upon their relationship. Not showing this respect for elders or persons of higher position shows an insolent attitude.

Example and Possible Consequences:

Americans, when writing letters to individuals they don’t know, will address the person as “Dear NAME”.  Vietnamese people, by contrast, use only terms expressing respect such as “kính”, “kính thưa” and never address the person by name, for this would convey a disrespectful attitude.

A parallel can be seen with the use of family names. A father’s name is typically used in Vietnamese and American households.

As a show of respect, Vietnamese use their father’s name first, not last like Americans. Family name always comes first in Vietnamese and the individual name second, followed by the middle name, if one exists
Do you share this similar distinction in your own household? Please share with the readers.

Picture © marleen1951

5,000-year-old Harappan Ruins of Dholavira May Be World's Oldest Stage

The 5,000-year-old Harappan ruins of Dholavira in Kutch (district of Gujarat state in western India) have the capacity to rewrite an important portion of the history of theatre of the world. Until now, it was believed that Greek and Roman theatre, with their amphitheatres and poignant plays, were the oldest in the world - dating back 2,500 to 3,500 years. But, archaeologists who excavated Dholavira say they found remains of what can be the world's oldest stage.

Well-known archaeologist R S Bisht, who is credited with excavating Dholavira, says, "We found a multipurpose open field which must have been used for everything, from sports like wrestling and bullock cart races, to plays." The field is 283 metres by about 45 metres and is placed between a citadel or what is known as the upper town, and the middle town in the ruins.

Read more: Will Dholavira ruins rewrite history of ancient theatre? - The Times of India

Graphic © Archaeologival Survey of India

Excavation of Sutton Hoo Yields Unseem 1939 Photographs

Over 700 new pictures of the hugely important 1939 archaeological dig in Suffolk were dropped off at the National Trust visitor centre by a mystery donor.  When experts opened the albums they were stunned by the colour images of the excavation of the grave believed to be that of the Anglo Saxon king Raedwald.

The pictures were taken by two female teachers who were amateur photographers and were on holiday in the area. Mercie Lack and Barabara Wagstaff's visit to the early 7th century burial was known of but the collection of the unseen photos has proved invaluable to archaeologists.

Their equipment included German colour film and their photos are one of the first excavations in the country captured in colour. Personalities are also shown and they include the famous archaeologist Basil Brown and Queen Victoria's granddaughter, Princess Marie Louise, who turned up for a tour.

The pictures also include details such as the archaeologists working with a turkey baster and kitchen bellows.
These were possibly taken from the kitchen of Edith Pretty, the landowner who believed there were treasures on her land and organised the dig.

Prior to these photos emerging there were just 29 known pictures of the excavation of one of the most important discoveries ever in the UK. When the ship was dug, experts from the Science Museum were there to take measurements - but their data were lost during the war.

So these pictures have enabled experts to help piece together the missing information.

Edited From The Telegraph

Micro Continents of the Canary Isles

Lanzarote, Tenerife, Gran Canaria – names that may be familiar to many holiday-brochure browsers. And the holiday expectations are familiar too - revolving around that holy trinity of sun, sand and sea. The tourist industry, for this far-flung Spanish archipelago, has been constructed to funnel sun-seekers fast, from their north European homes, to the toweled pool-side sun-beds. That focus is a shame, however, because these splintered volcanic shards, lying off of the coast of Morocco, are fascinating and breathtaking - packing a continental-sized diversity into their tiny areal extents.

The primal urge of geology is the common denominator for the Canary Isles. Each island is the surface expression of the rude thrusting of volcanic forces, along the margins of the North African shelf. That violence has created some stunning landscapes, still occasionally rumbling and hissing cones into the cold Atlantic.


Check out Lima's full article Micro-continents of Splendor and Sun – the Canary Isles @ Travelsphere