The Transformation from Complex Village Society to Local Urbanism in the Southern Levant:new observations in light of evidence from the Central Jordan Valley in the Early Bronze Age I-II

Summary

The EBA Southern Levant experienced a dramatic pathway to complexity, creating a small-scale urban society. The transition from EBI to EBII periods was characterized by urbanization processes, in which sweeping changes in social structure, political landscape, and economic networks occurred. While the majority of research centered on the nature of the fully urban society in the region, there is no consensus for the specific mechanics and causes of the emergence of these early towns, and the reasons for the demise of the complex village society that preceded them. None of the existing explanatory models capture the regional variability and cultural diversity that differentiated this period in the southern Levant, nor were they able to identify the different paths that led to the development of urban system in this region, within the existing chronological framework. The study presented here seeks to tackle this gap, and focus on the critical period leading up to life in these urban centers in a specific geographic region:the Central Jordan Valley. I will argue that in absence of leveling mechanisms to maintain egalitarianism, EBI village society slowly transformed into a large, densely settled and non-egalitarian village system, setting the stage for urbanism in the EBII.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14806