Emergence and Change in Early Urban Societies (Fundamental Issues in Archaeology)

This wide-ranging reference provides an overview of the different factors involved in the emergence and change in early urban societies in the Fourth Millennium B.C., including Mesopotamia and Egypt, pre-Shang China, Classic Horizon Central Mexico and the Mayan area, and middle Horizon societies in the Andean region. The contributors examine such factors as centralized storage and redistributive economies, agro-managerial models, mercantile network control, and conflict and conquest. The coverage emphasizes specific archaeological data useful in theoretical construction.