A Central Asian Village at the Dawn of Civilization: Excavations at Anau, Turkmenistan (University Museum Monograph, 116) - Hardcover

Hiebert, Fredrik T.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1931707502 ISBN 13: 9781931707503

Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2003

Synopsis

This integration of earlier and new scholarship reconceptualizes the origins of civilization, challenging the received view that the ancient Near East spawned the spread of civilization outward from Mesopotamia to all other neighboring cultures. Central Asia is here shown to have been a major player in the development of cities.

Skillfully documenting the different phases of both Soviet and earlier Western external analyses along with recent excavation results, this new interpretation reveals Central Asia's role in the socioeconomic and political processes linked to both the Iranian Plateau and the Indus Valley, showing how it contributed substantively to the origins of urbanism in the Old World. Hiebert's research at Anau and his focus on the Chalcolithic levels provide an essential starting point for understanding both the nature of village life and the historical trajectories that resulted in Bronze Age urbanism.

University Museum Monograph, 116

About this title

About the Author:

Fredrik T. Hiebert is Assistant Professor in Archaeology and Assistant Curator of Near Eastern Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Kakamurad Kurbansakhatov is Director of the Southern Turkmenistan Multidisciplinary Archaeological Expedition.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1931707502
• ISBN 13: 9781931707503
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 489