A Central Asian Village at the Dawn of Civilization: Excavations at Anau, Turkmenistan

by Fredrik T. Hiebert, Kakamurad Kurbansakhatov (With)

Overview

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.

UniversityMuseum Monograph, 116

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781931707503
Publisher:	University of Pennsylvania Press, Inc.
Publication date:	04/28/2003
Series:	University Museum Monograph Series , #116
Pages:	489
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.93(d)

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.

Table of Contents

Illustrations
Foreword
Preface

1. Anau North, an Introduction
2. The Settlement History of Central Asia in the Village Period
3. The History of Investigations at Anau North
4. 1997 Excavations: Context of Deposition and Stratigraphy
5. Radiocarbon Chronology
6. Ceramic Complexes of Anau North and Relative Chronology
7. Small Finds from Anau North
8. Architecture at Anau North
9. Burials
10. The Use of Plants at Anau North
11. Microscopic Analysis of Soils from Anau North
12. Animal Herding, Hunting, and the History of Animal Domestication at Anau depe
13. Prehistoric Behavior at Anau North
14. The Evolution of the Settlement at Anau North

Appendices
A. 1904 Excavations at Anau North
B. Catalogue of Small Finds from the 1904 Excavations
C. Botanical Data from the 1997 Excavations
D. A Basketry/Textile Impression from Anau North

Bibliography
Index