Urban Life in the Distant Past: The Prehistory of Energized Crowding

by Michael E. Smith

Overview

In this book, Michael Smith offers a comparative and interdisciplinary examination of ancient settlements and cities. Early cities varied considerably in their political and economic organization and dynamics. Smith here introduces a coherent approach to urbanism that is transdisciplinary in scope, scientific in epistemology, and anchored in the urban literature of the social sciences. His new insight is 'energized crowding,' a concept that captures the consequences of social interactions within the built environment resulting from increases in population size and density within settlements. Smith explores the implications of features such as empires, states, markets, households, and neighborhoods for urban life and society through case studies from around the world. Direct influences on urban life – as mediated by energized crowding-are organized into institutional (top-down forces) and generative (bottom-up processes). Smith's volume analyzes their similarities and differences with contemporary cities, and highlights the relevance of ancient cities for understanding urbanism and its challenges today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781009249034
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/30/2023
Series:	Urban Archaeological Pasts
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	57 MB
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About the Author

Michael Smith is Professor in the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. An archaeologist who has directed excavations at Aztec sites, he has forged a new approach to the scientific and comparative analysis of early cities based on transdisciplinary research projects that link ancient and contemporary urbanism.  He has published fifteen books and more than 150 articles.

Table of Contents

1. Premodern cities and the wide urban world; 2. The prehistory of energized crowding; 3. The size of cities and settlements; 4. States, cities, and power; 5. Markets, crafts, and urban life; 6. Top-down insitutions and the scale of urban life; 7. Generative forces and urban life; 8. The value of premodern cities today.