ARC 200 - Exam 3: Archaeological Sites

Eridu

• Most powerful chiefdom in Mesopotamia

• Port/trade

• Earliest city

• Eridu Temple

  • Growing wealth and power of elites

    • Monuments to powerful leaders

      • Elites pay for this to show off wealth

Uruk

First monumental urban center

• Fortified tell, temple complex, pallace

• >10,000 people

• Walls separating different classes, well layed out settlement

• Anu ziggurat (biggest temple0

  • Corvee Labor

• Beveled-rim bowls

Royal Cemetery of Ur

• 2500 burials

• 16 “Royal Tombs” with opulent grave goods

  • Also much larger, artwork, gold, weapons/armour

• Tomb of Queen Shub-ad (Puabi)

  • Some type of authority figure

  • High priestess/Interum Queen

  • One of riches graves

  • “Great Death Pit”

    • 52 attendants sacrificed

Hierakonpolis (Nekhen)

Earliest major town, 1000+ people

• center for pottery production

• elites and traders in separate, larger compounds

• Elaborate tombs

Giza

Great Pyramid Complex

• 3 large pyramids (Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure)

• Smaller pyramids for wives

• Mastabas for government officials, nobles

• Temples, shrines, sphinx, workers village

Mohenjo-Daro

One of the earliest and largest Harappan Urban centers

• Mound of the dead

• Pakistan

• > 40,000 people

• Advanced urban planning

• Upper citadel and lower town

  • Specialized city sectors

  • Layed out on grid

• Early sewer system

• High level of craft specialization

Great Wall of China

• A series of fortifications in China that were built by 700,000 conscript and political prisoners

• “Worlds largest cemetary”

Mount Li

Has not been opened due to respect and danger

• Contains a miniature “universe” with waterways and oceans of mercury and constellations on the ceiling

  • booby trapped with automated crossbows

  • buried architects alive inside

• Terracotta Army

  • 8000 figures exposed to date which are larger than life

  • Unique face, painted, real weapons, chariots

Kerma

Early Kushite capital, founded 4000/3500 BC

• State Middle Kingdom Egypt

• Large Urban Trade Center

• The Great Deffufa

• Frequent warfare with Egypt

Great Zimbabwe

Hill complex that includes kings palace and ceremonial center

• Great enclosure

• Mine gold (west), bought gold (North East)

• Hundreds of houses as you enter the city

• Cattle sustained the society

• Ivory was important trade good

Djenne-Jeno

Early capita in Mali

• fortified mudbrick settlement

• Trade center, camel caravans

• Moved 2.5 km SE to Jenne

  • Defense

  • Trade center of Islamic learning

  • Great Mosque: largest mud building in the world

Tikal

One of the longest-lived and most powerful Maya city-states

• Peak AD 200-900 (80k-90k people)

• Trade center

  • Cacoa, precious metals and gems, jade

• Intense competition with neighboring city-states, frequent warfare

• Central Acropolis: core of government

• North Acropolis: Temples and royal cemetery

• Great Plaza: two biggest temples and courtyard for gathering

San José Mogote

largest of 25 villages in valley conquest

• capital of the most powerful of the three chiefdoms

• Long distance trade obsidian

• Fortifications

• Danzantes

• Monumental architecture

• Elite-led ritual

Monte Albán

Capital for Zapotec state

• territorial state and urbanized city

• built in specific location to see all the sub valleys so they had great advantage

Teotihuacan

both the capital city and culture

• urban center

• contemporary with Zapotecs and Maya

• 6th largest city in the world

• More temples than any other Mesoamerican site

• Moon, Son, Feathered Serpent (3 temples)

• Apartment complexes

• Home of the gods

• Expansion through soft power

• For alliances with other city-states than infiltrate

Cuzco

Capital of Inca Emipre

• Founded by Manco Capac AD 1000

• Largely destroyed by Spanish

• Parts integrated into modern city

• Unique stone working

• Sacsahuaman fortress

Machu Picchu

• Royal estate

• Ceremonial center

• Astronomy

• largely untouched by Spanish rule

• Small population (very unacessible)

• Devoted to worship of the sun god