On the Uruk Expansion

Author(s): Gil Stein and Patricia Wattenmaker

Source: Current Anthropology, Vol. 31, No. 1 (Feb., 1990), pp. 66-69
Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of Wenner-Gren Foundation for
Anthropological Research
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 Volume 31I, Number I, February I990 1 67

for raw materials from the periphery. On the basis of
later textual evidence for 3d-millennium exchange, he
suggests that the main "labor-intensive" exports of
Mesopotamia to the periphery were grain, leather prod-
ucts, dried fish, dates, and textiles. Even in this later
period, however, the texts make it clear that these com-
modities were almost entirely the focus of local ex-
change between city-states on the alluvium rather
than of long-distance interregional exchange (Foster
I977:37).
With the exception of dates, all of the proposed
Mesopotamian exports were locally available in abun-
nous communities in Syria, Anatolia, and Iran during
the 4th millennium. I suspect that a clearer picture of
the scale, complexity, and integration of these polities
will force us to rethink many of our "Mesopotamio-
centric" preconceptions about the developmental dy-
namics of the ancient Near East. Algaze's paper
should have the welcome effect of encouraging fur-
ther constructive debate and research concerning these
issues.
PATRICIA WATTENMAKER

dance in the periphery. Eastern and southeastern An- Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution,
atolia had relatively low population densities (Ozdo- Washington, D.C. 20560, U.S.A. 28 vi 89
gan I977, Whallon I979) and ample rainfall, pasture, and
arable land (Tanoglu, Erinc, and Tumertekin i96i), all Algaze's thought-provoking article represents an ambi-
permitting the production of large surpluses of agricul- tious effort to synthesize and place in a general frame-
tural and pastoral goods with much less labor and capital work a problematic set of data from an extensive geo-
investment than was required for similar levels of out- graphical area. He follows in the tradition of Childe
put in southern Mesopotamia (see, e.g., Weiss i986). (I936) in linking the lack of vital resources in the
Local use of agricultural surpluses is far more likely to Mesopotamian alluvium to the development of trade
have played an important economic role in the develop- networks and the rise of civilization. In this case, he
ment of southern Mesopotamian polities than the hy- leaves open the question of a causal relationship be-
pothesized shipment of vast quantities of cereals up- tween trade and the rise of southern Mesopotamian
stream over hundreds of kilometers to peripheral areas civilization but argues that the demand for goods in the
that were perfectly capable of producing their own ag- southem alluvium locked the south into a cycle of ex-
ricultural and pastoral products. pansion, trade with neighboring regions, and "inevita-
Algaze suggests that metals and lumber were the main ble" collapse. He outlines several expectations and pre-
Mesopotamian imports from the north, but the available sents evidence in support of them, but the expectations
archaeological evidence suggests that the Mesopotamian he proposes might also serve to characterize other sce-
periphery was far from being a subordinate trade partner narios. Hypotheses phrased more precisely might well
providing "unprocessed raw materials." Finds of ores, have led to the conclusion that long-distance trade did
slags (Esin i982:io9), and terracotta moulds (Kosay not play a leading role in structuring the internal dynam-
I976:I93, object 425) indicate that, from the 4th millen- ics of Greater Mesopotamian societies.
nium on, indigenous Late Chalcolithic communities in One of the basic challenges all archaeologists face is
eastern Anatolia mined, smelted, and cast copper into a determining the material correlates of different forms of
highly processed form, all at the local level. This is the social interaction. Here, evidence for the presence of
exact reverse of the relationship posited by dependency- "Uruk trade colonies" in the Syro-Mesopotamian plains
theory and world-system models, in which the peripher- and highlands comprises an important part of Algaze's
ies trade their unprocessed raw materials for finished case for asymmetrical trade and secondary development
products from the core. While Algaze suggests that de- in the "periphery." Much of this evidence can, however,
forestation of the producing zones in eastern and south- be interpreted in a different light. Distinguishing trade
eastern Anatolia began as early as the 4th millennium, colonies from other types of settlement, such as refugee
Willcox (I974) concludes from his analysis of charcoal communities, often requires careful consideration of
remains from eastern Anatolia that it is impossible to both the material characteristics of different community
determine when deforestation began there. Pollen, char- types and the archaeological context of the evidence.
coal, geomorphological, and faunal data all indicate that Not all settlements with large quantities of foreign
deforestation in southeastern Anatolia did not begin un- goods are trade colonies, and not all trade colonies have
til almost a thousand years later, in the mid-late 3d mil- large quantities of goods brought from home. A case in
lennium B.C. (van Zeist and Bottema 1982, Miller i986, point is the Assyrian trade colony at Kiiltepe, where
Wilkinson i986, Wattenmaker and Stein i986). Thus, traders used local ceramics and their presence would
there is at present no evidence for the large-scale export never have been known had it not been for tablets and
of wood from Anatolia to southern Mesopotamia during seal impressions (Ozgiiu I979:237-38).
the late Uruk period. With the exception of Habuba Kabira-South, the "ur-
These comments notwithstanding, Algaze's paper is ban enclaves" identified by Algaze are centered at large
commendable for going beyond time-space systematics sites with long settlement histories both prior and sub-
and proposing an explicit, testable model of interre- sequent to the Uruk period. Because Late Chalcolithic/
gional relations in the Late Uruk. Although the depen- Uruk materials at these sites are buried under meters of
dency scenario is problematic, the important issues deposit, excavation of remains from this period has been
raised by this model emphasize the need to understand very limited. Without more extensive excavation and
the economic and political organization of autochtho- publication of artifact counts that include both Uruk

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 68 1 CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY
and local Late Chalcolithic ceramics, it is difficult to
establish that these sites were in fact colonies rather
than indigenous regional centers where Uruk-related
styles were in use. The use by local elites of foreign
ideologies and goods in an effort to validate their own
authority is a well-documented sociopolitical strategy
(Helms I988) and probably was one process through
which Uruk-related materials became incorporated into
assemblages in the "periphery." Other members of the
society might then have followed suit.
As Algaze demonstrates with the examples from Ars-
lantepe, Hammam et-Turkman, and Kurban Hoyiik,
Uruk styles were used by indigenous populations at both
large and small settlements. Given current evidence,
one might group the largely unexcavated "urban en-
claves" with Arslantepe, a more extensively excavated
multiperiod center in which the local population
utilized Uruk-related styles, rather than with Habuba
Kabira-South. Eliminating these major settlements from
the list of colonies would greatly reduce the evidence for
the presence of southern Mesopotamians in the north
and would call into question the likelihood of asym-
metrical trade and secondary development in the "pe-
riphery."
Algaze presents an argument for the selective location
of the "urban enclaves" in key places along transporta-
tion routes. It should be kept in mind, however, that
these sites were also well situated with respect to excel-
lent agricultural land and water sources, indicating that
access to trade routes was only one variable determining
settlement locations. The fact that most of the "urban
enclaves" were occupied both before and after the Late
Uruk period suggests that indigenous populations con-
sidered the same locational factors. Finally, the presence
of local Late Chalcolithic sites along the same transpor-
tation routes as the proposed Uruk colonies (e.g., Ozdo-
gan I977, Schwartz I988, Wilkinson i986) casts doubt
on the likelihood that the south controlled the routes of
access and provides additional support for the interpreta-
tion that the large sites in key locations were local cen-
ters rather than colonies.
A potential problem in evaluating the distribution
of Uruk-related materials is that a disproportionate
amount of survey and excavation has been conducted
along the proposed riverine transport routes because of
salvage work connected with dam construction. Further-
more, the Uruk material in the north has been empha-
sized at the expense of local Late Chalcolithic assem-
blages.
Algaze notes the apparent correlation between in-
creased complexity and the presence of Uruk-related
materials in the north and suggests that it supports his
argument for secondary development. A first step in es-
tablishing that intensified contact led to increased social
complexity in northern Mesopotamia would be to exam-
ine evidence for complex societies in the north prior to
the Late Uruk period. Unfortunately, we know very lit-
FOSTER, B ENJAMIN. 1977. Commercial activity in Sargonic
tle about this period, but there are clear signs of social
complexity (Palmieri I985:193-98). For example, craft
specialization, one line of evidence used by Algaze in
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support of increased complexity during the later part of
the Late Chalcolithic period, is attested at Nor?untepe
and Arslantepe prior to the appearance at these sites
of Uruk-related materials (Hauptmann I982, Palmieri
i985). Therefore, it is equally plausible that the use of
Uruk-related goods in the north followed the emergence
of a local elite that created a demand for goods that ap-
peared foreign.
Finally, turning to the issue of collapse, Algaze ex-
pects the "inevitable" demise of Uruk civilization in the
south, given the "unavoidable" overexploitation of land
in an effort to produce surplus grain for trade. Unless we
assume an intrinsic and steadily increasing demand for
surplus (an assumption that is unwarranted [Sahlins
I972]), there appears to be no theoretical justification for
the assertion that overexploitation of land would have
been "inevitable." Whatever the land-use situation in
the south, surveys aimed at studying land-use patterns
in the north have indicated a relatively low density of
4th- and early 3d-millennium settlement, both in the
region of Samsat, a proposed "urban enclave" (Wilkin-
son i986), and farther from centers (Stein and Watten-
maker n.d.). This suggests that the north would not have
needed the large surpluses of grain that, in Algaze's
scenario, ultimately led to collapse of the southern Uruk
polities.
Clearly, there remains much work to be done before
we can understand the distribution of Uruk-related ma-
terials in Greater Mesopotamia. By providing us with
one of the first attempts to identify and account for the
patterns of distribution, Algaze has highlighted several
areas for future work. This stimulating article will no
doubt inspire new research explicitly aimed at ad-
dressing many of the questions it raises and new expla-
nations for the intriguing and puzzling set of data on
which it focuses.
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