This dissertation is based on new evidence from the most recent archaeological fieldwork conducted at Tell Brak in northeastern Syria, one of the most important early cities in Mesopotamia. An analysis of this data underscores the transformative and creative nature of the urbanization process in the early 4th millennium BC, in which discontinuity and experimentation – rather than continuity and stability – prevailed. This aspect of early urban formation is mirrored in the immediate environs of early cities; farmland was transformed into new and experimental zones of use. In the early 4th millennium BC at Tell Brak, this meant a very diverse set of activities: surrounding the burgeoning new city were deep mud quarry pits, and beyond these were a corona of extensive satellite mounds that represent extensive rubbish dumps, which were intermittently also used as cemeteries, for industrial scale pottery production, and as short-lived habitation sites. In this context it is also suggested that the spread of archaeological material in ancient cities not only reflects the extent of the settlement but also disposal of waste. This new evidence from Tell Brak contradicts recent interpretations and hypotheses about the development of early cities in Mesopotamia, and has important implications for understanding the development of early cities in general, as well as their functional composition.
This study primarily draws upon the most recent published reports, and from unpublished data collected from fieldwork on the mound of Tell Brak and in its immediate surroundings, as well as the author’s own new comparative ceramic studies, which provide the basis for improvements in chronology of the Late Chalcolithic period in northern Mesopotamia. This extensive empirical material is presented as archaeological reports, which are integrated to form Part 1 of the dissertation. In Part 2, a set of theoretical approaches to the rise of cities is considered, in light of the new information from Tell Brak, with a view to suggesting future approaches towards the urbanization process.

Total printed: 470 pages incl. Pottery Catalogue
Appendices (not printed): 119 pages
Pottery database (not printed): 11.672 posts