f v e

Other Perspectives on Urbanism

Beyond the Disciplinary Boundaries

Karl W. Butzer

Lawrence Durrell's ex peri mental The Alexandria Quartet (195 7 -L961) uses four novels

to show how the same sets of evenrs can be seen and interpreted very differenrl y by

people with dissimilar experience, perspective, and socioculrural background.

Mounrolive, a sraid British civil servant, relates rhe happenings in an ostens i bly objec­

tive way and in the third person . The indigenous Justine g ives a wildly different, spicy,

and intensely personal account char also diverges from the levanrine Balthasar's

tawdry buc much more complex rendition. Finally, the voice of expa[[iate Clea

expands the temporal frame, putting the srory into an unexpecred political context. This skilled apposirion of outsider-insider (eric-ernie) readings can be usefully

applied ro rhe study of urbanism, ro highlight the distinction be tween "Western" and

alternative inrerprerations. Urbanism is many things, depending on rhe quest i on , the

scale of vision, and the cultural background of a respondent. Bur the conrinuing effort ro find general criteria for urbanism (Childe 1950) misses the point in that ir implies

that there is a single, rational answer. It would be much more creative tO explore mul­tiple facets such as religion, social val ues , and erhniciry at greater depth. Several of rhe

coo.rriburions in this book illustrate the point , includ i ng rhe linguistically based srudy

on ancient Chinese cities (Falkenhausen, chapt er 11). Islamic urbanism, which had

77

prehisroric roots and was in full bloom before rhe Maya Classic " co l lapse , " represems another srriking alternative ro a single-minded ly "Western" perspective. Ethnographic

or hisrorical insight is a sine qua noo to start a more eric investigation. Wheoever pos­sible, archaeology should be combined and comra.sted wirh a rchiva l or hisrorical research, as indeed many of the chapters in this book do. Bur rhere also has tO be a

greater cultural sensiti v ity, with regular recourse ro cross-culrural and cross-temporal

compar isons , if we are ro grasp the insider perspecrive. To achieve that goal, we musr

transceod a preoccupation of urban archaeology wirh material evidence, someth ing

that will be possible only wirh a susta ined , cross-disciplinary discourse among practi­

tioners from all the subdisciplmes concerned wirh early urbanism. As rhe short bibli­ography suggests, geographers are major contenders in historical and cross-cultural

urbanism, and they contribute ro identifying and uodersranding questions of contem­

porary relevance.

Long-term Sefflement Histories and Discontinuities

Atchaeolo,llists who do nor dichotomize town and coumry have recognized that wirhin a parricular region the number of senlemenrs of all sizes increases and rhen decreases

over rime. J n some instances, most of the lar};ler and smaller places may appear co be

abandoned. When the cycle waxes once again, many of rhe dereli c t sires may not be reoccupied, and the archaeological components may be different 0ameson ct al. 1994; Porrer 1979). Even when disjunctions are incomplete, such cycles of growth and

decline are intriguing, if not challenging, ro interpret (Enckel l et al. 1979; Marcus

1998). They are common enough in European and Southwestern prehistory and find

more dramatic analogs in rhe rise and decline of so-cal led high civilizations on differ­

ent con t inen cs , where rhey involve urban sites, sociopolitical institut ions , and possible

echnoculrural identification.

In rhe more recem experience of the Modern demographic transition , explanations

for growth would typically turn ro a hosr offacrors, both inputs and feedbacks, includ­

ing disease; rural produniviry; environmental resources and their management; urban

marker and labor demand; l ong -d ist ance trade and economic inregrarion; migration, insecurity, and war; and p�rential aclminisrrative incompetence or failed policies. The complexity of the issues may nor even allow firm conclusions. In earlier ranges of historical or prehistoric rime, these same factors remain materia l , but social unrest ,

dislocation, and culmral disillusionment probably weigh even more strongly. None­

theless, a few archaeologists, historians, and even natural sc ient ists have short­circuited these webs of reasoned explanation ro assert "civilizational collapse" in response

ro mono-causal scenarios such as "abrupt climatic change" or environmental degrada­

tion. Never mind char co-occurrence or coincidence, even if it be true, does nor prove

causality. "Collapse" is a very real parr of urban prehistOry and history, and it requires atten­

tion. Given rhe deductive proclivity of world-systems hisrorians, who have a major inreresr in "rise and decline" (Chase-Dunn and Hall 1997), iris fortunate chat there is

78 Karl W. Bulzer

a more caur iou s literarure in geography about environmental vulnerability and social

resilience (Bankoffet a!. 2004; Endfteld et al. 200<"1; Liverman 1999). Bur the critical

facilities of aorhropo logy must also be marshaled ro challenge, rather rhan endorse, chis new environmenral determinism <Butzer 1997; Mclnrosh er al. 2000).

long-term serrlemenc his ro r i es serve to highlight a propensity for millennia!

long-waves in population hi s r ory. We need only turn to the sixteenth-century demo­

graphic and social collapse of indigenous Mexico, in rhe comexr of earlier, archaeolog­

ically verified setclemenr histories (Sanders L 988), w see c hac population cycles are

real. Such macroregional cycles deserve attention by more urban archaeologists and historians, reinfon.:ed by an explicit, cross-disciplinary discourse.

Population estimates pose a practical problem. Whatever their I i m ita tions , urbao

sire sizes and sire configurations offer the only semiquanritarive access co presrarisrical

population aggregations, when used in conjuncrion with complemeorary data on

smaller nucleated sires or dispersed serrlemem features (Burzer 1976, l984), and their

spatial relationships (Church and Bell 1988). Som et i mes such non-urban sires are

enumerated by religious or h istorical topographies (Timm 1984-1992), bur more com­

monly they must be unraveled by regional archaeological surveys or relared sire­

sampling procedures. As in the processual sphere of inrensiflcation and dis-intensifica­

tion, wirb town and country tighdy interwoven, rarios of urban ro non-urban popula­

tions can sometimes be simulated from early statistics on preindustrial economic

secrors.

Urban archaeology, in conjunction wirh archaeological survey and geo-archaeology,

is uniquely equipped m address long- term serclemem histories and discontinuities.

These are of signiflcanr regional inreresr and he lp define rhe dynam i c context of

human secclement agglomerations. They also flag discontinuities char demand closer

investigation. Such findings are relevant ar a larger scale because both grow th and

decline foster q uest io ns about the range of factors char drive macroregional demo­

graphic change. This is inreresring in histOrical terms and even more so in rela t i on to

rhe unprecedented global population expansion thac began some 250 years ago. \"X/i ll

decline inevitably follow, and if so, why and how?

Urban Geo-archaeology

Swirching from the regional co the sire-specific frame, complex constructional histo­

ries are embedded in urban sires. In general terms, rhese will be picked up by tradi­tional excavation methods. But specialized attenrion w urban sediments and their links to external, environmenral processes may elucidate pat terns of occupation wi t hi n individual structures or in the course of changing urban land use, growth, and decay

(Butzer 1 982a). Surprisingly enough, such urban geo-archaeology srill receives linle

arrenrion. Beyond the standard issue of arrifacrual inregrity, there is a microstratigra­

phy within and becween structures thac records accumulating "wasre" under variable conditions uf deposi rion and postdepositional transformation (But7.er 1981, 2005a;

Butzer et al. 1982; Rosen 1986; Schuldenrein er al. 2004). This also has implications

Other Perspectives on Urbanism 79

for the Jinks between an early ciry and its changing environmental context. For exam­

ple, rhe construction of cities and chinampas in the lacustrine Basin of Mexico may

have been in response to repeated cha n ges of lake level, as suggested by the research of

Cordova (\997), rather than a deliberate reclamation of marshland, in orher wo rds , an

opporcuniry as well as a challenge. The most obvious case in poinr is the urban mound or tell, composed primarily of

mud-brick (adobe). Building materials are liable to slow attrition and periodic collapse

or destruction, followed by replacement or abandonment. Rooms may be swept clean

or fall into disuse , with intrusion of floodwaters or blowing sands. Collapsed srrucrures

are built over or first cleaned our, robe dumped elsewhere. The sediment marrix accu­

mulates sufficiendy rapid l y char appropriate srudy can idenrify the human and non­

human agencs responsible for particular sediment layers and can be used to reconstruct

a senlemenr microhistory of growth or decline. Extended from a l im ited number of structures to a selecrion of wards or neighborhoods, urban geo-archaeology can iden­

tify demographic rrends of growth and decline and can offer resolut ion on the processes of decay or abandonment (Butzer 1 982a :rabl e 6-1).

In the "Lost Ciry of the Pyramids" at Giza (Lehner 2002a, 2004), iris possible ro

ideotify ep i sodes of mud-brick meltdown and liquefaction, resulting in lateral mass

move ments of mud, or of ma jor flood events chat wreaked havoc within rhe site

(Butzer 2005a). As a consequence, a pare of rhis site com p lex had robe rebu i lt at least

rhree or four times within no more t han thirty or forty yea rs . This nor only illustrates

the dynamic nature of sires but also shows rhar phenomenal desert rains did not deter rhe powers-that-be from rebuilding the same srructures in rhe same places. However,

later mud-brick walls were placed on elaborate, rough-srone fou ndar ions , possibly sta­

bilized by mortar. Such foundations later protected the sire from deflation. In effect,

the location was reused because of irs advantages, illustnHing an early response (ca.

2500 BC) to environmencal vulnerability.

With adjustments, similar criteria ca n be appli ed co sires built of cur or crude

'rock, such as Ethiopia's Axum, with irs prominent and durable collapse rubbles (Butzer 1981 ) . For example, sediment accumulates after abandonmenr, even before the

last of rhe supersrrucmre wmbles down; the interior is opened up ro slope-wash or

eolian sands. Alternatively, struc t ures or burial shafts may be overwhelmed by eroded

soils from upslope, providing signposts for local landscape histories and land manage­

ment. On a much larger scale, floodpla i n cities are affecred by catastrophic floods,

across rime ra nges of several centuries. Salvage study of foundations exposed by con­

struction in cities of eastern Spain rhus yields insi g h ts inro urban setdemenc histories ,

and the rhythm of severe flooding becomes a proxy record of effective watershed dis­

turbance (Butzer er aJ. 1983).

Cities are open sysrems--ecooomically, demographically, and environmentally.

Yet rhe common practice is for archaeologists, in rhe Mediterranean world and else­

where, to shovel our the matrix betw een the architecmra] alignments, after rhe arri­

facrs have been removed. But that "dirt" may be diagnostic of which parts of a sire

80 Karl W. Butzer

were or were nor occupi ed ar a particular time, and it can prov ide prima facie evidence for rise or demise. Sediments may also document direcr links between sire and envi­

rorunenc, for example, down-slope of a serrlemeor. All roo many excavated urban sires are incompletely understood as a result of d i scipli nary incrospecrion.

Rulership and Bureaucratic Integration

A different miscomprehension of early ci t ies seems from a Eurocemric interpretation of how early stares operated, namely, rhe assumption that hierarchical bureaucracies in

capital c ities were always effective in administering su bordinate or distanr towns. Jr is

therefore hel pful co draw arrention co Eth iopia, a l irerare civilization with a hiswry of

precarious urbanism. Ninereenth-cenrury kings traveled around the counrry, with

their army and retainers, co collect tri bute and live off the land (Kusimba, chapter 12;

Pankhurst 1982). The pre-Modern written record of Ethiopia is largely limired co the

relig ious chronicles of its kings (Tamrar 1972). Until the 1890s, there was nothing remotely similar co a civil service, a general account i ng office, or an archive of decrees

and ocher proclamations. Tides honored retainers of the negus at various levels, wirh­

our creating regular officials or a permanent chain of authority. Any continuity was anchored in isolated monastic cenrers, in the phys ica l projecrion of royal c hurches or

residences (Butzer 1982b), and, above all, in oral rradirion and irs wrirten transmis­

sion (Hable Selassie 1972).

Ethiopia is no analog for ancient Egypt, bur chis example suggests the need ro

reexamine some encrenched assumptions abour inscirurional networking in early stare formation (Lehner 2000). Unci I the second or third dynasties, uibute in Egypt appears

ro have been collecced direc dy during periodic royal visitations to the provinces

(Heick 1975; Marrin-Pardey 1976:33-36). Some 2000 titles were awarded during the

Old Kingdom, bur almost none identify a function, implying char rhey were hon­

orifics (Baer t960). Bureaucratic delegat ion of authority appears to have been on a

personal or idiosyncratic basis, raising legitimate questions about how authority was

implemenred, exce pt within the pharaoh's residence and scattered royal escares

(Quirke er al. 2001 ). U nforrunately, most of rhe preserved evidence for writing comes

from mud seatings and srone inscriptions; lirde survives of rhe more explicit papyrus

documents for the Old Kingdom.

In Egypt, rhe public religious realm was inrerwoven with the secular, and che early

adminisrrarive role of the temples of the royal cult was quire unclear; the priesthood

may, for example, have rransmined decrees w the provincial centers, while projecting

che authority of divine kingship through rem pies and shrines and possibly keeping the

accounts of the royal estates. Only towards the end of che Old Kingdom (Dynasty 6)

is there evide nce of secular agenrs supervisi ng specific casks (Marcin-Pardey 1976:109-

201; Quirke er al. 2001) or serving as incermediaries between the royal residence and

rhe provinces. Offlcials for urban (as opposed co provincial) administration are nor doc­umented before rhe New Kingdom.

Other Per�pective� on Urboni�m 81

Although ancienc Egypt does noc offer a universal model for urban origins, it

offers-as one of rhe very earliest complex societies (Lehner 2000}---an opportunity co

rethink rhe accepted relationships between complexity and urbanism. Despite rhe

belief that Memphis was the Old Kingdom capital, currenr evidence from borh Giza

(Lehner 2004) and Memphis <Jeffreys and Tava res 1994) suggests the presence of sev­eral large bur short-term urban nucleations, linked to shifting royal residences, in

proximity ro different consrrucrion projects such as pyramids and their associated tem­

ples. This does not, of course, negate the possibility of a major, f1xed ceremonial cen­

ter, such as Ethiopia's Axum. Like the Boserupian dilemma, we do not know whether

writing and putative administrative structures drove or were a consequence of rapid sociopolitical change and urbanization, restricted co the immediate proximity of rhe

royal residence. Royal retainers and the priesrhood may have been rhe two branches of

an incompletely centralized bur authoritarian, archaic stare that probably depended

heavily on kin relations. The phenomenal evolution of Egyptian anistic expression

that began even before rhe unification of Egypt (perhaps ca. 3100 BC) appears to have

been a funcrion of royal prerogative. Bur royal power probably soon transcended provincial rribure and the agricultural production of royal estates, through monopo­

listic control of foreign trade for wine, oil, and timber, using Egypt's mineral wealth

or mil i cary power (Butzer 1997; Warburton 2001: 17-2 7).

We srill do not really understand the emerging interrelationships between mili­

tary power, official religion, writing, administrative insrirutions, a complex society,

and urbanism during the millennium before the revival of Middle Kingdom Egypt.

For Childe, the links were self-evident. Today, if we go beyond Eurocenrric rational­

ism, we begin to recognize that explanation is far from simple. There is indeed much

more to early urbanism chan caxonomy.

Classical and Islamic Urbanism

City form, as a function of town planning, is of cenrral interest ro urban archaeology.

At issue is nor so much the economic relation of form and funcrion, hut the sociopo­

litical momenta that leave their imprint on urban morphology, as well as the ethnocul­

rural tastes and imperatives that may limit formal geometries . Cityscapes project more

than power, wealth, and style. They also reflect cultural values and the rituals of puh­

lic social behavior, while accommodating the pushes and pulls of social segregation

and neighborhood aggregation. These competing demands musr be accommodated

within optimizing solutions to economics and security. As a result, urban landscapes can be informative, even wirhour explanatory texts, as to the many dialectical poles

imprinted wirhin an urban fabric.

After the death of Alexander the Great, the orthogonal grid-plan town bursts forth

in the Hellenistic Near East, serting the tone for an "orderly" urban prototype that was

perfected in Imperial Rome, dominating cities of the Mediterranean Basin for half a

millennium; compare Delaine (chapter 6), Fentress (2000), or Rich and Wallace­

Hadrill (1991) with older taxonomies such as Grima! and Woloch (1983). We would

82 Karl W. Bulzer

now say that rhe new Hellenistic cities in rhc former Persian Empire were designed to

communicate a Western meta-narrative that was fundamentally secular, rational, and

propagandistic.

Although based on existing Grc::ek prorotypes (Owens 1991), the Hellenistic city

was designed ro project a New Order of enlightened policy and Greek civilization in non-Hellenic areas. The axial l ayout and formal architecture represenred dynastic

power, the official cult, and rhe centers of cultural and social imeracrion. Ethnic and

assimilated Greeks clustered around the city core, lending prestige ro the adjacent

srrects. The main body of indigenous people lived in peripheral "neighborhoods" that

played only a subordinate role in urban life. The Hellenistic city was, in fact, designed

ro impress and ro acculrurate these indigenous, Near Eastern peop les .

Nonetheless, rhe planned Hellenistic or colonial model remained only one of two

basic possibilities because ind ige n ous urbanism reflected different principles.

Traditional Near Eastern societies placed an inordinate emphasis on privacy. Family

life was nor exhibited on rhe street, nor were civic activities c onducted in an agora or

piazza. This is born our by the rainstaking French excavations at Ugar it (Ras Shamra,

Syria) (Yon 1997), where the Late Bronze sire plan closely approximates that of an

Islamic city of two millennia later. Ugarit was rightly packed, with narrow, winding

srreers and mulciple blind alleys that provided semiprivate access to houses that were

focused on home courryards. Residential districts were based on social, primarily kin,

group ings (Schlocn 2001). Ugarir does nor stand by itself, bur as a well-studied pro­

wrype of cities emerging in greater Mesopotamia duri ng the fourth millennium nc.

In Egypt, emphasis has been placed on cop-down urban models, such as Lahun,

Amaroa, and Elephantine, which vaguely conform to Western expectations. The

impression obta i ns char some orthogonal organization was imposed at certain rimes,

bur where organic evolution was poss ibl e , a different picture emerges. In the crafts­

men 's rown at Dcir ei-Medina (McDowell 2001; Valbelle 1985), opposite Luxor in

Upper Egypt, houses had air vcnrs rather rhan wi ndows facing rhe street, and during

the rown's final expansion , doorways began ro open on new cul-de-sac alleys. Exteriors

were plain, and whatever wealth there was, was displayed in the inrerior. Peaking

shortly after 1200 oc, Deir el-Medina suggests rhar residemial quarters in pre-Islamic

Egypt may have been similar to the crowded, egalitarian Coptic se ttlements of a later

rime rhar were never recorded by excavators. Long before the He llenistic era, indige­

nous Ncar Eastern neighborhoods a.lready reflected different cultural values and rules .

Given rhe compartmentalization of urban archaeology according to period, this fun­damental characteristic has been essent ially overlooked,

During rhc reign of Augustus, the city of Rome underwent a maj or makeover,

· wirh offic ial investmenr and private wealrh driving a frenzy of building activity,

designed ro glorify the deified emperor and ro represent the power of rhe primate city.

Bur the complex ropography of rhe Seven Hills and existing architectural fcarures pre­

cluded anything approaching an orthogonal grid. Contrary to widespread opinion, the

arch itect Virruvius (approximately 25 oc) played no rangible role in this rebuilding,

Other Perspectives on Urbanism 83

ocher chan as a conservative critic. New provincial cities sometimes implemented the norms of a chessboard geometry, bur ar leasr some of rhese were transformed mili rary

camps; even so, orienrarion wirh respect ro che cardinal poinrs was nor rhe rule. The

imponance of Virruvius is that he is one of rhe few surviving sources to documenr che

archiceccural acriviry of a per i od in which architects planned on a large scale and

helped create distinctive urban landscapes.

During rhe third century AD, the population of Roman provincial cities was declin­

ing rapid ly as a resu lt of ep idemi cs , warfare, and economic disintegration. The origi­

nal propagandistic role of rhe ciry to acculrurare native peoples (see Jones, chapter 7) was forgouen as citizenship was extended ro almost everyone. With the advent of

Christianity under Constantine, the first ch urches were built ourside rhe walls of

Rome, creating new parish modules of nucleated serrlement, while the core of Rome

became a museum and decayed (Kramheimer 1983). Provin cia l cities of rhe fourth and fifrh centuries AD saw a building-over of public spaces and conversion of elite resi­

dences inro warrens of squalid slums (Carver 1996; Kennedy 1985). Piece by piece, all across the empire, the administrative srrucrures that had once m a i nta ined ciry spaces

and urban order failed.

The new Christian ideolog y certainly conrribured to rhis transformarion, as baths,

circuses, and rhearers were closed , temples razed, and administrative buildings con­

vened inro bas il ican churches. Commerce was unwe lcome . Grear cities such as

Antioch did nm recover after Justi nian 's plague of the 540s. The comprehensive archi ­

tectural schemes of the Classical city were abandoned. lnscead, rulers now sought ro

identify and glorify rhemselves rhrough church consrrucr ion on a monumenrai scale. Wherever ciries did nor die bur evolved, rhey became differenrly grounded , in the

transcendental symbolism of Christian rede mption. This is clearly reflecred in rhe

Madaba mos a ic map (ca. AD 550) of Jordan (Donner and Clippers 1977), which shows

a ropography wi rh few secular sign poses bur dominated by churches and focused on

the ciry of Jerusalem.

The emergence of a Christian-Byzantine metropolis (Krautheimer t 969) in newly

founded Constantinople rem ains ro be comprehensively srudied. Cons tantine 's axial

esplanade of power, pomp, and enrenainmenr was modified under J ust inian by con­

struction of the "great" and "lirrle'' Hagia Sophias at eirher end. By 1204 the palace

complex had been abandoned and on ly rhe churches remained, wirh rhe sear of g overn­

mem moved ro modest hui ld ings ar rhe or her end of town. As represented hy ciry views

drawn before 1453 (Manners 1997), Consranrinople's hallmark was a hosr of parish

churches at rhe center of neighborhood communities, possibly forming semi­

autOnomous social modules, char included foreign colonies. Ne ighborhoods or barrios

form the building blocks of urban socia l living in many cultural contexts (Kaluzny

2004) and call for more explicit ;urenrion by urbanists. After rhe Otroman conguesr

rhere mainly was cont inuity in rhe residential quarters, bur with Muslim mahallas (quarrers or secrors) of related kin groups clustered around their neighborhood

mosques, in terspersed among Orthodox, Armenian, and Larin modules.

The death of Muhammad, a m illennium afrer rhat of Alexander, crystallized a

84 Karl W. Bvtzer

cou nrer-urban experience w i rhou c form a l geomecries; i r was nurcured i n rhe Is lamic " Ease , " co rem a i n characte r i s t i c we l l i n ro rhe [ndusrria l Era (Abu Lughod l 9 R 7.) . T h i s

c i r y p roc la imed the g reat n ess of God , n e x t r o w h o m r u l e rs a n d wea l t h y e l i tes were

i ns ign i fi c a m . There was no d iv is ion of che secu la r and the sac red because the existen­t ial realm was one and t h e same as t he cog n i t ive and re l i g i ous . The u rban e nv i ro n m e n t

was variably suucru red , fo r m e n a n d w o m e n , berween w h a t was forbidden a n d c l osed

and what was open and access i b l e . fr was a rad ical l y d i fferen t ci ry, the logic of wh ich

was based on rel ig i ous rrad i r ion (A bu Lug hod 1 98 7 ; Eben Saleh 1 99 R ; Face 1 9 84 ;

Hak im 1 986; Kal uzny 2004 ; Wheatley 1 97() ; Wi r r h 1 992) , bur i r s c u l tural roots were

fi rm l y e m bedded i n i rs Near Easte rn her i tage. Smal l wonder c hat it was d iffic u l t co

understand i n Eu roce orri c re rm s .

In r h e Is l a m i c c ity o f t he new A r a b worl d , pu b l i c bu i l d i ngs h a d t o rem a i n su bor­

d i nate ro mosq ues , and the spi r i r of egal i tar ia n i sm d i d nor rol erace os ren ra r i o us e l i te

resid ences . There was l i t c le corporate ide nt i ty (Lapidus 1 984 [ 1 967] ) , and sec ular

power w as suspect, so publ ic d isp l ay of a u rh or i ry could l ead to a n egarive back lash

(Li nd ho l m 1 996). Barh houses were esse n t i a l fo r personal clea n l i n ess, ra ther c han a s

s i res of soc i a l i n tercou rse . Com m erce w a s a me r i tori ous en terprise , a n d cen rral spaces

were used fo r sem i covered suqs ( bazaars). Open marker pl aces were l i ke l y ro be fou n d

i n ou r ly i ng o r extram u ral areas , to accommodate l i ves tock and sometim es u nru ly

t r i ba l people . Commerc i al travel e rs were accommodated i n p rom i nen t i nn s (khans).

Fam ily l i fe was focused on the seq ues te red home courtyard , and s t reets were n a rrow

:1nd wind i n g , poss i bly ro accommodate came l rarher rha n can rraffic . A l l eys , stair­

ways, or obs truc ted srreers funher served as an imped i me n t to mo u n ted raiders .

Rel ig ious schools (madrasas) extended the re l ig ious s p he re beyond t he mosq ue ,

w h ic h was surrou nded by gard ens and ablut ion faci l i t i es, whether modest or impos ­

i ng . In many ear l y mosq ues, rhe cou rtya rd replaced the agora o r forum as a cen rer for

d isc uss ion and legal dec is i on s . The axis of rhe mosq ue was po i n ted towards Mecca , a

sacred orientat ion (qibla) char co u l d i n fl ue nce u rban layouts as m uch as i t d i d Islamic

cartog raphy.

The Is la m ic city as d escri bed here was an arche type bes t rep resen ted i n conserva­

tive Norrh A frica, a nd t here w e re many regional and suucrural except ions , for exam­

ple , earl y Isl a m i c , grid-plan m i l i tary settlements. There also were planned ci t ies , s uch

as Abbasid Baghd ad (ci rc ula r) a nd Samarra (rec t i l i near) (Creswe l l 1 9 5 8), bu r Is lam i c

ort hodoxy was a l ways 4uick r o condem n t h e trappi ngs of secular po wer a nd such i n i ­

t iat ives soon died. J n rerpretations of rhe sharia or even i rs preva l e nce varied a great

dea l , however, anJ Tur k i s h ls lam was more flex i b le i n regard to the segreg a t i on of

pu bl ic and private space , whi c h a lso may have bee n rrue for Islamic Spa i n . W h atever

i rs eth n ic vari a n t s , the resu l t i ng fslam i c u rban lan dscape , so often descri bed as chaotic,

is e m i n e n t l y log i ca l bur c l earl y non- Western .

B u r Is lam i c segregation o f publ ic a n d private spheres-and the view rhar wome n

should be hidden-sustai ned a borrom -up dynamic based on k i n s h i p . The res u l ting

neig hbo rhood associations and households generated an i rregular sr reer plan , from a

. primary concern for rhe needs of the house hold and i rs im med i ate neigh bors rather

O t h e r P e r . p e c t i v e s o n U r b o n i s m 85

r han for c i rywide orga o i zar ion (Schloe n 200 l : 1 1 1 ) . Mark Lehner (pe rsona l co m m u n i ­

o r i o n , 2000) argues c h a r r h e non l i near, nongeomer r i c u rba n agglomerat ion re flens

local i m p u lses , consrra i n rs , and pe rceived need s , based on s hared ideas a n d ideology.

Isl am pur a s i g o i flcaor s p i n o n otherwise se l f-generat i ng and self-regulat ing syste m s ,

i n r h e sense of Schau r ( L 992). In em phas i z i ng alrerna r ive urba n i s m s , we are nor dea l i ng w i rh acad e m i c esorerica

bur h ig h l i g h t i n g fu ndamental m i sconcept ions a bo u t the "ocher" char have contem po­

rary relevance . Some arc h i tect u ra l h i srorians or cult u ra l geograp h e rs co m i n ue c o

equate adobe tec hnology w i th 1s lam i c urba n i s m , con fu s i n g material c u l ture w i rh a

fi n e l y nua nced way of l i fe . The m i sconception rhar New World adobe cons r r u c r i o n

der i ves from E g y p t v i a Morocco and Spa i n i s com monplace (B urzer and Butze r 2000) . Yer mud-br ick was once used worldw ide , wherever su i table m ud s w e re read i l y ava i l ­

ab.l e . La rg e bu i ld i ngs o f rammed ea rth were bu i l r i n Med ieval cen t ra l Europe, y e r fou r

decades of I s l a m i c archaeology in Spa i n reveal on l y em-scone or roc k consc ruc r i o n i n

res i d e n t ial q uarters , w hether rural or urban (Bu rz.e r e r a l . 1 986; De la igue \ 988; Valor

Piechorra 1 9 9 '5 ) . Such s tereotypes and misrepresen r a r i o n underscore r he need for a bet­

ter u nders tand i ng of I s l a m i c c i v i l i zation a nd i rs v is ib l e m a n i festa t i o n s . Given that

Goog le, in 2007, had 1 0 , 000 h i rs for Is lamic urban i sm and 5 60 ,000 for Is lamic archae­

ology, i c is apparenr that the cu l t u ra l i n c rovers i o n of o u r dared , Wesrern academic s rrucru res i s om of l i ne w i r h t h e pote n c ial recepr iv i c y of a n educated publ i c .

Aix�la�Chape/le and Timbuktu

R i g h c ! y or w rong ly, most of us are probably atrracred ro che idea rhac urban i s m is somehow l i n ked co n r r i s t i c express i o n and i n re l lecrua l act i v i ty. Ch i l d e saw i r r h a c way,

and ofc r i mes that assoc i a t i o n was r rue . Li m i t i ng che i s sue co scholarsh i p , I would

a rgue char the precond i t ions a r e econom i c g row t h , e n l i g h tened par ronage, a n d op por­

cu n i r ies fo r scholarly exchange-th roug h mobi l i t y and access ro l i brary sou rces or

ocher prororypes (Burz.er 1 994). Tw o examples may make the poi n r . The Ca rol i ng i an Renewa l beg an under

Charle magne du r i ng the 7 80s and in a very u n l i kely place , a l ong abandoned Roman

spa, w h i c h becam e rhe German c i r y of Aac hen, or A i x- la-C hape l le . A l t hough there

was no more chan a s e c of s u l fu rous m i ne ra l sp ri ngs on o ne of the scarc.�· red Caro l i ngian

dynast ic propert ies , rhe em peror came he re ro " rake the wate rs . " A d ec ade Iac er, the

s i re had been em bell i shed by a s t rong keep, a sma l l resident ial complex , and an inno­

vat ive oc tagonal church that was mode led on Raven n a . There was no tow n . B u r

Charl emagne managed to arcrac r some of r h e best scholars of Bri ta i n , France, western

Germ any, and I ta ly co c h i s i so la ted woodland s i r e . Here chey discu ssed educat ion and

the seven l i beral arcs , renewed i n q u i ry i n ro astronomy and mathematics , and o b tai ned

Class i c a l manuscr ip ts from Icaly char were copied in monast ic scri pror ia and com­

men ted on or em be l l ished by indiv idual scholars (Bu rze r and B u tzer 2003) . By al l

accou n t s , rhis moJesr ime l l ccrua l revival was d riven by t he emperor's penchant for dis-

86 K a r l W. B u tz e r

cou rse a nd rhe i mprovement of monas ric educat ion. He was fl u enr i n Lar i n yer cou ld nei ther read nor wr i te . Bur he had the power, resources , and vision ro make the

Renewa l poss ib le . He became rhe fl rsr royal patron to sponsor scholars h ip s i nce t he

Roman empe ro r Ti tus discussed sc ience on power walks with Pl iny d u r i ng rhe !are fl rs r cenrury.

My second improbable case is rhe Wes r African city of Ti mbukru , or Tombouktou, near the R i ver N iger in the unforgiv i ng Sahel of modern Mal i . Long synonymous w i t h t he end o f r h e known world, Ti mbukru nonetheless hac.! 1 3 7 ,000 Goog le h i rs i n 2007 ,

reflecting i rs fa me as a center of Islamic l ea r n i ng ac ross 300 years , u n t i l rhe Moroccan conquest of 1 5 9 l . To this gateway c i ty con nec t i ng Wes t Africa with the Saharan car­a v a n rou tes to Nort h Africa, Timb ukru's rulers---despite repeated dynasr ic and echoic cha nges-arcracred c luste rs of scho lars from rhe Near East (Benjami osen a nd B e rge

2004 ; Mcin tosh and Mcintosh 200 :3 ; Winters 198 1 ) . I ts wea l t h of perhaps c lose to a

m i l l ion Med ieval and early Modern man uscri pts , now being gathered and preserved by an i mernariona! effort , represents an i nest i mable reso urce for future research . In i rs

r i me, rhis adobe c i r y was very populous, irs three grand mosques s t i l l v is i ble today and i rs Islamic univers i ty rev ived .

The common t h reads w i th Aachen a re wea ! r h , mob i l i ty, and a cr i r ica ! mass of scholars , bur t he remarkably sustained patronage enj oyed by Tim bukru w a s beyond

rhe vis ion of the last Carol i ngians. Even so, Cha rlemag ne's i mage of a New Jerusale m

st i l l c o n t i nues ro d e fi ne a palpable sacred space , v is i ted dai ly by busloads of v is i tors from three count r ies .

Just a s a n i n ternational exchange sustai ned Timbukru, ou r perspect ive o n Med i eval

u r banism in Wes ter n E u rope (Vance 1 990) should em phas ize the i mportance of mul­

timlturaliJm i n what is eas i l y mistaken for an i nc h oate j um b l e of backward pri nc i pa l ­

i t ies. D u r i ng a l o n g wave of populat ion growth, w h i c h began w i t h r h e e n d o f the

Vi k i ng and Magyar depredations, E uropea n craftsmansh ip was s t i m ulated by the mis­g u ided Crusad i ng enterpr ise , wh i ch brough t all walks of soc iety i nro ind i recr concacr

wirh Is lamic c iv i l izat ion . Wi th the new flourish of special ized c rafrs came a dema nd

for raw materials that was fi rst met d u r i ng the ]are 1 1 00s by the marker fa i rs of Cha mpag ne , a t t rac t i ng suppl iers a n d merc ha n ts from a l l over Wes tern Europe a nd

I taly (Abu Lughod 1 989). Trade became so lucrative rhat town char ters fo l lowed ,

some t i mes purchased from bank rupt loca l lords , e m a n c ipar i ng the nascenr c i t ies from aristocraric inte rference . The common rhrcad of such chaners i ncl uded marker priv i ­leges , inst i r u r ional ized craft g u i lds, a n d elected rown counci ls that represemed a fi rs t seep to pan icipatory governme n t . By 1 2 50 , new town charters began ro anracr crafts­m e n and merchanrs ro h u nd reds of sma l l and large places all over easr -cenrrat E u rope (Quir i n and Tri llm ich 1 9 5 6:7 5 , 8 6) . M i n i ng towns con ferred more spec i fi c pr iv i leges,

lead i ng to an upsurge of m in i ng acr iv i r i es. L i n lc appreci ated i s chat most l a te Med ieval towns of eas tern E urope were m u l t i ­

ethnic , drawi ng the i r n e w c i t izens from h u n d reds of k i lometers away, w i th s k i l led weavers com ing from d i sranr F l a nders or Wallonia (Qu ir in and Tril lmich 1 95 6:8 2-83) .

O t h e r P e r s p e c t i v e s o n U r b a n i s m 87

The new c i t ies p rov id ed safe havens nor only fo r g u i lds of c rafts men bur a lso for e t h ­

n ic enc laves . The g ran r i n g of u rban pr iv i leges was econom ical l y p rofitabl e , and by

1 300 r h e Se rbian k ing was we lcom i ng fo re i g n merchants and craftsmen a n d espec i a l l y

rhe "Saxon" m i ners ( Drennon 1 998). Under Ocroman r u l e , craft g u i l d s a l s o bec ame

ecumenical , w i th ad he r e n r s of d i ffe ren t re l i g ions wor k i n g toge t h e r i n a s i ng l e co n fra ­

ternity (Ina l c ik 1 993).

Like rrade fa i rs , i n rernaciona l p i lg rimages, such as rhose ro Composrel a , Rome , o r

Jerusalem , fu rther served to st i r che ethn ic pot , expos i ng peop l e w n e w pl aces , new

peopl e , and new i d eas in an era w i c h o u r i n ce rc i ty tra ins or telev i s i o n . Grain from the

B a l r i c he lped feed the popu lace of Med i terranean c i t ies. B a n kers from I ta l y or

Germany provided ltr ters of cred i t in Paris or B ruges. Eu rope on rhe eve of 1 492 was

a su rpri s i ng l y cosmopol i ran p lace.

How can urban archaeology w i t hom w r i t te n records do j ust ice to rhe m u l t i c u l ­

tural componenrs of t h e u rban experie nce ; M y form e r studenc Chris t i ne Dre nnon

( 1 998) was able co s how t hat crad i r ional d ress idenr i fied che " s t a c u s " of women i n m ul­

ciethn ic Macedonia , rat her chan the ir e t h n ic i cy. Kenoyer (chap ter I 0) points co a s i m ­

i l a r funcc ion for women 's bang l es i n Ba rappa. Archaeo logica l scraceg ies r o i d e n t i fy

d i fferences i n buria l pracr i ces , s k e l e t a l a noma l i es , or ( isotopic) d iet are nor g uaranteed

to id enrify e t h n i c d i fference un less there were d i s t i nct belief systems and effective

soc i a l segregat i on .

European and Mesoamerican Cities

U rban ism i n Europe dur ing rhe H i gh M i d d l e A ges was v i b ram and d ive rse . There w a s

no s i n g l e m as rer plan as c i t ies evolved orga n i ca l l y t o accom moda te new s oc i a l and eco­

nom i c needs char transcended older defens ive modes in rhe shadow of a s trong forrress

(Va nce 1 990), such as Prague , B rno , or Krakow. Larg e r c i ties m i g h t become m u l t i ­

n oda l , accom modat i ng e x i s t i ng church -oriented quaners b u r a l so requ i r i ng a spacious

marke tplace . New c i ry wal ls were added afrer rhe face . 1 t was around the m arker char

leadi ng c i tizens b u i l t rhe i r elaborate h ouses a nd where c h e most prom i ne n t b u i ld i ngs

were co be fou n d : g u i ld hal ls , che mercan t i le exchange , and the counc i l house . Many

c i t ies also em barked o n am b i t ious church consuuc r ion , beyond rhe a m b i t o f t rad i ­

t i ona l par i shes , t o prov ide borh a rel i g i ous and secu lar landmark that would s ignal the

prestige of rhe c i ry.

A s imi lar divers i ty was found in the cou ntrys ide , w h e re the pac ked v i l lage nuc le i

of the ear l ie r Middle Ages gave way on new s i res ro several k i nds of l i near v i l lages ,

depending on chc topog raphy or economic fu ncc ion (Engel 1 970 :95-98). Here , too ,

spat ia l confi g u rat ions were d i ctated by pragmatic prior i r ies . Monaster ies con t i n ued ro

be built or expanded , bur rhe e m phasis now was on d i splay rather chan redempti o n .

T h e c ra nsce ndenra l mappaemundi of a n earl ier r ime we re be i ng rep laced by pract i ca l nav­

igat ion charts or by i l lumi nated maps of a wondrous, wider world inferred from travel­

ers' rumors o r the i mag i nari on (Harley and Woodward 1 987). Rel i g i on mattered very

88 K a r l W. B u t z e r

much, bur it had co take i t s p lace alongside secular purs u i ts . Churc h s pi res do m i nated

the sky l i nes , but most u rban act i v i t y centered on the here and now. U n l ike Is lamic

c i t ies, which remai ned t i me less except on the peripheries of Is lam, Wes t Eu ropean

urban i sm con t i n ued co evo l ve and change wi thout the anchor of a res tra i n i ng i deo logy.

H i s tor ians of arc h i reccure are fasc i nated by rhe reemerg ence of the gr id-plan town ,

para l l e l wi th the red iscove ry of Classical arch i tecture, towards 1 5 00. Some attr ibute

r h i s ro Leon Barrista A l be n i , wri t i ng i n 1 4 5 2 , but the faces a re otherw ise . The fi rst of

the new chessboard towns were founded on new s i tes m u c h ea r l ie r, afte r t he reconquest

of Va lencia, i n rhe m i d - l 200s. They were conce ived by Ja mes I of A rago n , presu ma b ly as a com prom ise berween a rectangular, defens ive peri m eter and a u n i fi ed urban plan

focused on a large plaza , where a m a i n ch u rc h stood across from the b u i ldi ngs of

adm i n isrra t i o n and com merce (Rossell6 Verger l 9R7) . The com plementar i ty, rather

than separati on, of c h u rch a n d state w as so proc la imed . St ree ts were broad , ro accom­

modate rel i g i ous p rocess ions and floats , and formed a perfect g r i d . Ja m es probably

knew l i t r le of Class ical· anti q u i ty and presumably had rhe p l ans for Cas rel l6 n and

Vil larreal d rawn u p on rat ional and prag mat i c g rounds .

The g r id-plan r o w n , Iacer arrr i bu red ro A lbert i and hai led a s a prod uct of the

Ital ian Renaissance, had ac rual ly been born amid Med i eval heterodoxy. The idea muse

have pers isted i n Spa i n as a strategy for b u i ld i ng new towns, because in I 502 Santo

Dom i ngo was laid our in t h i s m a n ne r, wi rbouc i n s t ruct ions from rhe court . Ge nera l

d i rect ives, however, were g iven for the l ay i ng om of Panama C i t y i n 1 5 1 3 , and Pue b la

was planned i n 1 5 3 i accorJ i ng to s i m i lar pri nc i ples (Bu tzer 1 992) . Then , i n 1 5 3 8

Viceroy Mendoza had m u c h of Mex ico C i t y razed and rebu i l t on a r ig id grid plan , and,

i ndeed , he is known ro have pondered Albert i (Tovar d e Te resa 1 9 87) . The col o n i a l

N e w World rown had been born (Burzer 1 989, 1 992) .

With the benefi t o f h i nds ight , i t i s i ronic t h a t t h e m a i n cui rural t h rust o f Spanish

colonial po l icy w a s cente red on polic!a (c ivi l ized behav ior), which was ro be exe mpl i ­

fled by Med i terranean-style socia l a m b ience i n prope rly plan ned n e w tow ns (li cate

1 9 8 1 ) . These were to be rhe model for relocated i nd igenous se t c lemenrs, where the bui l t env i ronment and i ts soc ial i n sti t u t ions were c o "c i v i l i ze" and accul turate the

nat ives (Tac i tus redux ' ) so that they m i g h t learn from the orderly tem poral and spir i ­

cual l i v ing of rhe i r m e n tors . This a l l seems l i ke a replay of the discussion on rhe new

Hel len i s t i c c i ty.

Nonetheless, the i m posed grid plan had more structural and fu nc t ional s i m i lari­

ties w i th Mesoamerican c i t ies than di fferences . I ndigenous urban ce mers i n centra l

Me xico were arra nged accord ing to ast rono m i cal beari ngs d i c tated by cosmological

criteri a (Hi rth , c hapter 1 4 ; Marcu s 2 000 [ l 9 8 3 b ] ; Pybu r n , chapter 1 3 ; Ti chy 1 99 1 ;

Tyrakowski 1 989) . They were focused on grear squares that served ceremonial , as wel l

as com merc ial , needs or functions, c lose co prom i nen t temples and pa laces to project a part icu lar soc ia l order a nd procla im dy nas t ic power. As the vis ible markers of wealth

and sta rus Jissi pated w i t h i nc reas ing d istance from rhe c i t y ce nter, crowded res iden­

t ia l q uarters for co mmoners were organ i zed around more modest , sac red places . A t the

O t h e r P e r � p e c l i v e � o n U r b a n i sm 89

urban perimeter, rhe landscape d i ssolved i n to less structured v i l lages and hamlets sur­

rounded by marker ga rd e ns ( B utzer a n d B u tze r 2000). No major urban c e n rer i n Spain had conformed co the u n i fied grid-plan tow n

i mposed on the New Wo rld. Thar colon i a l model , whatever i rs t h i rree n r h-cemury roo rs, was fi rs t appl ied in Mesoame r i c a d uri ng rhe early 1 5 00s. I t was ro replace

indigen ous grid rowns char had been laid our accord i ng co more exacting and reg u l a r

c r i reria chan any urban cen ter i n Wesrern E u rope . T h i s is yer another example o f

Euroce n r ric arrogance a nd i l lu s i o n .

Concluding Discussion

This com memary exami nes a half-dozen focal po i n ts or d i chotom ies that re presenr

neglec ted quest ions , troublesome assumptions , or al rernarive perspec t ives on early

urba n i s m . These can now be summed up and briefl y ela borated .

( l ) Ci r i es have always been ope n , ra rher than closed , systems. I have s i ng l ed our

popu lat ion g rowt h and decl i ne , as re flected in reg ion al ser t l e m e m histori es , as a pro­

duct ive ave nue ro srud y long- term change. Thi s , i n turn , may be re la ted to the art ic­

ulation or i n tegrat ion of exchange systems. Such a m acro- i nte rpretac ion suggests

world -sy ste m app l i cat ions . I t can also suppon or set s t r i c t ures to rhe c u rren r c ross­

d i sc i pli nary interest in c i v i l i zarional "r i se and d e m ise , " espec ia l ly the subject of d i s­

con r i n u i t y or collapse. Among ocher poss i b le fac rors i n such cycl ic rh y th m s are a brupt c l imate cha nge and environmen ral d eg radat ion , so roday rhe metaphor ica l i n tersect i o n

of urban w i t h enviro n m e n tal sys te m s rakes on even greater s igni ficance. T h i s i s w here

u rban geo-a rchaeology comes i n , as a me thodo logy char can in terrelate urban and envi­

ronmental processes or i d e m i fy growth or d ec l i ne wi thi n rhe c i ty, as a r Giza or Axum.

U rban geo- a rch aeology can deal exp l ic it ly w i th d i verse and prope rly grounded , envi­

ronmen tal perspectives. These would be germane ro larger ques t i o n s of susrainab i l i t y

(Burzer 2005 b). (2) Everyone seems to ag ree thtlt rel i g i on i s i mporr a n c i n the srud y of u rba n i s m .

The q u estion i s , w h i c h k i n d of " re l i g i on " ? Long afcer B uddh i s m d isappeared from I n d i a , rhe c i ry of Gaya i n B i ha r State con c i n ues to arrract h u ndreds of t h ousands of p i l ­

g r i m s a n n ual ly ro t he s i te of the E n l ightenment of the B udd ha. Ma n y o f th e p i lg r i m s

a r e B ud d h i s ts from abroad, but most are H i nd u s w h o repeat a r i t u a l w i t h o u t u n d e r­

stand ing i rs mea n i ng . Nom i n a l l y, t h i s is a n exam ple of rhe i m pr i n r of formal re l i g i o n ,

offi(iated b y a H i n d u priesthood , bur i rs heterodox a n d b icultural roots m a ke i t a cel­

ebrat ion of popular rel ig ion . How wou l d one d eal wi th such a city in str icdy archaeo­

l ogica l rerms, w i t hout rhe advantages of trad i t i o n and wri t ten records ? What analogs

are there w i rh the offic i a l cult of Old K i ngdom Eg yp t ? Did the esc ha tologi cal shi fts

of the officia l Egyptian cult be t ween Dy nast ies 4 a n d 5 affect or reflect popular rel i ­

g ion ? Cou ld i r b e t h a t rhe anima l c u l t s , espec i a l l y of r h e Late Period , caprure t h e sp ir i t

of Egypt i a n popular rel ig ion ? Were the official c u l ts of the Hel l e n i s t i c ki ngs and

Rom an e m perors more t h an projections of authority o r leg i t i macy desi gned ro chan­

nel and reg i ment loya l t y ?

90 Ka rl W. B u t z e r

The I s l a m i c c i ry i s not j ust a n a l rernar ive ci ryscape bu r at o nce a phys ica l , experi­

e n r i a l , and t rflnscendental rea l m that has no other coun terparc i n the e t h nog raph i c

p resenr . h d raws heav i l y on prehisto r i c roots a n d on d i fferent c u l t u ra l r rad i c ions from

t h ose of t he Greco- Rom ao or Med ieva l Ge rmanic c i ry and req ui res a d i ffe rent episte­

mol ogy. Tha t i s so nor o n l y because of dist inct tOp-down i deolog ies , bur a l so because

of cult ural p re ferences for t he ar t ic u lat i on of public and private space, w h i c h favor borrom - u p se l f-organ i za t i o n and are expressed by d ive rging spa c i a l configurations .

Fu rrher, in each k i nd of urbanism , the l ine between the secu lar and rel i g i ous is d i f­

ferently conce ived and exp ressed , as an i nd ivis i ble dual i ty, as an expl i c i t comp lemen­

tar i ty, or even as a formal "se parat ion . " There i s , then, a variable dialecti c be tween rhe c u l tu ral and the p o l i t ica l , with p rofou nd soc i a l , econo m i c , and spa t i a l i m pl icat ions.

Th i s has nor yet been effect ively recog n i zed by comparat ive h istorical u rban i s ts ? d e spi te i rs i mportance for u nderstand i ng co nverge n t or divergent urban evolu t io n .

(3 ) T h e E a r l y Modem model of a sec u l a r c i v i l service (c lep roc ra r ic or nor) i s d iffi ­

cult to shake. A fo rma l a nd rat ional b u reauc racy centered ar rhe pharaoh's c o u r t lagged

beh i nd stare fo rmar i on or u rban ism by ar l eas t a m i l le n n i Ll m . The Eg ypt ian case fu r­

ther suggests rhar the i nst i tu tional srrucru res respons i b le for ad m i n i st rat ion a nd rhe

channe l i ng of power are part i cu l a r l y d i fficult to grasp. Entwi ned w i th rhe relig i ous

sphere and at once i m p rovisat ional and cu lrural ly g rou nd ed , rhey a l so varied w idely

in r i m e and space . U ndersra nd i ng such n uan ced i nterrelationsh ips is essent ia l for her­

mene u r i c purposes. In d i dactic terms, they are cri ticaJ ro model rhe energ y and i nfor­

macion flows wi rh i n a c i ry, ro i dent i fy the pos i t ive and negat ive feedbacks of urban

adap tat ion , and co exp l i cate rhe rank-s i ze h i erarc hy of u rban networks. Econom ics a nd powe r are insu ffi c i e n t as the pr i m ary variab les co i n cerprer urban ism.

(4) Several examples developed here st ress rhar u rban cente rs commonly were m u l ­

tier h n i c o r a r least biculmra l . Thar plura l i s m applies to rhe population a r large and t h e

professional seccors represen ted , as well a s rhe e l i re merchanrs , arr isrs , and scholars.

E t h nocu l r u ral comp l exi ty i n t rod u ces d iffe renr sers of tens ions that may affe c t rouri ne

u rban beh avior, per iodic socia l ferment, or dec i s ion mak ing at the top. W h i le the

resul t i ng behavi oral patterns may fmd mareri a l express ion, rhac is n o r necessa r i ly s o .

Work i ng mode ls need ro i ncorporare more experience from orhe r k i nds of h istor ical , u rban i nvest igat ion.

My own d issatisfacr ion w i th a n exc lusive ly archaeolog i ca l parad igm re flec ts a

Med ieval a rchaeology project that I di recred i n rhe S ie r ra of eastern Spa in d u r i ng r he

1 980s ( B u r ze r er al . 1 986). W h i le I excava ted a Musl i m ham let and r w o Is lam i c cas­

des, El isabeth B u tzer searched rhe relevant arch iva l reco rds i n Valencia. We found char

the Iauer w e r e biased and themat i ca l ly i ncomplete, yet these arch ives added flesh ro

rhe bare bones of archaeolog ical reso l u t i o n , offer ing hu m an ist i c d i mensions for t h e l i feways and hardsh i ps of a n oppressed m i nori ty.

U nexpectec! l y, r h e arc h i ves also req u i red d i ffere nr i ncerp reta ri ons of dedu<.:r ions

sug gested by the archaeology. Some people from our m ounra in ham let of rwenry-some households had pr iv i l eges t o t ravel and uade , inc l ud i ng Josef Bar- Robe , a res ident

O t h e r P e r s pe c t i v e s o n U r ba n i s m 9 1

Jew. The same food staples were s o m e t i mes bought and someti mes sold at market , g uesr i o n i ng rhe assumption of self-suffic iency. Local c raftsmen performed con t ract

work i n dowmown Va lencia . Our, s u ppose d ly s i mp l e , v i l lagers did nor just acquire the ir good tab lewares by down- the- l i ne trade or a t local markets ; chey had cl ose con­

races wirh pot ters a t a n e l i re prod uct ion cemer 50 km away, one of them eve n post i ng

ba i l for such a po tter.

lf the goal is to u nd erstand a dynamic u rban com m u n i ty in space and r i me , ir i s

i mperat ive c o draw arch i val docume n ta t i o n i n to t h e d isc uss ion whenever poss i b le� rat her chan shrink fro m stud ies that m i g h t be con s i dered as " h isror ical archaeo logy. " In the absence of such documents, we shou l d be �ens i t ive to et h n ograph ic experience

and re l ucran c to engage i 11 pos i t iv i s t ic spec u lat ion . (5 ) Last b u r nm least , I am concerned about rhe Euroce nrri c i r y char par t ia l ly

b l inds a l most al l of us, mysel f inc lud ed , maki ng i r d i fficult to ful l y grasp a l terna t i ve

val ues und rationa les or to give them their proper d ue (Marcus 2000 ( l 98 3 b}) . U rban

archaeology shou ld nor be parr of a Western meta- na rra t ive. Bur u n l ess we broaden

our ed uca t i ona l system co i nc l ud e more soph i st icated study of non-Wesre rn c i v i l i za­ti ons or i ncorporate more non-Western prac t i t i oners i n co both d isco u rse and praxis, there i s a very real r i sk that we may fa i l r o bridge rhat gap. H istori ca l �nd compa ra­

tive urban i s m have s i gn i fican r appl icabi l i ty in a n era of confl i ctive g lobal izat ion a n d

cu l tural i n comprehtnsi on . Effecr i ve , cross -d isc ipl i nary col l aborat ion cou l d and should keep marrers of contemporary relevance i n focus .

Acknowledgments Por many yc-ors E l i sah(· th Buozer h•s s r im, , Jated me to devtlop an i n reres c in I s l amic urban i sm, and I

great ly apprec iace h e r ins ighrs :onJ J i scuss ions . Kay Ebei i n r rodured us born ro rhe ( i t y of I s tanbul on a

memorab le series of wa l kabou ts , and Chri s r ine Dre nnon ed ucn rcd us ahoU[ rhe crh n i r and re l ig ious d i versi t y u( Maced onia and i ts cir ics . Margarcr Kaluzny recoumed the re l igious and n� ighborhood componen ts n( h i s ­wrical S•vi l la . The l a re Nev i l le Ch i t t i t: k fac i l i raced my s rudy of Erh iop ia 's Axu m . Mark Lehne r duc icbtcd the "Losr C i cy of rhe Pyrnm ids" ar G i zo for me on severa l occasions , exchanging ideil.S wi th u ncommon en thusiasm H is cr i t ica l sugges< ions on rhis ma.nuscr ipr are much apprt-c iated . F ina l ly. J uan Mactu. Vicens Ro"el l<'> , anJ orher fr iends and cul leogues from Va lenc i a educated me in Med iterranean urhan i sm and wwn-<:ounrry relar ionsh ips, apart from making my excavar ions in rhe aJ jnccnr Si erra po.<s ib le .

92 K a r l W. B u t z e r

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