MetaFilter posts tagged with cities and archaeology

Çatalhöyük, oldest city or biggest village?

Kattullus — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 17:55:37 -0800

Why humans started huddling together in cities is still shrouded in mystery but if the question is ever settled the answer will probably be found in Çatalhöyük, a settlement of five to eight thousand located in what is now Turkey that came into existence around 7500 BC. The current head archaeologist of the Çatalhöyük Project is Ian Hodder, one of the leading lights in postprocessual archaeology, who summarized his finding in a recent article in Natural History Magazine. The Çatalhöyük Project website is a treasure trove of information about the ancient settlement. Should the site's sprawling hugeness prove intimidating, I recommend starting with Hodder's introduction to the 2005 archive report. Just the photography section alone is immense, though the flickr page and illustration gallery is of manageable size. The illustrator, John Gordon Swogger, has blog archives from the 2005 and 2006 seasons and includes plenty of images with his writing. Finally, here are interactive 3d visualizations and a streaming video introduction where, among other things, you learn how to pronounce Çatalhöyük.

Lost Cities

Wolfdog — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 12:20:49 -0800

Lost Cities.

But the cities visited by Marco Polo were always different from those thought of by the emperor

blahblahblah — Tue, 07 Dec 2004 20:48:50 -0800

The Names of Ancient Cities Still Stir the Imagination. While the City of 333 Genies has almost vanished in the sands and the Mirror of the World is tarnished with age, the City of Men's Desire abides. In 1000 years, will the Big Apple be as vital as the Eternal City or as forgotten as the City of Venerated Houses?

daveadams — Thu, 21 Dec 2000 11:27:26 -0800

Mayan Suburbia
Did the Mayans follow modern city development patterns 1500 years ago? Maybe, say some archaeologists who recently uncovered ancient suburbs, complete with subdivisions on artificial lakes, big private lawns, and strip malls.
[ from Rebecca's Pocket ]