The Political Landscape: Constellations of Authority in Early Complex Polities

List of Illustrations

Illustrations Figures 1. The death pit of Queen Puabi of Ur. 2 2. Andy Warhol, Electric Chair (1965). 4 3. Four continental views of early complex polities. 18 4. Christaller’s geometric lattice of settlement location. 39 5. A site size histogram for two eras of settlement on the Susiana plain of southwestern Iran. 41 6. The representational aesthetics of central place theory. 44 7. Central Mesoamerica showing major Preclassic and Classic period Maya sites. 117 8. Periodization and chronology of lowland Mesoamerica. 118 9. Two enduring models of Classic period lowland Maya geopolitical organization. 119 10. A Thiessen polygon lattice applied to Classic Maya settlement , and a nearest neighbor array. 124 11. A central place hub-and-spoke array superimposed on remotely sensed sacbeob around Calakmul. 128 12. Site distances along existing routes and pathways, northeast Peten, Guatemala. 129 13. A diagram of bilateral political relationships centered on Calakmul. 132 14. The Classic period Maya lowlands from the perspective of Calakmul. 134 15. The House of the Governor, Uxmal. 138 ix 16. Copan Stela A. 140 17. Seibal Stela 10. 142 18. The Palette of Narmer, Late Predynastic, ca. 3150–3125 b.c. 150 19. Eastern Anatolia and southern Caucasia showing major Urartian sites of the ninth to seventh centuries b.c. 157 20. A periodization of Bronze and Iron Age southern Caucasia and a chronology of the Urartian kings. 158 21. The Late Bronze Age fortress of Tsakahovit. 167 22. Late Bronze and Early Iron Age fortress sites in the region of Mt. Aragats. 171 23. Urartian fortresses in the region of Mt. Aragats. 172 24. Known Late Bronze Age sites in the Tsakahovit Plain, Armenia. 173 25. Architectural and topographic plans of three pre-Urartian fortified political centers from southern Caucasia. 174 26. Architectural and topographic plans of two imperial period Urartian centers on the Ararat plain. 176 27. Architectural and topographic plan of Teishebai URU, a reconstruction period Urartian center on the Ararat plain. 179 28. Architectural and topographic plan of the Urartian fortress at Aragats. 180 29. Mesopotamia and its surroundings, third and early second millennia b.c. 191 30. A carved stone relief from the palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh (ca. 704–681 b.c.). 206 31. Upper section of the stela of the law code of Hammurabi, ca. 1792–1750 b.c. 207 32. Fragment from the Stela of Ur-Namma. 208 33. Architectural plan of Ur during the Third Dynasty and early Old Babylonian periods with modern topographic contours. 212 34. Kassite period map of Nippur inscribed on clay tablet. 217 35. City plan of Babylon during the Neo-Babylonian period of the mid-first millennium b.c. 218 36. Residential areas at Ur during the Third Dynasty and early Old Babylonian periods: the EM Site. 221 37. Residential areas at Ur during the Third Dynasty and early Old Babylonian periods: the AH Site. 222 38. A spatial graph of the AH Site at Ur. 223 39. The new architecture of the German federal regime, Berlin. 234 40. Comparative views of Urartian masonry. 240 x ILLUSTRATIONS 41. Architectural plan of Argishtihinili West. 242 42. A spatial graph of Argishtihinili West. 243 43. Architectural plan of Erebuni. 246 44. A spatial graph of Erebuni. 247 45. Architectural plan of Teishebai URU. 251 46. A spatial graph of Teishebai URU. 252 47. A selection of fortress elements on Urartian bronze bowls from Teishebai URU. 256 48. Two pieces of an Urartian bronze fortress model from Toprakkale. 257 49. A fragment of an Urartian bronze belt. 258 50. An Urartian stone block with carved relief from Kefkalesi. 262 51. An Urartian bronze plaque from Erebuni. 264 Table 1. Nearest Neighbor Distances for Classic Period Maya Sites in the Northeast Peten. 127 ILLUSTRATIONS xi This page intentionally left blank ...