Habuba Kebira ou la naissance de l'urbanisme.

Abstract

Habuba Kabira was extensively explored in the seventies and has become a major site for our understanding of the urban process in the Fertile Crescent in the 4th millennium ВС. The large amount of archaeological data collected from the site has, so far, been poorly used. However, a careful spatial analysis enables us to recognize the structure and the evolution of the site. Habuba Kabira was given a true urban layout, the first one in History for which we have evidence. Urukians were able to divide the urban field into regular parcels, to hierarchize the road system provided with a net of drain pipes. The urban layout was disturbed by various events, but its different stages can be reconstructed. The process was supervised by a few families of high social status. Furthermore, the evolution of the monumental complex on the tell Kannas acropolis seems to have followed the progressive growth of the city, a phenomenon which supports a new interpretation of outstanding buildings. This set of evidence figures out an urban society which was much more hierarchiz.ed and integrated than expected at that time. Finally, this approach draws new perspectives in palaeodemography.

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