elements of demographic, socio-cultural and historical evolution of human settlements
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contemporary models for analysing the development of early complex urban societies have progressed far beyond Childe’s original formulation, there is still substantial agreement among researchers that he correctly identified the set of social transformations underlying human society, in essence, up to the first industrial revolution, as well as the main processes involved. In line with these methodological grounds, and in the framework of the historical and demographic evolution of the human species, the following sections will analyse some historical examples of cities, not so much for their architectural or urbanistic relevance, or for the role played in the urban planning evolution theories. Moreover, their examples highlight some remarkable technical and technological innovations, which had some influence in the evolution of urban environments. The land of the two rivers: Mesopotamia What we actually know today is that the urban revolution took place independently in different places and at different times, although from a chronological point of view it may have developed first in Mesopotamia, in ancient Sumer, as early as 5000 years ago. The Sumerians, at the apex of the so-called Fertile Crescent, in today’s Kurdistan region between Iraq, Syria and Turkey, were apparently the first to organize themselves on a state level. Only later did this process of urban civilisation expand southwards into the lowlands between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the ancient region of Mesopotamia20. 20
Smith, The Earliest, Op. cit.
