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The meaning of the word “urban” has shifted considerably since I was a graduate student. Does anyone read V. Gordon Childe’s article “The Urban Revolution” (1950) anymore? https://twitter.com/tac_org/status/1199525010404192262
For example, ten years ago Michel Heckenberger applied the concept of “urbanism” to networks of large villages in the Xingu valley of Brazil.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/18755979
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/18755979
In 2016, Chris Fisher and colleagues identified “a city” in eastern Honduras that a previous generation would have referred to as a large village or perhaps a small town. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0159890
As I was taught, “urbanism” applied to settlements such as the Mesopotamian city of Uruk, in which the majority of residents were engaged in activities other than agriculture.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uruk
What are your working definitions of these?
For me:
Village - ca. 200-2000 people; most of population engaged in subsistence activities.
Town - ca. 2000-20,000; significant % of full-time non-agricultural specialists.
City - >20,000; majority are non-agricultural specialists.
For me:
Village - ca. 200-2000 people; most of population engaged in subsistence activities.
Town - ca. 2000-20,000; significant % of full-time non-agricultural specialists.
City - >20,000; majority are non-agricultural specialists.
Why it should be a headline that “Native Americans once thrived in bustling urban centers” is perplexing.
