The First Settlements Mostly for agriculture; administrative, commercial, and manufacturing cities would develop later Jericho Sometimes considered the world’s oldest city or permanent settlement (Though with the discovery of Gobekli Tepe, this is now debatable) First permanent settlement between and 9000 BCE; by 9400 BCE 70 dwellings Settlement based on agriculture, cultivation and domestication of local grains No art or pottery found in early parts of the site Has always been the model for the formation of/rise of cities.

Gobekli Tepe Dates from the same period as Jericho, and casts doubt on it as the “first settlement” Stone structure dates to around 9100 BCE, but settlement existed prior to that One of the first permanent settlements Believed to have a religious purpose – was a religious sanctuary, and a permanent settlement formed around it First site of domestication of wheat? Local grains were cultivated and farmed Contained large-scale sculpture and artistic products

The Ten Point Model In 1950, Gordon Childe, an Australian archaeologist, established criteria for the major changes that occur with urbanization Large populations and settlements Full-time specialization and advanced division of labour Production of agricultural surplus to fund government and differentiated society Monumental public architecture A ruling class

The development of writing Exact predictive sciences, such as arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and calendars Sophisticated art styles Long-distance trade The State While this model is somewhat ethnocentric and overly simplistic, it does address the key details in the major social transformation that accompanies urbanization.

Location The most powerful early cultures came from cities and regions with certain shared features River valleys – Tigris/Euphrates, Nile, Indus, Yellow Temperate climate Easily domesticable plant/animal species Settlement allowed for technological advances, such as metallurgy and weaponry