DDIA For Laura Harrison: Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Social Process And The Built Urban Environment

This doctoral dissertation research project will examine the social mechanisms that characterize urbanism within a precise chronological framework, in order to improve understanding of urban dynamics in the past and present. While the formal properties of early cities are well understood, the complex and compelling question of how urban spaces transform social identities remains unanswered. Given the growing importance of cities in contemporary societies worldwide - over half of the world's population is projected to live in urban areas by 2050 - understanding the mutually constituting relationship between cities and their inhabitants is increasingly critical. Furthermore, reliable chronological frameworks are essential for the development of social mechanism analogs that connect ancient and modern city life. Archaeology is in a unique position to improve understanding of these issues because its chronological focus can reveal the timing and tempo of change, while its anthropological perspective highlights the recursive relationship between identity and the built environment across multiple scales. Within this context, this project will establish the absolute chronology of Seyitömer Höyük, which lies within the poorly understood inland western Anatolia region, during the final centuries of the third millennium BCE. In addition, it will demonstrate how architectural remains from this early urban settlement express deeply rooted configurational principles that govern culture-space interactions in complex societies. Further underlining the importance of this research is Seyitömer Höyük's imminent destruction: it is located on top of a 12 million ton coal reserve and will be completely destroyed in 2016 when the coal company moves forward with their plans to extract this valuable resource. This research project hypothesizes that (1) the Early Bronze Age III period at Seyitömer Höyük spanned 250 years (Phase B lasted from 2250-2150 BCE and Phase A lasted from 2150-2000 BCE), and (2) architecture was used to varying degrees as an instrument of power and authority by elites, while non-elites used architecture to establish boundaries that allowed them to resist elite influence and maintain a degree of autonomy. The first hypothesis is evaluated with a Bayesian statistical analysis of 32 radiocarbon dates that bracket construction, occupation, and destruction events, which will provide insight into horizons of localized building activity and allow for cross-regional comparisons. The second hypothesis is evaluated with an integrated approach to architecture and social organization, which combines space syntax analysis, a nonverbal communication approach, and an urban spatial arrangement index, in order to reveal how the built environment is essential in structuring interpersonal relations by affecting patterns of movement, interaction, and behavior. This study will generate new data about the chronology and architecture of the Early Bronze Age III period from a threatened archaeological site. In addition, as a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this project will provide support to enable a promising doctoral student to establish an independent research career.