253CHAPTER 11
The Emergence
of Cities and States
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What Changes in Culture Accompanied
the Rise of Cities?
Four basic cultural changes mark the transition from
Neolithic village existence to life in urban centers: agricul-
tural innovation, as new farming methods were developed;
diversification of labor, as more people were freed from food
production to pursue a variety of full-time craft specialties;
the development of centralized governments to deal with
the new problems of urban life; and the emergence of social classes, as people were ranked
according to the work they did or the position of the families into which they were born.
When and Where Did the World’s
First Cities Develop?
Cities are urban settlements with well-defined centers and
populations that are large, dense, and diversified both eco-
nomically and socially. They are characteristic of civilizations
that developed independently in Eurasia, Africa, and the
Americas. Between 4,500 and 6,000 years ago, cities began to
develop in China, the Indus and Nile Valleys, Mesopotamia,
Mesoamerica, and the central Andes. The world’s oldest cities
were those of Mesopotamia, but one of the largest was located
in Mesoamerica.
Why Did Cities Develop
into Civilizations?
Ancient cities developed into what anthropologists call civi-
lizations: societies in which large numbers of people live in
cities, are socially stratified, and are governed by centrally
organized political systems called states. A number of
theories have been proposed to explain why civilizations de-
veloped. For example, population growth led to competition
for space and scarce resources. This competition favored the
development of centralized authority to control resources
and, incidentally, organized warfare. Some civilizations,
though, appear to have developed as a result of unifying
beliefs and values. In some cases, the self-promoting actions
of powerful individuals may have played a role. Thus it may
be that civilizations arose in different places for different
reasons.