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1、TPO27CraftsintheAncientnearEastSomeoftheearliesthumancivilizationsaroseinsouthernMesopotamia,inwhatisnowsouthernIraq,inthefourthmillenniumB.C.E.Inthesecondhalfofthatmillennium,inthesoutharoundthecityofUruk,therewasanenormousescalationintheareaoccupie
2、dbypermanentsettlements.AlargepartofthatincreasetookplaceinUrukitself,whichbecamearealurbancentersurroundedbyasetofsecondarysettlements.Whilepopulationestimatesarenotoriouslyunreliable,scholarsassumethatUrukinhabitantswereabletosupportthemselvesfromt
3、heagriculturalproductionofthefieldsurroundingthecity,whichcouldbereachedwithadailycommute.ButUruk’sdominantsizeintheentireregion,farsurpassingthatofothersettlements,indicatesthatitwasaregionalcenterandatruecity.Indeed,itwasthefirstcityinhumanhistory.
4、Thevastmajorityofitspopulationremainedactiveinagriculture,eventhosepeoplelivingwithinthecityitself.Butasmallsegmentoftheurbansocietystartedtospecializeinnonagriculturaltasksasaresultofthecity’sroleasaregionalcenter.Withintheproductivesector,therewasa
5、growthofavarietyofspecialistcraftspeople.EarlyintheUrukperiod,theuseofundecoratedutilitarianpotterywasprobablytheresultofspecializedmassproduction.Inanearlyfourth-millenniumleveloftheEannaarchaeologicalsiteatUruk,apotterystyleappearsthatismostcharact
6、eristicofthisprocess,theso-calledbeveled-rimbowl.Itisarathershallowbowlthatwascrudelymadeinamold;hence,inonlyalimitednumberofstandardsizes.Forsomeunknownreason,manywerediscarded,oftenstillintact,andthousandshavebeenfoundallovertheNearEast.Thebeveled-
7、rimbowlisoneofthemosttellingdiagnosticfindsforidentifyinganUruk-periodsite.Ofimportanceisthefactthatitwasproducedrapidlyinlargeamounts,mostlikelybyspecialistsinacentrallocation.Avarietyofdocumentationindicatesthatcertaingoods,oncemadebyafamilymembera
8、soneofmanyduties,werelatermadebyskilledartisans.Certainimagesdepictgroupsofpeople,mostlikelywomen,involvedinweavingtextiles,anactivityweknowfromlaterthird-millenniumtextstohavebeenvitalintheeconomyandtohavebeencentrallyadministered.Also,aspecializedm
