Architecture in Early Bronze Age Anatolia: Implications for the Rise of Complex Society

Sharon R. Steadman

The economic structure, the social organization, and the rise to urbanism of the early communities of the Near East are all issues that have galvanized the interest of Old World scholars. A study of prehistoric architectural types and the progression from agglomerated domestic houses to the detached, free-standing dwelling has implications for these issues. What role did this architectural metamorphosis play in the rise to complex society in Near Eastern prehistory? This paper will survey the domestic architecture found in Anatolian sites from the Neolithic through the Early Bronze Age (EBA), a period that spans the transition from agglomerated to detached architectural styles. The data presented will be used to determine whether the advent of the detached house affected the economic and social/hierarchical developments in EBA Anatolian culture and its ultimate rise to complex society.

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