For a long time, archaeologists had the idea that the world’s first cities were structured on the Mesopotamian model: centralized governments with powerful rulers supervising thousands of working class people and slaves. But more recent discoveries have unearthed large cities elsewhere that were more spread out and egalitarian. One of these is a settlement in Ukraine that dates back around 6,000 years, called Nebelivka after the present day village there.
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Over six years of fieldwork since 2009, the researchers have excavated and mapped Nebelivka structures located over more than a square kilometer. Aerial photos, satellite images and geomagnetic data, supplemented by excavations of 88 test pits, identified 1,445 residential houses and 24 communal structures dubbed assembly houses. Residential houses, some intact and most in ashes after having burned, were grouped into 153 neighborhoods, a majority containing three to seven houses. Neighborhoods, in turn, formed 14 quarters, each with one or more assembly houses situated in an open area.
During about 200 years of occupation, Nebelivka served as both a dwelling site and, oddly enough, a kind of cemetery for incinerated houses, Gaydarska says. About two-thirds of Nebelivka houses had been deliberately burned at different times, creating mounds of charred debris across the site. Sediment and pollen excavated in and around Nebelivka display no signs of wildfire, a clue that the houses were intentionally set aflame.
Why would this community deliberately burn down houses at different times? The experts have their various theories; my first thought was bedbugs. Experts disagree over whether Nebelivka was populated year-round or was a gathering spot for trade or protection. Read about Nebelivka and other ancient cities like it at ScienceNews. -via Metafilter
(Image credit: Nebelivka Project/M. Nebbia)
Source: neatorama