Bøger af Bleda S. (Universiteit Leiden) During

This book focuses on the archaeology of the early Assyrian Empire. Using rich archaeological datasets it explores how people participated in this empire and what might have motivated them to do so. It is argued that the empire was successful mostly because it provided incentives to those who participated.

In this book, Bleda During offers an archaeological analysis of Asia Minor, the area equated with much of modern-day Turkey, from 20,000 to 2,000 BC. During this period human societies moved from small-scale hunter-gatherer groups to complex and hierarchical communities with economies based on agriculture and industry. Dr During traces the spread of the Neolithic way of life, which ultimately reached across Eurasia, and the emergence of key human developments, including the domestication of animals, metallurgy, fortified towns and long-distance trading networks. Situated at the junction between Europe and Asia, Asia Minor has often been perceived as a bridge for the movement of technologies and ideas. By contrast, this book argues that cultural developments followed a distinctive trajectory in Asia Minor from as early as 9,000 BC.