Cohen/Peripheral Concerns, 6. Bronze Age Urban Development in the Southern Levant

As the premise and approach throughout this study focuses on a diachronic study of urban development in the Early and Middle Bronze Ages, this chapter then examines and analyzes the settlement patterns in both eras as they illustrate these varying processes of growth and development. Using evidence from both excavation and surveys with attention to site size and distribution, this chapter compares the data for settlement patterns for the Early Bronze Age and the Middle Bronze Age in light of the theoretical approaches regarding growth, stability, sustainability, and development. Finally, this diachronic comparison is then again evaluated in a broad perspective that expands to include Nubia as a means for viewing urban development in the southern Levantine periphery in greater context.