ABSTRACT
Considerable difficulty attends any attempt to define town adequately in such a way as to be able to discuss morphological characteristics over a long time period and, arguably, for different cultures. 1 Rather than enter the debate, it is proposed to cut the Gordian knot tied by numerous scholars with a pragmatic definition. For purposes of this chapter a town is defined as
‘a concentration of population larger than neighbouring agricultural settlements’, in which there is a substantial non-agricultural population, which may be concerned with defence, administration, religion, commerce and/or industry, though not necessarily, of course, in that order. 2
