ABSTRACT
In the next four chapters we are going to examine specific issues, or groups of connected issues, from the human past where the contribution from Mesopotamian archaeology is especially significant. They are in effect case studies selected from an almost infinite range of research areas. Even within the four chosen topics we have to be highly selective in the treatment of specific angles and elements of the fields of study, as there is an overwhelming amount of material to choose from. Topics have been chosen on the basis of their overall significance, bearing in mind the unique role the Mesopotamian past can play in addressing what many people call the ‘big questions’ of human development (see Chapter 2). The emphasis throughout these chapters is on explication of the theories, approaches and techniques of Mesopotamian archaeology in attempting to apprehend these issues as much as on the nature of the results themselves, but insofar as theories, methods and interpretations feed into each other in an interaction of experiment, experience and exposition, we shall no doubt include much substantive discussion as we proceed. Above all, the aim is to demonstrate the richness of Mesopotamian and Southwest Asian archaeology in terms of research agendas, the nature of the evidence available, and the ways in which that evidence can be approached. Again we underline the liberality in use of the term ‘Mesopotamian’. Much of what is covered in this chapter, especially, relates to developments in adjacent regions of Southwest Asia, particularly the Levant and southeast Anatolia.
