Daniel T. Potts

Bio: Daniel T. Potts is an academic researcher from University of Sydney. The author has contributed to research in topics: Elamite language & Mesopotamia. The author has an hindex of 20, co-authored 82 publications receiving 1565 citations. Previous affiliations of Daniel T. Potts include Tarbiat Modares University & Max Planck Society.

The Archaeology of Elam: Formation and Transformation of an Ancient Iranian State

Abstract: 1. Elam: what, when, where? 2. Environment, climate, and resources 3. The immediate precursors of Elam 4. Elam and Awan 5. The dynasty of Shimashki 6. The grand regents of Elam and Susa 7. The kingdom of Susa and Anshan 8. The Neo-Elamite period 9. Elam in the Achaemenid empire 10. Elymais 11. Elam under the Sasanians and beyond 12. Conclusion.

Mesopotamian Civilization: The Material Foundations

Abstract: The best way to achieve an understanding of the art, architecture, history, and literature of a great civilization such as Mesopotamia's, D. T. Potts believes, is through an analysis of its material infrastructure. Concentrating on Southern Mesopotamia and relying preponderantly on evidence from the third millennium B.C., Potts describes a civilization from the ground up. He creates an ethnography of ancient Mesopotamia which combines knowledge of its material culture and its mental culture. The creation and development of Mesopotamia was made possible by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. "None of the achievements of Mesopotamian production in the realm of agriculture, animal husbandry, or related industries (textiles, leather working, boat building)," Potts says, "can be understood except in reference to the very specific river regimes and soil conditions of the alluvium." Potts examines the climate, the landforms, and other conditions that enabled the area to become populated. What natural resources did the earliest Mesopotamians have at their disposal? How did Mesopotamian religious ideals reflect the basic conditions of life in the alluvial plain of Southern Mesopotamia? What contributions to Mesopotamian civilization came from the East and what from the West? In addressing such questions as these, Potts offers a new foundation for understanding an ancient civilization of great complexity.

The Arabian Gulf in antiquity

Abstract: Alexander, the Seleucids, and the Arabian Gulf North-Eastern Arabia during the Hellenistic Period Bahrian from the Hellenistic Era to the Sasanian Period the Hellenistic Period on Failaka North-Eastern Arabia during the Parthian and Sasanian Periods South-Eastern Arabia from the Hellenistic Era to the Sasanian period.

The Balance of Trade in Southwestern Asia in the Mid-Third Millennium B.C. [and Comments and Reply]

Abstract: Trade frequently is considered an important and distinct subsystem that is integrated within a prehistoric cultural system. This paper rejects this interpretation and attempts a structural analysis of a specific trading network that existed in southwestern Asia in the mid-3d millennium B.C. in order to uncover the motivational factors and contradictions operative in trading relationships. An ideal dichotomy between sparsely populated, resource-rich highland centers and densely settled lowland cities is proposed, and the evolutionary significance of the relationship that developed between these areas is discussed.

Camel hybridization and the role of camelus bactrianus in the ancient near east

Abstract: The evidence of camel hybridization—principally the crossing of Bactrian males and Arabian or dromedary females—is discussed against the backdrop of osteological evidence for the distribution of the Bactrian's wild progenitor, Camelus ferus . Historical and ethnographic evidence attesting to the widespread practice of hybridization, from Central Asia in the east to Anatolia in the west, is presented. The origins of camel hybridization are pushed back into the early 1st millennium B.C. and evidence for the presence of Bactrian camels in areas outside of its natural habitat is discussed in light of the advantages of hybridization. Cet article examine les preuves de l'hybridation des chameaux, plus particulierement le croisement des mâles de Bactriane avec des femelles arabes ou dromadaires. Elles sont fondees sur l'evidence osteologique de la repartition du geniteur sauvage des chameaux bactrians. Des temoignages historiques et ethnographiques attestant la pratique largement repandue de l'hybridation, de l'Asie centrale a l'est jusqu'a l'Anatolie a l'ouest, sont rappeles. Les origines de l'hybridation des chameaux se trouveraient donc repoussees au debut du premier millenaire avant JC. Et les preuves de la presence des chameaux bactrians dans des regions situees hors de leur habitat naturel sont presentees ainsi a la lumiere des avantages de l'hybridation.

Genetic diversity in farm animals--a review.

Abstract: Domestication of livestock species and a long history of migrations, selection and adaptation have created an enormous variety of breeds. Conservation of these genetic resources relies on demographic characterization, recording of production environments and effective data management. In addition, molecular genetic studies allow a comparison of genetic diversity within and across breeds and a reconstruction of the history of breeds and ancestral populations. This has been summarized for cattle, yak, water buffalo, sheep, goats, camelids, pigs, horses, and chickens. Further progress is expected to benefit from advances in molecular technology.

The Southern Route “Out of Africa”: Evidence for an Early Expansion of Modern Humans into Arabia

Abstract: The timing of the dispersal of anatomically modern humans (AMH) out of Africa is a fundamental question in human evolutionary studies. Existing data suggest a rapid coastal exodus via the Indian Ocean rim around 60,000 years ago. We present evidence from Jebel Faya, United Arab Emirates, demonstrating human presence in eastern Arabia during the last interglacial. The tool kit found at Jebel Faya has affinities to the late Middle Stone Age in northeast Africa, indicating that technological innovation was not necessary to facilitate migration into Arabia. Instead, we propose that low eustatic sea level and increased rainfall during the transition between marine isotope stages 6 and 5 allowed humans to populate Arabia. This evidence implies that AMH may have been present in South Asia before the Toba eruption (1).

Myths of the Archaic State: Evolution of the Earliest Cities, States, and Civilizations

Abstract: In this ground-breaking work, Norman Yoffee shatters the prevailing myths underpinning our understanding of the evolution of early civilisations. He counters the emphasis in traditional scholarship on the rule of 'godly' and despotic male leaders and challenges the conventional view that early states were uniformly constituted bureaucratic and regional entities. Instead, by illuminating the role of slaves and soldiers, priests and priestesses, peasants and prostitutes, merchants and craftsmen, Yoffee depicts an evolutionary process centred on the concerns of everyday life. Drawing on evidence from ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and Mesoamerica, the author explores the variety of trajectories followed by ancient states, from birth to collapse, and explores the social processes that shape any account of the human past. This book offers a bold new interpretation of social evolutionary theory, and as such it is essential reading for any student or scholar with an interest in the emergence of complex society.

Our Past Matters: Materials and Industries of the Ancient Near East@@@Ancient Mesopotamian Materials and Industries: The Archaeological Evidence

Abstract: The volume under review contains a much needed synthesis of the major industries and technologies of the ancient Near East. Although the geographical emphasis is on Mesopotamia, the author's range extends from Anatolia to the Indus Valley and from central Asia to the Arabian Peninsula. The chronological focus is on the Bronze and Iron Ages within the above regions. The book is an indispensable guide to the archaeological discoveries, physico-chemical analysis, and textual references pertaining to the crafts of pottery, metal, glass, faience, and stone working, and to the role of bricks, mortar, and plaster in architectural construction.

Multiregional Emergence of Mobile Pastoralism and Nonuniform Institutional Complexity across Eurasia

Abstract: In this article I present a new archaeological synthesis concerning the earliest formation of mobile pastoralist economies across central Eurasia. I argue that Eurasian steppe pastoralism developed along distinct local trajectories in the western, central, and (south)eastern steppe, sparking the development of regional networks of interaction in the late fourth and third millennia BC. The “Inner Asian Mountain Corridor” exemplifies the relationship between such incipient regional networks and the process of economic change in the eastern steppe territory. The diverse regional innovations, technologies, and ideologies evident across Eurasia in the mid-third millennium BC are cast as the building blocks of a unique political economy shaped by “nonuniform” institutional alignments among steppe populations throughout the second millennium BC. This theoretical model illustrates how regional channels of interaction between distinct societies positioned Eurasian mobile pastoralists as key players in wide-scale i...