Man, settlement, and urbanism

On 5th, 6th and 7th December 1970 a meeting of the Research Seminar in Archaeology and Related Subjects, was held at the Institute of Archaeology, London University, to discuss Settlement Patterns and Urbanization. This meeting - like its predecessor on the Domestication and Exploitation of Plants and Animals, which also resulted in a book - was called to enable researchers in different disciplines to meet in an attempt to bridge the gaps between them by personal contact and discussion. The range and scope of papers included in this volume reflect the unique importance of the subject and, it is believed, the essential nature of inter-disciplinary approaches to such subjects. Both the concept of non-urban settlement and the nature of urbanism itself are discussed. Mobility and settled life are considered in detail as well as such factors as demarcation and defence, population and disease. Finally, there are several studies of specific communities and particular periods of antiquity.