Architectural Spaces and Hybrid Practices in Ancient Northern Mesopotamia (original) (raw)

In this chapter, I investigate the socio-cultural meanings of hybrid practices in ritual-architectural spaces from a northern Mesopotamian Late Chalcolithic Period archaeological site. During the fourth millennium B.C. northern Mesopotamian sites reveal widespread distribution of southern Uruk-style material cultural elements along with indigenous styles. Recent archaeological research on the problem has suggested that interregional interactions in the form of exchange relationships, movement of people and establishment of trade colonies resulted in the blending of multiple cultural practices. Through architectural analysis, I particularly investigate the active role of individuals and groups in the creation of hybrid material culture. Diachronic and comparative analysis of architectural organization and use of space traces the transfer and re-contextualization of different traditions, and detects hybrid and non-hybrid practices that communicate both canonical (common architectural conventions that reflect larger socio-cosmic principles) and indexical messages (the particular status of inhabitants). An eclectic concept of hybridity is applied in this study that takes theoretical elements from the postcolonial concept of hybridity, and the concepts of syncretism and cultural integration.