World-Systems Theory and the Nilotic-Levantine Network in the Early Second Millennium BC

FLAMMINI, ROXANA; FLAMMINI, ROXANA

Atlanta, GA

Encuentro; 2010 ASOR Annual Meeting; 2010

American Schools of Oriental Research (ASOR)

The so-called world-systems theory was originally formulated by I. Wallerstein (1974) to explain the emergence of capitalism in the western world during modern times. In his scheme, the formation and interaction of cores, peripheries and semi-peripheries were triggered by the exchange of bulk goods. Even though Wallerstein did not take into account earlier sociopolitical contexts, at present his categories are applied to the ancient world. Many of these approaches are related to the Bronze Age but focused mainly in Mesopotamian, Levantine, Mediterranean and eastern European societies. African networks did not deserve the same attention. I consider that systemic categories are useful to describe the running of a network which linked northeastern Africa with eastern Asia and later expanded to other regions, based mainly in the exchange of prestige goods. Thus, a revision of the categories of core, periphery and semi-periphery as well as references to other asymmetrical bonds are presented focusing on the historical context of the Nilotic-Levantine network during the first half of the 2nd millennium BC.