At the edge of empire: conceptualizing Assyria's Anatolian Frontier ca. 700 BC

Modeling and testing polity boundaries in the Classic Tuxtla Mountains, Southern Veracruz, Mexico

“…Boundary is the most general term of the three. Parker (2002) uses the term ''boundary'' to encompass the more specific terms ''border'' and ''frontier''. The latter two terms can be conceived on a continuum of permeability, where borders are impermeable to communication, exchange, and movements of people, goods, and ideas (Parker, 2006, pp.…”

“…I seek a method to characterize boundaries, determine the effect that they had on the shape of regional interactions, and the course of regional cultural evolution. These are the ''boundary processes'' discussed by Parker (2002Parker ( , 2006. Negotiations among political agents and between regimes and subjects are much more complicated than the identification of political boundaries will reveal.…”

8 Geographies of Power: Territoriality and Empire during the Mesopotamian Iron Age

“…Second, since the degree of imperial control probably became more diffuse with distance from nodes in imperial networks (Ekholm and Friedman ; Hassig , ; Stein ), imperial domains should not be seen as bounded by static impervious borders. The margins of empires are better characterized as porous frontier zones (Alconini ; Elton ; Parker , ; Parker and Rodseth ).…”

“…It is also reflected in maps on which Near Eastern empires are traditionally shown as large territorial entities demarcated at their peripheries by thick black lines or by contrasting colors (e.g., Hunt :99, 118–119; Kuhrt :57; Roaf :164, 179, 191; Saggs ; Van De Mieroop :51, 158, 241, 249; and see Figure ). Such representations, in text or image, carry with them deep‐seated meanings for the modern reader: they imply that ancient states and empires held firm homogenous control within a territory bounded by impervious borders (Parker , , ; Smith ; Wilk ). By briefly reviewing archaeological and textual data from the Mesopotamian Iron Age published in detail elsewhere, this chapter contests this vision of empire.…”

The Archaeology of Regions: From Discrete Analytical Toolkit to Ubiquitous Spatial Perspective

“…In one such study, Smith and Montiel (2001) consider economic exchange between a capital and distant provincial areas to identify domination in hegemonic empires that do not otherwise formalize their boundaries in the manner of territorial empires. A similar supraregional analysis was conducted by Parker (2002), who attempts to identify and characterize the northern, Anatolian boundary of the Assyrian empire. Exceptionally large scales of analysis-well beyond what might be considered a ''region''-also are employed for investigations of identity and migration.…”