The Tell Abu Duwari Archaeological Project

伊丽莎白·斯通博士和她的同事们将继续对Tell Abu Duwari进行考古发掘和测绘。Tell Abu Duwari是一个可以追溯到公元前第二个千年的美索不达米亚古代遗址，与同一时期的大多数主要中心不同，这个分散在56公顷土地上的伊拉克主要遗址只被占用了很短的时间。阿布杜瓦里显然在一场大火中被摧毁，完全被遗弃了。由于文化材料和建筑遗迹仅被一层薄薄的沙子覆盖，因此大规模的水平挖掘是可行的。在两个季节的野外工作中，团队将完成对场地的调查，大面积的地面刮擦以获取住宅布局信息，并在一个大型公共建筑中进行密集挖掘。粘土碑将被破译，并对陶瓷、花卉和动物遗骸进行分析。虽然在近东进行了许多研究，但对城市组织几乎一无所知。这是因为挖掘集中在层次很深的寺庙丘上，而重建城市功能所必需的那种水平挖掘还没有进行。Tell Abu Duwari是从众多潜在站点中被有意选中的，因为它提供了恢复此类信息的可能性。这项研究应该提供对权力集中程度的洞察。斯通博士认为，它可能已经在许多宗教和民间机构中传播。这项研究还将提供关于居民之间地位差别程度和社区在社会组织和控制方面的作用的资料。这项研究很重要，因为它将增加我们对复杂社会的理解，比如我们自己的社会，是如何首先出现并维持的。因为考古学研究的是较长的时期，所以它在研究这种长期过程方面处于独特的地位。与其他遗址的信息一起，这次挖掘将有助于我们对这一现象的理解。

Dr. Elizabeth Stone and her colleagues will continue their archaeological excavation and mapping of Tell Abu Duwari, an ancient Mesopotamian site which dates to the second millennium B.C. Unlike most major centers of the time period, this major Iraqi site, scattered over 56 hectares, was occupied for only a short period of time. Abu Duwari was apparently destroyed in a conflagration and totally abandoned. Because cultural materials and architectural remains are covered by only a thin layer of sand, large scale horizontal excavation is feasible. During two field seasons of work, the team will complete their survey of the site, surface scrape a large area to gain information on residential layout, and conduct intensive excavation in one large public structure. Clay tablets will be deciphered and analyses conducted on ceramic, floral, and faunal remains. Although much research has been conducted in the Near east, almost nothing is known about city organization. This is because excavation has concentrated on deeply stratified temple mounts, and the kind of horizontal excavation necessary to reconstruct how cities function has not been undertaken. Tell Abu Duwari was purposely selected from among a large number of potential sties because it offered the possibility to recover such information. This research should provide insight into the degree to which much authority was centralized. Dr. Stone suggests that it may have been spread across a number of religious and civil institutions. The study will also yield information on the degree of status differentiation among inhabitants and the role of neighborhoods in social organization and control. This research is important because it will increase our understanding of how complex societies, such as our own, first emerge and are maintained. Because it deals with extended periods of time, archaeology is in a unique position to investigate such long term processes. Together with information from other sites, this excavation will contribute to our understanding of this phenomenon.