Dissertation Research: Economic Strategies and Human Interaction in the Levantine Early Neolithic

在哈佛大学人类学教授Ofer Bar-Yosef博士的指导下，Ian Kuijt先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。Kuijt先生将在新石器时代早期的伊拉克ed-Dubb遗址进行初步发掘的基础上再接再厉，该遗址位于约旦阿吉伦西北部，位于海拔550米的一片茂密的森林区域。先前的工作表明，这个洞穴遗址大约在10,000年前被占领，它包含一个椭圆形的石头结构，有多个泥地，表明多次被占领。库伊特和他的同事们将进行为期一季的研究，将洞穴内部的持续挖掘与洞穴外和邻近洞穴前的有限调查和挖掘相结合。在洞穴内，宽阔的水平暴露将勾勒出并挖掘其中两个石头结构(第三个已经暴露)。将收集和分析花卉和动物群资料，这些资料将提供有关基本生存和占领季节的信息。将对石质材料进行检查，以确定来源并重建居民如何在景观中移动。近东的新石器时代早期可以追溯到大约10,000年前，标志着旧世界第一次驯化动植物。考古学的密切关注集中在约旦谷内的低洼地区，在那里，至少部分地似乎发生了这一过程。然而，人们很少知道这些地点如何适应更广泛的区域背景，以及例如，这些第一批农学家是否完全依赖新的粮食作物，或者他们是否将它们纳入更广泛的季节性回合，包括狩猎和采集。如果是前者，那么目前还不清楚低地农场主与高海拔地区的狩猎和采集人口是如何互动的。在此背景下，‘伊拉克ed-Dubb’地点既重要又独特，因为它正好位于这样一个高地地区。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将提供一个未知地区/时期的考古数据，这将引起广泛的科学家的兴趣。它将增加我们对复杂的以农业为基础的社会是如何出现的理解，并将有助于培养一位非常有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Ofer Bar-Yosef, Professor of Anthropology at Harvard University, Mr. Ian Kuijt will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. Mr. Kuijt will build upon preliminary excavations conducted at the early Neolithic site of 'Iraq ed-Dubb which is located northwest of Ajlun, Jordan and situated in an extensively forested region 550 meters above sea level. Previous work indicates that this cave site was occupied ca. 10,000 years ago and that it contains an oval stone structures with multiple mud floors, indicating repeated occupation. Mr. Kuijt and his colleagues will conduct one season of research which combines continued excavations inside the cave with limited survey and excavations outside of it and in front of neighboring caves. Within the cave wide horizontal exposure will delineate and excavate two of the stone structures (the third has already been exposed). Floral and faunal materials will be collected and analyzed and these will provide information on both basic subsistence and season of occupation. Lithic materials will be examined to determine sources of origin and to reconstruct how the inhabitants moved over the landscape. The early Neolithic in the Near East dates to ca. 10,000 years ago and marks the first domestication of plants and animals in the Old World. Intensive archaeological attention has been focussed on the low lying areas within the Jordan Valley where this process, in part at least, appears to have taken place. Little is known however how such sites fit into a broader regional context and whether, for example, these first agriculturalists relied completely on new food crops or whether they incorporated them into a broader seasonal round which included hunting and gathering. If the former is the case then it is unclear how lowland agriculturalists interacted with hunting and gathering populations from higher elevations. In this context, the site of 'Iraq ed-Dubb is both important and unique because of its location in just such a highland area. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide archaeological data from an unknown area/period which will be of interest to a wide group of scientists. It will increase our understanding of how complex agriculturally based societies emerged and will assist in the training of an extremely promising young scientist.