Oriental Institute Archaeological and Environmental Investigation of Yemeni Terraced Agriculture

东方研究所也门梯田农业考古与环境调查

• 批准号: 9408714
• 负责人: McGuire Gibson
• 金额: $ 1.99万
• 依托单位: University of Chicago
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1994
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1994-04-15 至 1995-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9408714&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Oriental; Institute; Archaeological; Environmental; Investigation

9408714 Gibson With National Science Foundation support, Drs. McGuire Gibson and Tony Wilkinson will conduct archaeological research in the highland region of Yemen. Previous archaeological work has revealed the presence of widespread terraces which date to prehistoric times and served, presumably, for agricultural purposes. However their dates and cultural affiliations are not well known. Drs. Gibson and Wilkinson will use aerial photographs to locate such complexes. They will then conduct on the ground survey and mapping. They will carry out trial excavation to determine the geomorphological characteristics of the terraces, to collect organic material for radiocarbon dating, and to discern cultural affiliation. These data will provide the basis for a larger, more long term research effort. Archaeologists wish to understand how complex civilizations developed from smaller scale social units. Several theories proposed focus on the agricultural process and the need to coordinate large numbers of individuals to achieve common goals. It has been argued that in semiarid environments, such as the Near East, irrigation plays a central role because the construction of irrigation canals requires large amounts of labor and the allocation of water necessitates central hierarchical control. The Yemen situation may be different because preliminary indications suggest that terracing - which is a small scale activity - and increased social complexity seem to go hand in hand. Drs. Gibson and Wilkinson wish to examine this question. This research is important because it will increase our understanding of how humans adapt in semi-arid regions. It will also shed new light on the development of complex societies. ***

9408714 Gibson在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，麦奎尔·吉布森和托尼·威尔金森将在也门高地地区进行考古研究。先前的考古工作已经揭示了广泛存在的梯田，这些梯田可以追溯到史前时代，可能是用于农业目的。然而，他们的日期和文化背景并不为人所知。Drs。吉布森和威尔金森将使用航拍照片来定位这些建筑群。然后他们将进行地面调查和绘图。他们将进行试验挖掘，以确定梯田的地貌特征，收集放射性碳定年的有机材料，并辨别文化联系。这些数据将为更大规模、更长期的研究工作提供基础。考古学家希望了解复杂的文明是如何从小规模的社会单位发展而来的。提出的几个理论侧重于农业过程和协调大量个体以实现共同目标的需要。有人认为，在半干旱的环境中，如近东，灌溉起着核心作用，因为灌溉渠的建设需要大量的劳动力，水的分配需要中央等级控制。也门的情况可能有所不同，因为初步迹象表明梯田- -这是一种小规模的活动- -与社会复杂性的增加似乎是密切相关的。Drs。吉布森和威尔金森希望研究这个问题。这项研究很重要，因为它将增加我们对人类如何适应半干旱地区的理解。它还将为复杂社会的发展提供新的线索。＊＊＊