Dissertation Research: Harappa Bovid Exploitation

在Dr. Rita Wright的指导下，MS Laura Miller将为她的博士论文收集数据。她的项目有两个目标。第一个是方法论，它涉及到考古动物区系分析技术的发展。第二个是实质性的——米勒女士将考察位于印度河流域的哈拉帕遗址的畜牧业实践。来自许多旧大陆背景的考古资料表明，最早从家畜身上获得的主要产品是它们的肉。为了这个目的，人们饲养动物，然后屠杀它们。动物遗骸揭示的模式变化表明，在较晚的时期，动物利用发生了变化，史前人类更多地关注牛奶等次生产品，这可以从单一动物中获得长期持续的回报。同样地，利用动物来牵引，拉犁，也对农业生产产生了积极而重大的影响。这些变化是从骨骼材料中揭示的“杀戮轮廓”或人口统计模式推断出来的。然而，这样的概况可以有多种解释。米勒女士的研究重点是哈拉帕的大型动物——牛和水牛。令人惊讶的是，关于这两个重要物种的信息很少。她已经完成了一项民族志研究，记录了该地区的现代动物利用情况，并收集了现代控制的动物样本。在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，她将对这些遗骨进行放射照相和横断面分析，以确定持续挤奶对骨骼结构和密度的影响，以及由犁引起的机械应力造成的生长模式和损伤。由此开发的方法将应用于哈拉帕的考古材料。北印度和巴基斯坦见证了一个文明的崛起，这个文明的发展在很大程度上独立于近东和中国，考古学家们把重点放在这个地区，以增加他们对文明形成过程的理解。米勒博士将分析来自不同专业活动区域的牛骨，包括场地内部和邻近区域。她希望能够追踪动物所扮演的主要和次要角色，并确定它们是如何随着时间的推移而变化的。应该有可能确定牛肉以及乳制品和牵引力的相对重要性。通过研究材料的空间分布，也有可能深入了解经济和政治组织。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将开发一套可在世界许多区域应用的方法工具。它将为复杂的印度河流域社会的兴起提供新的线索，并帮助培养一名有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Rita Wright, MS Laura Miller will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. Her project has two goals. The first is methodological and it involves the development of techniques for archaeological faunal analysis. The second is substantive - MS Miller will examine animal husbandry practices at the site of Harappa, located in the Indus River Valley. Archaeological data from many Old World contexts suggests that the earliest primary product obtained from domestic animals was their flesh. Animals were raised and then slaughtered for this purpose. Shifts in patterns revealed by faunal remains suggest that at some later time changes in animal utilization occurred and prehistoric peoples focused more on secondary products such as milk which provided a long term sustained return from a single animal. Likewise the use of animals for traction, to pull plows, also had a positive and significant impact on agricultural production. These changes are inferred from the `kill profile` or demographic pattern revealed in skeletal materials. However such profiles can have multiple interpretations. In her research MS Miller is focusing on large bovids - cattle and water buffalo - from Harappa. Surprisingly little information is available on these two important species. She has already completed an ethnographic study which has documented modern animal use in the region and has collected modern controlled faunal samples. With NSF support she will conduct radiographic and cross sectional analysis of these remains to determine the effect which continued milking has the bone structure and density and the kinds of growth patterns and damage which results from the mechanical stresses caused by pulling a plow. The methodologies thus developed will be applied to archaeological materials from Harappa. Northern India and Pakistan saw the rise of a civilization which developed largely independently from that in the Near East and China and archaeologists have focused on this region to increase their understanding of the processes which lead to civilization. MS Miller will analyze bovid bone from different specialized activities area both within and immediately adjacent to the site. She hopes to trace both the primary and secondary roles which bovids played and to determine how these changed over time. It should be possible to determine the relative importance of bovid meat as well as dairy products and traction. By studying the spatial distribution of materials it is possible also to gain insight into economic and political organization. This research is important for several reasons. It will develop a set of methodological tools which can be applied in many regions of the world. It will shed new light on the rise of complex Indus river valley societies and assist in training a promising young scientist.