Dissertation Research: Trade and Settlement Patterns in Morocco

在查尔斯·雷德曼博士的指导下，赛义德·恩纳希德将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将结合考证和实地研究，重建中世纪时期(公元9-14世纪)摩洛哥北部的聚落模式。他将专注于一条从丹吉尔到非斯的贸易路线，这条贸易路线的南部延伸穿过撒哈拉沙漠进入西非。使用Landstat和地形图，他将调查选定的地区，定位所有遗址，绘制它们的位置，然后收集陶瓷和其他文化材料的表面。后者允许将装配分配到特定的时间段，并提供有关场地功能的信息。这些地点本身将在直接的环境和更大的区域背景下进行分析。由于这一地区和时间段有大量的书面资料，档案研究将补充实地调查。这项工作的目标是确定定居点模式随时间的变化。在中世纪时期，该地区由历代王朝统治，经济进行了重大重组。最初它是“以主食为基础的”--财富是通过对当地农业生产征税产生的--假设主要和小城镇以及行政中心都设在那里，以促进这一目标。然而，随着跨撒哈拉贸易的发展，这一制度发生了变化。原产于西非的黄金、象牙和其他商品在大篷车中向北通过摩洛哥，然后再运往其他地方，通常是运往欧洲。在这个体系下，财富不是通过控制主食产生的，而是通过控制这一有利可图的交易而产生的。考古学家推测，这种经济重组也导致了聚落模式的重大变化。通过他的实地考察和档案研究，恩纳希德将试图确定这种说法是否正确。为了了解国家和帝国是如何运作的，考古学家广泛使用了聚落模式数据。对于早期时间段，没有可用的选项，因为没有书面记录。这类信息虽然往往很丰富，但往往很难解读。中世纪的摩洛哥为完善考古方法论提供了一个极好的控制环境。由于缺乏地面复盖物，选址很容易定位和绘制地图。发达的陶瓷年表使测年变得容易。由于对经济体系的洞察可以通过书面文件独立获得，因此可以确定定居点与经济之间的关系。因此，该项目将在方法上和实质上作出贡献。它还将帮助培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Charles Redman, Mr. Said Ennahid will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will combine textual and field research to reconstruct settlement patterns in Northern Morocco, during the medieval period (9th - 14th centuries AD).He will focus on a trade route which ran from Tangier to Fes, the southern extension of which extended through the Sahara Desert into West Africa. Using both Landstat and topographic maps he will survey selected areas, locate all sites, plot their positions and then make surface collections of ceramics and other cultural materials. These latter permit the assemblage to be assigned to specific time period and also provide information about site function. The sites themselves will be analyzed in both an immediate environmental and larger regional context. Because extensive written information is available for this region and time period, archival research will supplement the field survey. The goal of this work is to determine how settlement pattern changed over time. During the medieval period the region was governed by successive dynasties and the economy underwent major reorganization. Originally it was `staple based` - wealth was generated through taxation on local agricultural production - and it is hypothesized that both major and minor towns and administrative centers were located to facilitate this goal. This system however shifted with the development of the trans-Saharan trade. Gold, ivory and other goods which originated in West Africa were carried North through Morocco in caravans and then sent onwards, often to Europe. Wealth, under this system, was generated not through control of staples but rather control of this lucrative trade. Archaeologists have postulated that this economic reorganization also resulted in a major change in settlement pattern. Through his field and archival research, Mr. Ennahid will attempt to determine whether this is correct. To understand how states and empires function, archaeologists make extensive use of settlement pattern data. For early time periods no option is available because written records are absent. Such information, although often plentiful, is often very difficult to interpret. Medieval Morocco offers an excellent controlled situation for the refinement of archaeological methodology. Given the lack of ground cover sites are easy to locate and map. A well developed ceramic chronology allows easy dating. Because insight into the economic system can be gained independently through written documents, it is then possible to determine how settlement and economics relate. Thus the project will make a methodological as well as substantive contribution. It will also assist in training a promising young scientist.