Collapse and Regeneration in Early Complex Societies: Excavations at Umm El-Marra, Syria

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，格伦·施瓦茨博士和他的同事将在位于叙利亚阿勒颇地区的Umm el-Marra考古遗址进行两个季节的实地研究。该遗址包括一个青铜时代的大城堡，占地约25公顷，在一个围墙内，有三个可识别的大门和一个直径约100米的“卫城”，位于遗址的中心部分。施瓦茨博士之前的工作表明，一个跨越青铜时代的文化序列，包括覆盖的希腊和罗马遗迹。乌姆马拉被认为是早期书面档案中提到的图巴古城。研究将集中在青铜时代的早期和中期，大约在公元前2500年到1600年之间。虽然考古学家倾向于以单线的方式看待文化发展，并且（正确地）注意到中东和其他地区从小的平等主义村庄到社会分层的酋长聚居地，再到文明，国家和帝国的发展过程，实际上并不是那么简单。复杂实体的上升、下降和再次出现，在短时间内，循环模型可能是最合适的。Umm el-Marra记录了这样一个循环，一个复杂的分层社会，接着是一个“崩溃”，接着是另一个略有不同的复杂实体。施瓦茨博士希望了解这一过程。已经提出了几种崩溃理论，其中最突出的是将气候恶化和当地资源开发作为原因。同样，一些理论试图解释再生。施瓦茨博士和他的合作者将挖掘三个大的区域，这些区域可以追溯到所考虑的每个阶段。在住宅和文物分布的基础上，将有可能重建环境和社会组织。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为社会如何随着时间的推移而发展和变化提供一个更现实的模型。它将为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据，并协助训练参加实地研究的学生。

With National Science Foundation support Dr. Glenn Schwartz and his colleagues will conduct two seasons of field research at the archaeological site of Umm el-Marra, located in the Aleppo region of Syria. The site consists of a large Bronze Age tell comprising ca. 25 hectares within an enclosure wall with three discernible gates and an "acropolis" ca. 100 meters in diameter located in the central part of the site. Dr. Schwartz's previous work has indicated a cultural sequence which spans the Bronze Age and contains overlying Hellenistic and Roman remains. Umm el-Marra has been identified as the ancient city of Tuba which is mentioned in early written archives. The research will focus on the Early and Middle Bronze Age, between ca. 2,500 and 1,600 BC.While archaeologists have tended to view cultural development in unilineal terms and (correctly) noted a progression in the Middle East and other areas from small egalitarian villages to socially stratified chiefdoms to civilizations, states and empires the process is not, in fact, so simple. Complex entities rise, fall and appear again and, over short time periods, a cyclic model can be most appropriate. Umm el-Marra documents such a cycle, a complex stratified society, followed by a "collapse" succeeded by another slightly different complex entity. Dr. Schwartz wishes to understand this process. Several collapse theories have been proposed and the most prominent of which invoke either climatic deterioration and local resource exploitation as causes. Likewise several theories attempt to explain regeneration. Dr. Schwartz and his collaborators will excavate three broad areas which date to each of the stages under consideration. On the basis of distribution of dwellings and artifacts within and among they it will be possible to reconstruct both environment and social organization. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide a more realistic model of how societies develop and change over time. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and assist in training students who will participate in the field research.