Co-Evolution of Human Societies and Landscapes in the Capital Territory of Late Shang State (Phase II)

在美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）的支持下，由美方的乔治·拉普（George Rapp）和景志春（Zhichun Jing）以及中方的王伟（Wang Wei）和唐继根（Tang Jigen）领导的中美考古队将继续在中国河南省安阳的晚商代遗址进行考古研究。这项多学科研究的重点是人类社会和景观在商朝首都地区的共同进化。在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，该项目已经确定并正在挖掘一个重要的新地点，现在被称为环北商城（环北的意思是“环河以北”），填补了我们对商代人的了解中一个重要的时间缺口。这个遗址在商朝早期的郑州阶段和商朝晚期的殷墟阶段之间架起了重要的桥梁。这个遗址是通过系统的地质考古岩心钻探发现的，该钻探是为了确定晚商朝中部地区考古沉积物的第三维度和性质。该团队现在将继续对环北商城进行挖掘，进行考古和地质考古调查，并研究与晚商国家运作和最终崩溃有关的环境变化。环北商城的进一步挖掘应该澄清它的政治地位，包括它在潘庚和后来的两位国王统治期间可能作为首都的问题。世界上许多地方的复杂社会显然是在同一时间独立发展起来的。鉴于个别案例之间的相似性，研究人员认为，文明的出现不是来自历史偶然，而是来自一个可以用科学描述的潜在发展过程。为了获得洞察力，使用比较方法可以检查世界不同地区的个别病例的共同特征和趋势。经过几十年深入的考古研究，人们对中美洲、南美洲和近东的文明发源有了很多了解。不幸的是，人们对中国的史前史知之甚少，拉普博士及其同事的工作将有助于填补中国中部序列的一个主要空白。

With support from the National Science Foundation an American and Chinese team led by George Rapp and Zhichun Jing from the American side and Wang Wei and Tang Jigen from the Chinese side will continue archaeological research at Late Shang site of Anyang in the Chinese Province of Henan. This multidisciplinary research focuses on the co-evolution of human societies and landscapes in the capital territory of the Late Shang state. With prior NSF support the project located and is excavating a major new site, now called Huanbei Shang City [Huanbei means 'north of the Huan River'], that fills in an important chronological gap in our knowledge of the Shang peoples. This site bridges the critical gap between the Zhengzhou phase of the Early Shang and the Yinxu phase of the Late Shang. This site was discovered by systematic geoarchaeological core drilling that was undertaken to determine the third [vertical] dimension and nature of the archaeological deposits in the central region of the Late Shang Dynasty. The team will now continue its excavation of Huanbei Shang City, its archaeological and geoarchaeological surveys, and its studies of environmental change in relation to the operation and final collapse of the Late Shang state. Further excavation at Huanbei Shang City should clarify its political status, including the question of its possible status as the capital during the reign of Pan Geng and two succeeding kings.Complex societies developed in many parts of the world apparently independently and roughly at the same time. Given similarities among individual cases, researchers believe that the emergence of civilization results not from historical accident but from an underlying developmental process which is amenable to scientific description. To gain insight, use of a comparative approach allows individual cases in different parts of the world to be examined for common features and trends. Given intensive archaeological research over many decades a great deal is known about cradles of civilization in Middle and South American and the Near East. Unfortunately the prehistory of China is less well understood and the work of Dr. Rapp and colleagues will help to fill a major gap in the Central Chinese sequence.