Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant--The Political Economy of Inter-Regional Exchange in Uruk Mesopotamia: Geochemical Analyses of Utilitarian Trade Goods

博士论文改进资助--美索不达米亚乌鲁克地区间交流的政治经济学：功利贸易品的地球化学分析

• 批准号: 0115596
• 负责人: Gil Stein
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: Northwestern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-07-01 至 2002-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0115596&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Political

Under the direction of Dr. Gil Stein, Mr. Mark Schwartz will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. Long-distance trade has always been important in the development of civilizations throughout history. The effect that inter-regional trade has on developing societies is a current focus of debate in anthropology. An excellent area to explore this issue is the ancient Near East because the rise of the first states in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC is linked closely to long-distance exchange with developing areas of Anatolia, Syria and Iran. This research will test the hypothesis that trade with Mesopotamia produced an overspecialization in Anatolian polities making them more vulnerable to economic collapse. While many earlier analyses have relied on indirect evidence of trade, this research will provide direct evidence through geo-chemical analyses of the utilitarian good, bitumen. This research is centered around Hacinebi Tepe, a local Anatolian settlement on the Euphrates River that had an enclave of Mesopotamian merchants during a later phase of its history. The stratigraphic sequence of levels before and during contact with Mesopotamians allows one to look at the impact of Mesopotamians on this Anatolian polity. An analysis of this ancient exchange system must involve the sourcing of trade goods. Unfortunately, many of the prestige goods involved are extremely rare in archaeological deposits and hard to source chemically. This has made many key economic questions concerning exchange patterns and the geographic origins of trade goods unanswerable. To remedy this, Mr. Schwartz's dissertation focuses not on prestige goods, but on the utilitarian good bitumen. This petroleum tar is found throughout the Near East, is associated with Mesopotamian and Anatolian activity, is abundant in archaeological deposits at Hacinebi and is chemically sourceable. Employing detailed geo-chemical analyses, Mr. Schwartz's pilot study used bitumen to investigate the ancient exchange of a petroleum product in the Near East. For the first time, the presence of goods from Mesopotamia in Anatolia was demonstrated with scientific evidence.Preliminary identifications of bitumen sources hint at some of the dynamics trade at Hacinebi. Stable carbon isotope analyses suggest that the ancient exchange network was complex in terms of the sources utilized, the exchange routes and the consumers involved. Only when complete, will this project have the potential to alter our view of this early exchange system and Mr. Schwartz will perform chemical analyses on all 414 bitumen samples from Hacinebi in order to develop a full regional perspective on exchange patterns. These data will be combined with functional analyses of bitumen artifacts from different stratigraphic levels and cultural contexts to determine if an increase in bitumen use, an emphasis on distant sources or a focus on trade related activities demonstrates a shifting economic specialization on long-distance exchange by the Anatolians at Hacinebi.

在Gil Stein博士的指导下，Mark Schwartz先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。在历史上，长途贸易在文明的发展中一直很重要。 区域间贸易对发展中社会的影响是人类学当前争论的焦点。 探讨这个问题的一个很好的地区是古代近东，因为公元前4千年美索不达米亚的第一个国家的崛起与安纳托利亚、叙利亚和伊朗的发展中地区的远距离交流密切相关。这项研究将测试的假设，即与美索不达米亚贸易产生了安纳托利亚政治的过度专业化，使他们更容易受到经济崩溃。虽然许多早期的分析依赖于贸易的间接证据，但这项研究将通过对实用商品沥青的地球化学分析提供直接证据。这项研究的中心是Hacinebi Tepe，幼发拉底河上的一个当地安纳托利亚定居点，在其历史的后期阶段有一个美索不达米亚商人的飞地。在与美索不达米亚人接触之前和接触期间的地层序列可以让人们看到美索不达米亚人对这个安纳托利亚政体的影响。 对这一古老的交换体系的分析必须涉及贸易商品的来源。 不幸的是，许多涉及的珍贵物品在考古学沉积物中极为罕见，很难从化学上获得。 这使得许多关于交换模式和贸易商品地理来源的关键经济问题无法回答。 为了弥补这一点，施瓦茨先生的论文重点不是声望商品，而是功利主义的好沥青。 这种石油焦油遍布近东，与美索不达米亚和安纳托利亚的活动有关，在Hacinebi的考古沉积物中含量丰富，可以用化学方法获取。 施瓦茨先生的试验性研究采用了详细的地球化学分析，用沥青来调查近东地区古代石油产品的交换。这是第一次，来自安纳托利亚的美索不达米亚的货物的存在得到了科学证据的证明。沥青来源的初步鉴定暗示了在Hacinebi的一些动态贸易。稳定碳同位素分析表明，古代的交换网络在所使用的来源、交换路线和所涉及的消费者方面是复杂的。 只有完成后，这个项目才有可能改变我们对这个早期交换系统的看法，施瓦茨先生将对来自Hacinebi的所有414个沥青样本进行化学分析，以便对交换模式进行全面的区域分析。这些数据将与来自不同地层水平和文化背景的沥青文物的功能分析相结合，以确定沥青使用的增加，对远距离来源的强调或对贸易相关活动的关注是否表明阿纳托利亚人在Hacinebi的长途交换中经济专业化的转变。