First Farmers in Southeast Europe: Isotopic Evidence for Human Migration

东南欧的第一批农民：人类迁徙的同位素证据

• 批准号: 0235465
• 负责人: T. Douglas Price
• 金额: $ 9.49万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-01-01 至 2004-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0235465&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: First; Farmers; Southeast; Europe; Isotopic

This archaeological project involves the isotopic investigation of prehistoric human skeletal remains from the Mesolithic and Early Neolithic sites in the Iron Gates of the Danube River in southeastern Europe, dating to between 9000 and 6000 B.C. The focus of the study concerns how the initial transition to prehistoric agriculture took place. Dr Price and colleagues hope to determine if foreign farming groups moved into this region or if local hunter-gatherers themselves adopted the practice of agriculture. Strontium and lead isotopes in prehistoric human tooth enamel will be measured to determine if individuals buried at these sites were local or foreign. These ratios are tracers of the geology of the areas where these individuals were born. Strontium and lead are incorporated into bone and enamel through the food chain as a substitute for calcium in bone and tooth enamel. Bone is continually remodeled during the life of an individual, so the chemical composition of the bone reflects the last years of life. The enamel in teeth, on the other hand, forms during infancy and early childhood and undergoes almost no subsequent change. Because strontium and lead isotope ratios vary among geological substrates, isotope ratios in teeth that do not match those of the local geology indicate immigrants to an area. The Iron Gates region, between Serbia and Romania, has been chosen for this research for several reasons. The area has a rich archaeological record for this period and samples will be obtained from burials at the sites of Lepenski Vir, Padina, Vlasac, Hajducka Vodenica, Ajmana, Velesnica, and Kula in Serbia, and Schela Cladovei in Romania. More than 500 human burials have been collected in these excavations, comprising the best skeletal archive for this period in all of Europe. Where temporal placement of a burial is uncertain, radiocarbon dates will be obtained directly from the skeleton. Intellectual Merit. This research project provides an opportunity to resolve major archaeological questions about the transition from hunting to farming and about how agriculture spread in prehistoric Europe. Specifically, we have a chance to determine if farmers moved into new areas or if local hunter-gatherers became farmers. This information will have direct implications for questions regarding the expansion of agriculture and cultural change in other parts of the world. The study will also document the utility of isotopic methods for the investigation of human migration. Broader Impact. The study will document the application of new scientific methods to old archaeological questions and involve several young scholars in the process. The project is a cooperative one among US, Serbian, and Romanian institutes. Graduate and undergraduate students, both male and female, will be involved in the laboratory processing of materials and exposure to the research process. The results should be of interest to a wide range of archaeologists throughout the world.

这个考古项目涉及到从多瑙河在东南欧的铁门中石器时代和新石器时代早期遗址的史前人类骨骼遗骸的同位素调查，可追溯到公元前9000年和6000年之间。普莱斯博士和他的同事们希望确定是外国农业团体进入了这一地区，还是当地的狩猎采集者自己采用了农业做法。史前人类牙齿釉质中的锶和铅同位素将被测量，以确定埋葬在这些地点的个人是当地人还是外国人。这些比率是这些人出生地区地质的痕迹。锶和铅通过食物链进入骨骼和牙釉质，作为骨骼和牙釉质中钙的替代品。骨骼在人的一生中不断重塑，因此骨骼的化学成分反映了生命的最后几年。另一方面，牙齿中的釉质在婴儿期和幼儿期形成，并且几乎没有随后的变化。由于锶和铅的同位素比率在地质基质中各不相同，因此牙齿中的同位素比率与当地地质不匹配，表明移民到了一个地区。塞尔维亚和罗马尼亚之间的铁门地区被选为这项研究有几个原因。该地区在这一时期有丰富的考古记录，样本将从塞尔维亚的Lepenski Vir，Padina，Vlasac，Hajducka Vodenica，Ajmana，Velesnica和Kula以及罗马尼亚的Schela Cladovei遗址的墓葬中获得。在这些发掘中收集了500多个人类墓葬，构成了整个欧洲这一时期最好的骨骼档案。如果不确定墓葬的时间位置，将直接从骨架上获得放射性碳年代测定。智力优势。该研究项目提供了一个机会，以解决有关从狩猎到农业的过渡以及农业如何在史前欧洲传播的重大考古问题。具体来说，我们有机会确定农民是否搬到了新的地区，或者当地的狩猎采集者是否成为了农民。这一信息将对世界其他地区农业发展和文化变革的问题产生直接影响。这项研究还将记录同位素方法在调查人类移徙方面的效用。更广泛的影响。这项研究将记录新的科学方法在旧的考古问题上的应用，并让几位年轻学者参与这一过程。该项目是美国、塞尔维亚和罗马尼亚研究所之间的合作项目。研究生和本科生，无论男女，将参与材料的实验室处理和暴露于研究过程。研究结果应该会引起世界各地考古学家的广泛兴趣。