Human-Environment Interactions and Socio-Political Change in Southwest Iran, 4500-3500 BC

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Abbas Alizadeh、Nicholas Kouchoukos和Tony威尔金森博士以及伊朗和国际同事将在伊朗西南部的低地胡泽斯坦（古苏西亚纳）进行一系列考古发掘和地貌/景观调查。探险队由来自美国的考古学家、地貌学家、景观考古学家、动物考古学家和古植物学家组成，目前对低地苏西亚纳文化发展的了解是大量发掘，特别是区域地表调查的产物。虽然考古调查揭示的定居模式提供了大量关于定居点如何在空间上定位的信息，但从未有过系统的努力来了解地貌特征和景观变化作为遗址位置和分布的主要变量的影响。这在从史前晚期到城市中心出现的过渡时期（公元前4500-3500年）尤为重要，当时自给经济正在发生变化，灌溉农业可能是与低地苏西亚纳和美索不达米亚南部城市中心崛起相关的主要发展。因此，了解土地的利用，苏西亚纳的3条主要河流的制度的影响，以及当地文化对地貌和景观特征的适应性反应，对解释该地区的城市发展至关重要。在伊朗西南部和美索不达米亚南部，运河灌溉农业被认为是对环境和人口变量的主要适应性反应。一些学者认为，在公元前4000年早期，对大麦和绵羊的种植和饲养的重视，都比山羊和小麦更耐热和耐盐，反映了这些地区因气候变化和过度灌溉而引起的盐碱化。该项目的目标之一是通过收集和分析沉积物、动物群、植物群和植硅石（植物细胞）样本，以及寻找古代灌溉渠和农田的痕迹来验证这一假设。另一个与解释从史前时期基本上维持生计的经济向以大规模灌溉农业和城市组织控制的区域贸易网络为基础的经济过渡的性质有关的证据有关的问题是精确的年代。这项研究旨在收集这些发展的实物证据，最终深入了解该地区的地貌和土地利用模式（几乎完全缺乏），这对于重建和解释导致城市中心崛起和生计经济转型的关键千年至关重要。

With the support of National Science Foundation, Drs. Abbas Alizadeh, Nicholas Kouchoukos, and Tony Wilkinson as well as Iranian and international colleagues will conduct a series of archaeological excavations and geomorphological/landscape surveys in lowland Khuzestan (ancient Susiana), southwestern Iran. The expedition consists of archaeologists, geomorphologists, landscape archaeologists, and a zooarchaeologist and a palaeobotanist, from U.S.A., England, France, and Iran.Present understanding of cultural development in lowland Susiana is the product of numerous excavations and, especially regional surface surveys. While settlement patterns revealed by archaeological surveys provide considerable information about how settlements positioned themselves spatially, there has never been a systematic effort to understand the effects of geomorphological features and the changing landscape as major variables in the location and distribution of sites. This is particularly important in the transitional period from the late prehistoric phases to the emergence of urban centers (4500-3500 BC), when subsistence economy was changing and irrigation agriculture was presumably a major development associated with the rise of urban centers in both lowland Susiana and southern Mesopotamia. Therefore, an understanding of the use of land, the effect of the regimes of Susiana's 3 major rivers, and the adaptive responses of the local cultures to geomorphological and landscape features is crucial to the interpretation of urban development in the region. Canal irrigation agriculture is considered a major adaptive response to both environmental and demographic variables in southwestern Iran and southern Mesopotamia. Some scholars consider the emphasis on cultivation of barley and raising sheep, both more tolerant to heat and salt than goats and wheat, in the early 4th millennium BC as a reflection the perceived salinization in these regions that was caused by climatic changes and over-irrigation. One of the goals of this project is to test this assumption by collecting and analyzing sedimentary deposits, faunal, floral, and phytolith (fossilized plant cells) samples, as well as finding traces of ancient irrigation canals and farm lands. Precise chronology is another problem associated with the interpretation of the evidence concerning the nature of the transition from a basically subsistence economy of prehistoric times to one based on large-scale irrigation agriculture and a network of regional trade controlled by urban organizations. This research is designed to collect physical evidence of such developments to ultimately reach a deeper understanding of geomorphology of the region and patterns of land-use (almost completely lacking) that are crucial in the reconstruction and interpretation of the crucial millennium that led to the rise of urban centers and transformation of subsistence economy.