Investigating the Development of Agriculture in Southern Europe: Recovering and Interpreting Economic Evidence from Neolithic Danilo in Dalmatia

农业和定居的乡村生活起源于大约13000年前的西亚，后来传播到欧洲。这种新的生活方式使人口增长和更复杂社会的发展成为可能。因此，农业为后来欧洲社会的所有重大发展提供了基础。然而，农业最初分散背后的机制、这种新经济的本质及其社会影响仍不清楚。在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，安德鲁·摩尔博士将领导一个国际团队，通过挖掘克罗地亚共和国亚得里亚海沿岸达尔马提亚的早期农业遗址来解决这些问题。该项目代表了罗切斯特理工学院和克罗地亚tibenik博物馆的同事之间的合作。该项目的目的是了解达尔马提亚在大约8000年前开始的早期农业经济的性质，以及它是如何发展的。这将有助于解决农业是如何到达南欧的问题，以及最初的农业经济是农业和觅食的混合还是一个完整的农牧系统。该项目还将调查晚更新世和全新世的环境变化，这将有助于解释达尔马提亚早期农业的生态背景。2004-2006年将在达尼洛和波克罗夫尼克的新石器时代遗址进行三个季节的挖掘。达尼洛之所以被选中进行调查，是因为它是一个重要的遗址，之前的挖掘表明，达尔马提亚新石器时代或早期农业时期的三个阶段都有人居住。探地雷达调查将提供挖掘地点的关键信息。该项目旨在全面恢复幸存的植物遗骸、骨骼、其他有机材料和人工制品，并将使用适当的方法来确保这一结果。在附近的波克罗夫尼克新石器时代早期遗址进行的挖掘将进一步证实这些结果，并有助于阐明该地区最初乡村社会的性质。环境研究将包括对达尼洛河谷和附近克尔卡峡谷重要地质沉积物的考察。该团队由来自美国、克罗地亚和英国的大学和博物馆的相关研究领域的高素质人员组成，他们为项目带来了要解决的问题的特殊经验。达尔马提亚是了解农业传播的关键地区，因为它位于巴尔干半岛和意大利之间。来自达尼洛的一套AMS放射性碳测年将建立非常需要的年代精度。环境研究将对整个亚得里亚海地区及其他地区产生影响，因为这些地区的记录还很薄。该项目的结果将广泛发表在专业和更流行的文献中。该项目将为克罗地亚考古学引入新的视角和方法。该项目的克罗地亚同事中有对当地生态和人种学有丰富知识的科学家。这个项目将有助于把这些信息带给更广泛的公众。克罗地亚和美国学生的参与将提供现代考古技术方面的宝贵培训，并在克罗地亚巩固其作为新民主国家的未来之际促进国际理解。广泛的媒体报道将有助于确保克罗地亚和美国的公众从研究结果中受益。

Farming and settled village life originated in Western Asia about 13,000 years ago and later spread into Europe. This new way of life made possible population growth and the development of more complex societies. Thus, farming provided the foundation for all subsequent major developments in European society. Yet the mechanisms that underlay the original dispersal of farming, the nature of this new economy, and its social implications remain unclear. With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Andrew Moore will head an international team that will address these issues through excavation of early farming sites in Dalmatia on the Adriatic coast of the Republic of Croatia. The project represents a collaboration between Rochester Institute of Technology and colleagues from the tibenik Museum in Croatia.The aims of the project are to understand the nature of the early farming economy in Dalmatia at its inception around 8,000 years ago and how it developed thereafter. This will help settle the question of how farming reached Southern Europe, and whether the initial agricultural economy was a mix of farming and foraging or a full agro-pastoral system. The project will also investigate Late Pleistocene and Holocene environmental changes that will aid in interpreting the ecological background to early farming in Dalmatia.Three seasons of excavation will be conducted in 2004-2006 at the Neolithic sites of Danilo and Pokrovnik. Danilo has been selected for investigation because it is a substantial site that previous excavations have shown was inhabited in all three phases of the Dalmatian Neolithic, or early farming, period. A ground penetrating radar survey will provide crucial information on where to excavate. The project aims for total recovery of surviving plant remains, bones, other organic material, and artifacts and will use appropriate methods to ensure this outcome. Excavations at the nearby Early Neolithic site of Pokrovnik will amplify these results and help illuminate the nature of initial village society in the region. The environmental studies will include examination of the Danilo Valley and also important geological deposits in the nearby Krka Gorge. The team consists of highly qualified personnel in relevant fields of study from universities and museums in the U.S.A., Croatia, and Britain who bring to the project particular experience of the problems to be addressed.Dalmatia is a key region for understanding the dissemination of farming because it lies between the Balkans and Italy. A suite of AMS radiocarbon dates from Danilo will establish much needed chronological precision. The environmental research will have implications for the entire Adriatic region and beyond for which the record is as yet thin. The results of the project will be widely published in specialist and more popular literature.The project will introduce new perspectives and methods to Croatian archaeology. Among the project's Croatian associates are scientists with rich knowledge of local ecology and ethnography. The project will help bring this information to a wider public. Participation by Croatian as well as American students will provide both with valuable training in modern archaeological techniques, and promote international understanding as Croatia consolidates its future as a new democracy. Broad media coverage will help ensure that the public in Croatia and the U.S.A. benefits from the research results.