Collaborative Research: Monitoring the Development of Bronze Age Complexity and Metallurgy: New Investigations at the Great Tell of Pecica "Santul Mare"

在国家科学基金会的支持下，John O‘Shea博士和Alex Barker博士以及一个由美国和罗马尼亚同事组成的团队将在罗马尼亚西部的Pecica“Santul Mare”遗址进行考古测试和挖掘的试点季节。研究小组汇集了地质学、冶金、材料科学和生物学方面的专业知识，以及青铜时代和达契亚考古学的专业知识，以调查这一关键考古遗址的时代和特征。佩西卡大教堂在欧洲考古史上占有独特的地位。正如东欧最早出土的青铜时代之一所述，它的长期占领为确定中东欧后来的史前时代提供了标准。使用放射性碳测年等现代测年技术对佩西卡序列进行校准，将极大地提高佩西卡独特的长期占领序列的研究价值，并将有助于重新校准东欧数百个考古遗址的现有收藏品。除了它的年代学意义外，佩西卡还是青铜时代金属制品制造和分配的重要早期中心。因此，该遗址可以为记录早期青铜冶金和贸易的组织以及了解青铜时代社会变化的特征提供一个实验室。试点项目的目标是为佩西卡建立一个安全的年表框架，并证明该地点是否适合解决广泛的人类学问题。具体任务是1)清理可回收可测年材料的长遗址剖面，2)对遗址其他部分进行二次地层学测试和取心，以评估整个地区考古沉积物的多样性和完整性，3)有限区域挖掘，以评估不同类别考古材料的保存和恢复，特别是植物遗骸和冶金矿渣，并收集这些材料的代表性样本进行实验室分析。佩西卡项目将产生大量重要的科学成果。这项研究的主要学术价值将是建立东欧青铜时代的绝对年表，并证明佩西卡矿床的潜力，以回答与早期青铜冶金和社会变化有关的基本问题。这项研究的更广泛影响之一是，它将促进该地区的国际学术合作，直到最近，该地区还与英语世界的大多数研究隔绝。合作工作将加强美国和罗马尼亚研究人员之间的专业知识和技术共享，并为美国和罗马尼亚学生提供重大培训好处。该项目还将确保这个历史悠久但濒临灭绝的遗址的考古材料受控样本被保存下来，供后代使用。

With National Science Foundation Support, Drs. John O'Shea and Alex Barker and a team of American and Romanian colleagues will conduct a pilot season of archaeological testing and excavation at the site of Pecica "Santul Mare" in western Romania. The research team brings together expertise in geology, metallurgy, material science and biology, as well as expertise in Bronze Age and Dacian archaeology, to investigate the age and character of this pivotal archaeological site. The great tell at Pecica holds a unique place in the history of European archaeology. As one of the earliest excavated Bronze Age tells in Eastern Europe, its long sequence of occupation provided the standard for dating the later prehistory of Middle and Eastern Europe. The calibration of the Pecica sequence using modern dating techniques such as radiocarbon dating will greatly enhance the research value of Pecica's unique long sequence of occupation and will serve to recalibrate existing collections from literally hundreds of archaeological sites across Eastern Europe. In addition to its chronological significance, Pecica was an important early center for the manufacture and distribution of metal work during the Bronze Age. As such, the site can provide a laboratory for documenting the organization of early bronze metallurgy and trade as well as for understanding the character of social change during the Bronze Age. The goal of the pilot project is to establish a secure chronological framework for Pecica and to demonstrate the suitability of the site for addressing a broad range of anthropological questions. Specific tasks are 1) clearing of a long site profile from which datable material can be recovered, 2) opening of secondary stratigraphic tests and corings on other portions of the site to assess the variation and intactness of the archaeological deposits across the tell, and 3) limited area excavation to assess the preservation and recovery of differing classes of archaeological materials, particularly plant remains and metallurgical slags, and to collect representative samples of these materials for laboratory analysis.The Pecica project will generate a plethora of important scientific results. The primary intellectual merit of the research will be the establishment of an absolute chronology for the East European Bronze Age and to demonstrate the potential of the Pecica deposits to answer fundamental questions relating to early bronze metallurgy and social change.Among the broader impacts of the study is that it will foster international scholarly collaboration in a region that until recently was isolated from most research in the English speaking world. The collaborative work will enhance the sharing of expertise and techniques among American and Romanian researchers and provide major training benefits for American and Romanian students. The project also will ensure that a controlled sample of archaeological materials from this historic, but endangered, site is preserved for posterity.