Pastures, Chert Sources, and Upland-Lowland Mobility in Neolithic Southwest Germany

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，由Lynn Fisher、Susan Harris、Corina Knipper和Rainer Schreg组成的美国/德国团队将对中欧新石器时代早期的流动性和高地土地利用进行为期两年的跨学科考古研究。该项目汇集了考古学、地质学、稳定同位素分析和地理信息系统方面的专家，以调查德国西南部低地山谷早期农业村庄与环境对比鲜明的高地地区之间的经济联系。新石器时代早期（Linearbandkeramik或LBK，约公元前5500 - 4900年）的人是中欧的第一批农民，他们在那里引进了种植的谷物，驯养的牛、羊和猪，该地区最早的定居村庄，以及独特的陶瓷器皿。关于低海拔地区定居和经济的主流观点强调经济和定居系统的同质性，主要集中在黄土肥沃的低地地区。这一设想受到了新石器时代早期高地土地利用和规模、组织和经济的实质性变化的挑战。先前关于新石器时代早期的考古研究主要集中在低地定居点，而本项目调查了用于石器生产的燧石原料的采购和用于养牛的林地牧场，作为新石器时代早期定居和经济体系中高地资源开发和高地与低地地区联系的例子。通过两个季节的实地工作，研究了燧石的采购和运输，这是邻近低地生产工具的重要石料来源。对几个低地地点的牛牙齿的锶和氧同位素分析将告知在地质条件不同的高地地区季节性使用牧场的重要性。美国和德国的研究人员和学生将1)绘制天然石材来源图，2)对来源周围的工具生产碎屑进行系统调查，3)进行地磁调查，以确定原材料采购坑和房屋等考古特征，4)对这些特征的样本进行测试挖掘，5)对调查和挖掘的文物进行完整分析，6)对牛牙齿样本进行同位素分析，7)建立一个天然锶同位素水平的参考数据库，以确定牧区；8)在地理信息系统分析中整合考古和同位素分析的结果。这项研究将测试LBK土地使用和流动性的模型，这些模型是长期以来关于欧洲农业传播所涉及的经济和社会过程的考古学辩论的一部分。它还将通过调查LBK对可能吸引觅食者和农民进入高地的资源的使用，有助于理解早期农民和当代觅食者之间的关系。该项目对考古学研究具有更广泛的影响，因为它将测试畜牧业研究的方法，并建立一个考古、地质和环境数据的数字档案，供其他研究人员使用。该项目结合了伊利诺斯州斯普林菲尔德大学（美国）和蒂宾根大学（德国）之间的持续合作伙伴关系的研究和国际教育。美国和德国的本科生和研究生将参加实地考察和数据分析，以加强他们在考古方法和理论方面的训练，并增加他们对欧洲史前史重要时期的认识。该奖项由社会行为与经济科学理事会和国际科学与工程办公室共同资助

With National Science Foundation support a U.S./German team of Lynn Fisher, Susan Harris, Corina Knipper and Rainer Schreg will conduct a two-year interdisciplinary archaeological study of mobility and upland land use in the Central European Early Neolithic. The project brings together specialists in archaeology, geology, stable isotope analysis, and Geographic Information Systems to investigate economic linkages between early farming villages in lowland valleys and environmentally contrasting upland regions in southwest Germany.Early Neolithic (Linearbandkeramik or LBK, ca. 5500 - 4900 B.C.) people were the first farmers in Central Europe, where they introduced cultivated cereals, domesticated cattle, sheep and pigs, the region's first sedentary villages, and distinctive ceramic vessels. Prevailing views of LBK settlement and economy have emphasized homogeneity in economic and settlement systems focused on lowland areas with fertile loess soils. This scenario has been challenged by evidence for upland land use and substantial variation in size, organization, and economy of early Neolithic settlements. While previous archaeological research on the Early Neolithic focused on lowland settlements, this project investigates the procurement of chert raw material for stone tool production and woodland pastures for cattle as examples of upland resource exploitation and linkage of upland and lowland areas in the early Neolithic settlement and economic system.Procurement and transport of chert is investigated through two seasons of field work on the Swabian Alb limestone plateau, an important source of stone for tool production in neighboring lowlands. Strontium and oxygen isotope analyses on cattle teeth from several lowland sites will inform about the importance of seasonal use of pasture grounds in upland areas with contrasting geological conditions. U.S. and German researchers and students will 1) map natural stone sources, 2) complete systematic survey of tool production debris around sources, 3) carry out geomagnetic survey to locate archaeological features such as raw material procurement pits and houses, 4) conduct test excavations on a sample of such features, 5) complete analysis of artifacts from survey and excavation, 6) carry out isotope analyses on samples of cattle teeth, 7) complete a reference database of natural strontium isotope levels needed to identify pasture areas, and 8) integrate results of archaeological and isotope analyses in a Geographic Information Systems analysis.The research will test models of LBK land use and mobility that are part of long-standing archaeological debates about the economic and social processes involved in the spread of farming in Europe. It will also contribute to understandings of relationships between early farmers and contemporary foragers by investigating LBK use of resources that may have attracted both foragers and farmers into the uplands.The project has broader implications for research in archaeology because it will test methods for the study of cattle husbandry and build a digital archive of archaeological, geological and environmental data that will be made available to other researchers. The project combines research and international education in a continuing partnership between the University of Illinois-Springfield (USA) and the University of Tubingen (Germany). U.S. and German undergraduate and graduate students will participate in fieldwork and data analysis to enhance their training in archaeological method and theory and increase their knowledge of an important period in European prehistory.This award is co-funded by the Directorate For Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences and the Office of International Science and Engineering