Doctoral Dissertation Research: Emergent Complexity on the Mongolian Steppe: Mobility, Territoriality and the Development of Early Nomadic Polities

博士论文研究：蒙古草原的复杂性：流动性、领土性和早期游牧政体的发展

• 批准号: 0731482
• 负责人: Robert Drennan
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: University of Pittsburgh
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-07-15 至 2008-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0731482&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Emergent; Complexity

Under the supervision of Dr. Robert D. Drennan, Jean-Luc Houle will carry out an archaeological settlement study in the Khanuy River Valley of central Mongolia in order to document the earliest complex societies of the region. It has long been thought that early complex societies in the Mongolian steppe (culminating in vast empires such as that of Genghis Khan) were built upon economic interdependence between mobile herding peoples and large populations of settled farmers. More recently this view has been challenged by those who see much more potential for the development of hierarchical social organization and large-scale political integration within the context of a mobile herding way of life.In the Mongolian case this debate centers on the Iron Age Xiongnu (ca. 209 BCE to 93 CE) and whether this polity of mobile herders resulted from indigenous political processes or from interaction with sedentary agricultural states in China. Impressive Late Bronze Age (mid-second to mid-first millennia BCE) ritual and funerary monuments in central Mongolia have suggested to some that Xiongnu political integration grew from local roots in complex, hierarchical societies that predate regular interaction with large sedentary states in China. The interpretation of these monuments is controversial, however, and highly relevant direct evidence of social status, political authority, and economic specialization is lacking. Although the residential remains of these possibly highly mobile Late Bronze Age peoples are quite ephemeral, Mr. Houle has developed and field tested methodologies for recovering them. His research will apply that methodology to two 25 km zones, in order to map out all traces of human occupation, make estimates of the numbers of people occupying these zones, and evaluate the extent to which these monuments reflect regional centralization. Stratigraphic testing of some of the occupations located will produce larger samples of artifacts, as well as floral and faunal remains, enabling assessment of the degree of mobility, of subsistence strategies, of economic specialization, and of social ranking.In addition to providing the doctoral candidate with training in the design, direction, and realization of archaeological research, the broader impacts of the research will include providing fundamental field experience to Mongolian and American undergraduate and graduate archaeology students who will assist during the collection and recording of data in the field. Public outreach in the field in Mongolia is a continuous and informal process. In such a dispersed and mobile population, there are few opportunities for formal public lectures and presentations, but visiting and conversing with herders and other travelers passing through is incessant, and this provides access to the major information network of central Mongolia, through which explanations of the nature and worth of scientific research into the past and of the importance of protecting cultural patrimony will ripple outward. In the capital city, where analysis of the materials recovered will be carried out, Ulaanbaatar University provides a venue for public lectures and presentations. Upon completion of the research, a website will be set up to communicate the results to the general public.

在Robert D. Drennan，Jean-Luc Houle将在蒙古中部的Khanuy河谷进行考古定居研究，以记录该地区最早的复杂社会。长期以来，人们一直认为，蒙古大草原上的早期复杂社会（最终形成成吉思汗这样的大帝国）是建立在移动的游牧民族和大量定居农民之间的经济相互依赖基础上的。最近，这一观点受到了一些人的挑战，他们认为在移动的放牧生活方式的背景下，等级社会组织和大规模政治一体化的发展潜力更大。公元前209年至公元93年），以及这种移动的牧民政体是由土著政治进程还是与中国定居农业国家的互动造成的。蒙古中部令人印象深刻的青铜时代晚期（公元前2千年中期到前1千年中期）的仪式和墓葬遗迹向一些人表明，匈奴的政治融合源于当地复杂的等级社会，早于与中国的大型定居国家的定期互动。然而，对这些纪念碑的解释是有争议的，缺乏与社会地位、政治权威和经济专业化高度相关的直接证据。虽然这些可能高度移动的青铜时代晚期人民的住宅遗迹是相当短暂的，但Houle先生已经开发并实地测试了恢复它们的方法。他的研究将把这一方法应用于两个25公里的区域，以绘制出人类占领的所有痕迹，估计占领这些区域的人数，并评估这些古迹反映区域集中的程度。对一些职业进行地层测试将产生更大的人工制品样本，以及植物和动物遗迹，从而能够评估流动程度，生存策略，经济专业化和社会排名。除了为博士生提供设计，方向和实现考古研究的培训外，这项研究的更广泛的影响将包括为蒙古和美国考古学本科生和研究生提供基本的实地经验，他们将在实地收集和记录数据期间提供帮助。在蒙古，实地的公共外联是一个持续的非正式进程。在这样一个分散和移动的人口中，很少有机会进行正式的公开讲座和演讲，但不断地与牧民和其他路过的旅行者进行访问和交谈，这提供了进入蒙古中部主要信息网络的机会，通过该网络，对过去科学研究的性质和价值以及保护文化遗产的重要性的解释将向外涟漪。在首都乌兰巴托，乌兰巴托大学将为公开讲座和介绍提供场所，对回收的材料进行分析。研究完成后，将建立一个网站，向公众公布研究结果。