Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Social Lives of Pottery on the Plain of Flowers: Late Bronze Age Ceramic Production and Exchange in Tsaghkahovit, Armenia

博士论文改进补助金：花平原陶器的社会生活：亚美尼亚察卡霍维特青铜时代晚期的陶瓷生产和交流

• 批准号: 0808151
• 负责人: Adam Smith
• 金额: $ 1.5万
• 依托单位: University of Chicago
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-03-15 至 2010-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0808151&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Social

Under the direction of Dr Adam Smith, Mr. Alan Greene will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. With National Science Foundation support Mr. Greene will travel to Yerevan Armenia and analyze a large sample of archaeological ceramics excavated from Late Bronze Age sites. Upon his return to the United States a selected sample will be analyzed by a variety of chemical and physical techniques, including neutron activation analysis, digital radiography and X-ray computed tomography. These latter two techniques have not been applied to archaeological ceramics and this research has the potential to develop robust techniques with wide applicability.For decades researchers studying the rise of social complexity in the Old World focused on the rich and abundant archaeological records in Iraq and Iran because in both these areas it was possible to trace the development of complex societies from initial small scale hunting and gathering groups through the emergence of empires. With access to these two countries limited in recent years archaeologists have productively pursued these same fundamental questions in neighboring areas and Armenia - particularly the Bronze Age period - has proven fruitful ground. During the Early Bronze Age large settlements appear in the archaeological record. It is particularly interesting that in the following Middle Bronze Age period, the pattern changes and settlements are abandoned in favor of a nomadic militaristic lifestyle. During the Late Bronze Age (1,500 to 1,200 BC) which is the focus of Mr. Greene's study, the pattern shifts once again and a unique arrangement appears with people aggregated in large heavily fortified settlements with smaller outliers. Mr. Greene wishes to understand how these settlements relate to one another - to what degree and over what area do they interact - and what were the economic and social systems which underpinned these relations. To do this he is focusing on ceramics from a number of sites which have been excavated in recent years. By tracing the distribution of pottery types over space he can determine where different kinds were produced and how they moved and were traded. Through the examination of the techniques by which they were fabricated and the extent to which they were standardized, it will be possible to determined the degree to which production was centralized. Thus the ceramics serve to provide insight and understanding of a broader social universe. This project involves close collaboration between US and Armenian researchers and will strengthen ties between the two countries. It will also further the scientific career of a promising young researcher.

在亚当·斯密博士的指导下，艾伦·格林先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。在美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）的支持下，格林将前往亚美尼亚的埃里温，分析从青铜时代晚期遗址出土的大量考古陶瓷样本。在他回到美国后，一个选定的样本将通过各种化学和物理技术进行分析，包括中子活化分析、数字放射照相和x射线计算机断层扫描。后两种技术尚未应用于考古陶瓷，本研究具有开发具有广泛适用性的强大技术的潜力。几十年来，研究旧世界社会复杂性兴起的研究人员把注意力集中在伊拉克和伊朗丰富的考古记录上，因为在这两个地区，从最初的小规模狩猎和采集群体到帝国的出现，都有可能追溯到复杂社会的发展。近年来，由于进入这两个国家的机会有限，考古学家们在邻近地区卓有成效地研究了这些基本问题，而亚美尼亚——尤其是青铜器时代——已被证明是硕果累累。在青铜时代早期，考古记录中出现了大型定居点。特别有趣的是，在接下来的中期青铜时代，模式发生了变化，定居被放弃，转而采用游牧的军国主义生活方式。在格林先生研究的重点——青铜时代晚期（公元前1500年至1200年），这种模式再次发生了变化，出现了一种独特的安排，人们聚集在大型的、戒备森严的定居点，而少数人则聚集在少数地方。格林先生希望了解这些定居点是如何相互联系的- -它们在什么程度上和在什么领域相互作用- -以及支撑这些关系的经济和社会制度是什么。为了做到这一点，他专注于近年来挖掘的一些遗址的陶瓷。通过追踪陶器在空间上的分布，他可以确定不同种类的陶器是在哪里生产的，以及它们是如何移动和交易的。通过对制造这些产品的技术和标准化程度的考察，就有可能确定生产集中化的程度。因此，陶瓷提供了对更广泛的社会宇宙的洞察力和理解。该项目涉及美国和亚美尼亚研究人员之间的密切合作，并将加强两国之间的联系。它还将进一步推动一位有前途的年轻研究人员的科学事业。