Incipient Social Complexity in The Ubaid Horizon (5800-4000 BC)

乌贝德地平线中初期的社会复杂性（公元前 5800-4000 年）

• 批准号: 0917904
• 负责人: Gil Stein
• 金额: $ 34.8万
• 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: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-15 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0917904&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Incipient; Social; Complexity; Ubaid; Horizon

Excavations at Tell Zeidan in the Euphrates river valley of Syria investigate the roots of the world's earliest known urban civilizations 6000 years ago in "Greater Mesopotamia" (modern Iraq, Syria, and southeast Turkey). The first cities all have their roots in earlier "temple towns" that first arose in the Ubaid period ca. 5500-4000 BC. Understanding the Ubaid culture is thus crucial for any investigation of how complex societies first developed. Unfortunately, most Ubaid temple towns remain extremely difficult to investigate, because the archaeological levels of this period lie buried beneath deep deposits of alluvial silts from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, or beneath millennia of later occupations. However, excavations at Zeidan give a unique opportunity to investigate political and economic organization in the Ubaid period, because this town was not deeply buried by river silts, and its prehistoric levels are immediately accessible beneath the present ground surface.The Ubaid period saw the development of the first complex societies in southern Mesopotamia, with the earliest evidence for towns with temples, economic differentiation, irrigation, and centralized leadership. Ca. 5000 BC, Ubaid influence expanded out of southern Mesopotamia to form a widespread style extending over 1500 km from Syria to the Persian Gulf. However, we still know frustratingly little about 3 key aspects of Ubaid society: a) how did political leadership and social stratification actually function in these polities; b) did Ubaid styles spread through colonization, trade, or the influence of some ideology; and c) what processes linked the diverse local groups across this area within the broader Ubaid horizon? Until now, our information on the Ubaid in Syria has derived entirely from the excavation of small village sites. However, broad horizontal excavation at Zeidan can provide the first representative view of community organization at a large Ubaid regional center. 2008 test excavations found a continuous stratigraphic sequence from 6000-4000 BC, allowing the project to trace the ways that Ubaid culture spread into this region, and how it functioned as a complex society. The absence of post 5th millennium occupations permits broad horizontal exposures of the Ubaid period town at Zeidan. No other known site in upper Mesopotamia can provide this type of data.Excavations at Zeidan have significant broader impact for scholarship, international collaboration, and cultural heritage protection. The project will contribute to both archaeological theory and to our empirical knowledge by providing the first opportunity to expose broad areas of an Ubaid regional center. This will permit researchers to document how complex societies first developed and functioned. The project also has major impacts on international research collaboration. As a jointly directed program with the Syrian Antiquities Department, the project will improve interaction with Middle Eastern archaeologists by training local university students and by publishing its results in both English and Arabic. Finally, the project will educate the local community to value and protect its rich cultural heritage. Project staff will develop site tours, public lectures and written guides in Arabic for free distribution at the Raqqa provincial museum and local schools.

位于叙利亚幼发拉底河流域的Tell Zeidan遗址发掘了6000年前大美索不达米亚(今伊拉克、叙利亚和土耳其东南部)已知的世界上最早的城市文明的根源。最初的城市都植根于早期的“寺庙城镇”，最早出现在公元前5500-4000年的乌贝德时期。因此，了解乌贝德文化对于研究复杂社会最初是如何发展的至关重要。不幸的是，大多数乌贝德寺庙城镇仍然非常难以调查，因为这一时期的考古水平埋藏在底格里斯河和幼发拉底河冲积淤泥的深层沉积之下，或埋在后来数千年的占领之下。然而，扎伊丹的发掘为研究乌拜德时期的政治和经济组织提供了一个独特的机会，因为这个城镇没有被河流淤泥深深掩埋，它的史前水平立即可以到达现在的地表下。乌拜德时期见证了美索不达米亚南部第一个复杂社会的发展，最早的证据是有寺庙、经济分化、灌溉和集中领导的城镇。加州公元前5000年，乌贝德的影响从美索不达米亚南部扩大到从叙利亚延伸到波斯湾1500多公里的广泛风格。然而，令人沮丧的是，我们仍然对乌贝德社会的三个关键方面知之甚少：a)政治领导和社会分层实际上是如何在这些政治中发挥作用的；b)乌贝德风格是通过殖民、贸易或某些意识形态的影响传播的；以及c)在更广泛的乌贝德地平线上，是什么过程将这一地区的不同地方群体联系在一起？到目前为止，我们关于叙利亚乌贝德的信息完全来自对小村庄遗址的挖掘。然而，扎伊丹的大范围水平挖掘可以提供大型乌贝德区域中心的社区组织的第一个代表性视图。2008年的测试发掘发现了公元前6000-4000年的连续地层序列，使该项目能够追踪乌贝德文化传播到该地区的方式，以及它如何作为一个复杂的社会发挥作用。由于没有后五千年的职业，扎伊丹的乌贝德时期城镇得以广泛水平曝光。美索不达米亚上游没有其他已知遗址可以提供这种类型的数据。扎伊丹的洞穴对学术、国际合作和文化遗产保护具有重要的更广泛的影响。该项目将为考古理论和我们的经验知识做出贡献，提供第一次机会揭露乌贝德地区中心的广泛地区。这将使研究人员能够记录复杂社会最初是如何发展和运作的。该项目还对国际研究合作产生了重大影响。作为与叙利亚文物局联合指导的项目，该项目将通过培训当地大学生并以英语和阿拉伯语发布结果，改善与中东考古学家的互动。最后，该项目将教育当地社区珍视和保护其丰富的文化遗产。项目工作人员将开发阿拉伯语的现场参观、公开讲座和书面指南，供拉卡省博物馆和当地学校免费分发。