Doctoral Dissertation Research: An Isotopic Investigation of Mobility, Exchange, and Tomb Membership in Bronze Age Arabia

该项目调查了整个青铜器时代（公元前3100-1200年）阿拉伯联合酋长国区域间交流网络发展过程中人类迁移模式的变化。从人类牙釉质中提取的稳定的锶、氧和碳同位素值将用于重建个体的童年地理居住地，以便识别在阿曼半岛各地的坟墓中埋葬的非本地成年人。这项研究验证了一种假设，即在青铜时代早期，将外国人埋葬在当地的坟墓里是一种常见的做法，但在与该地区相互联系的印度河流域文明衰落后，这种做法在青铜时代中期迅速衰落。这项研究挑战了长期以来的假设，即这些巨大的坟墓是将当地人口与其祖先埋葬的土地联系起来的强大象征；这些坟墓中有非本地人的存在，可能表明一种比以前推测的更灵活、更复杂的丧葬意识形态。该项目将大大有助于我们了解贸易对古代阿拉伯流动和移民模式的影响，并试图通过挑战这些关系背后的理论假设来解决更广泛的问题。通过对骨骼遗骸的同位素特征的分析，人类交流的证据有可能深入了解该地区生活的政治经济和意识形态方面，并促进考古记录和直接生物地球化学证据之间的比较，以了解这一时期外交关系和从属关系的真实性质。该项目影响了一名女研究生的培养，并创造了成功的机会，同时也有助于本科生在稳定同位素分析方法方面的教育和培训。该项目提供与阿联酋学者的跨学科合作。公众宣传也是这个项目的一个关键方面，代表性不足的群体将能够参加女孩探索考古！该项目向中学女生介绍考古学背后的科学。

This project investigates changes in human migration patterns with the development of interregional exchange networks in the United Arab Emirates throughout the Bronze Age (ca. 3100-1200 BC). Stable strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope values extracted from human tooth enamel will be utilized in reconstructing the childhood geographic residence of individuals in order to identify non-local adults interred in tombs across the Oman Peninsula. This study tests the hypothesis that the burial of foreigners within local tombs was a common practice by the Early Bronze Age but declined rapidly in the Middle Bronze Age after the fall of the Indus Valley civilization, with which this region was interconnected. This research challenges the long-standing assumption that these monumental tombs acted as powerful symbols tying local populations to the land where their ancestors were buried; the presence of non-locals in these tombs may point to a more flexible and complex funerary ideology than previously speculated. This project will contribute significantly to our knowledge of the influence of trade on mobility and migration patterns in ancient Arabia and seeks to address broader issues by challenging the theoretical assumptions behind these relationships. Through analyses of isotopic signatures from skeletal remains, evidence of the exchange of people has the potential to give insight into the political economy and idealogical aspects of life in this region and facilitate a comparison between the archaeological record and direct biogeochemical evidence as to the true nature of foreign relations and subordination during this time. This project impacts a female graduate student's training and generates opportunities for success, as well as contributing to the education and training of undergraduates in methodology related to stable isotope analysis. The project provides interdisciplinary collaboration with Emirati scholars. Public outreach is also a key aspect of this project and underrepresented groups will be able to attend the Girls Explore Archaeology! Program, which introduces middle school-aged girls to the science behind archaeology.