Support for Coordinated, Regional Trace-Element Studies at the OSU-RC Archaeometry Lab

支持 OSU-RC 考古实验室的协调、区域微量元素研究

• 批准号: 1005945
• 负责人: Leah Minc
• 金额: $ 19.73万
• 依托单位: Oregon State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1005945&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Support; Coordinated; Regional; Trace; Element

With support from the National Science Foundation, this collaborative project brings together an international team of scholars and advanced students to identify sources of ceramic production and to trace local and interregional exchange of ceramic vessels within two important centers of ancient civilization: Mesopotamia and its neighbors, and the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico. Under the direction of Dr. Leah Minc, trace-element analyses will be conducted to determine vessel provenance (geographic origin) via high-sensitivity Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). Project participants will select archaeological ceramics for INAA from existing museum collections as well as from recent excavations representing key sites in each area, and contribute their expertise on ceramic chronology, typology, and culture history.In both geographic study areas, the resulting trace-element data will provide physical evidence necessary to address both long-standing and recent models of political cycles of consolidation and fragmentation, and their impact on economic organization. Within the Valley of Oaxaca, participating projects focus on the scale and location of ceramic production relative to centers of political power. Key questions include whether political centers also functioned as economic urban sites engaged in the production of basic commodities (such as ceramics), and whether the exchange of such items was an integrating force for the Classic Zapotec state (ca. 300-750 AD). In the case of Iraq, Iran, and Syria, the participating projects collectively will allow scholars to re-examine patterns of inter-regional interaction (such as between the lowlands and highlands), and to archaeologically substantiate historically recorded cycles of expansion and contraction of various Iranian and Mesopotamian political entities. Of central interest are possible exchange linkages forged during the 'Uruk expansion' (when Mesopotamian influences suddenly appear to dominate key trading centers in the adjacent uplands), and the formation of proto-Elamite and Elamite trading networks.The coordination of these geographically and thematically related projects allows for an unprecedented spatial scale and scope in analyses of ancient exchange. Although each participating scholar will address research questions and objectives specific to his or her own site, the potential for cross-fertilization of ideas among projects is great. Further, as each project expands the geographical and/or chronological range of trace-element data available for their study area, the integration of these results provides an even broader perspective of compositional variability in archaeological ceramics. Such a collaborative approach is therefore a more efficient means of conducting archaeometric research in key geographic areas, as it maximizes the information gained from any one site or study by placing it in a regional context.The broader impacts of this proposal are that it will establish a much-needed regional perspective and foundation for future studies of exchange for two major centers of archaeological interest. Further, the project will promote an integrated materials science approach in archaeological investigations of both young post-doctoral scholars as well as established scholars. The project will also provide graduate students with intensive hands-on training in the technical aspects of INAA and compositional analyses, and give undergraduate archaeology students the opportunity to participate in 'real world science' through labs and work experience.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，这个合作项目汇集了一个由学者和高级学生组成的国际团队，以确定陶瓷生产的来源，并追踪古代文明两个重要中心内的陶瓷器皿的地方和区域间交换：美索不达米亚及其邻国，以及墨西哥的瓦哈卡山谷。 在Leah Minc博士的指导下，将进行痕量元素分析，以通过高灵敏度仪器中子活化分析（INAA）确定船只来源（地理来源）。 项目参与者将从现有的博物馆藏品以及最近的发掘中为INAA选择代表每个地区关键地点的考古陶瓷，并贡献他们在陶瓷年代学，类型学和文化史方面的专业知识。在这两个地理研究领域，所产生的微量元素数据将提供必要的物理证据，以解决长期和最近的巩固和分裂的政治周期模型，及其对经济组织的影响。 在瓦哈卡山谷内，参与项目的重点是陶瓷生产相对于政治权力中心的规模和位置。 关键问题包括政治中心是否也作为从事基本商品（如陶瓷）生产的经济城市场所，以及这些物品的交换是否是经典萨波特克国家的整合力量。公元300-750年）。 在伊拉克，伊朗和叙利亚的情况下，参与项目集体将允许学者重新审视区域间互动的模式（如低地和高地之间），并从考古学上证实历史记录的伊朗和美索不达米亚各种政治实体的扩张和收缩周期。最重要的是在“阿斯克扩张”（当美索不达米亚的影响突然出现在邻近高地的主要贸易中心）期间可能形成的交换联系，以及原始埃兰人和埃兰人贸易网络的形成。这些地理和主题相关的项目的协调允许在分析古代交换时具有前所未有的空间规模和范围。 虽然每个参与的学者将解决研究问题和目标具体到他或她自己的网站，项目之间的思想交流的潜力是巨大的。此外，由于每个项目都扩大了其研究区域可用的痕量元素数据的地理和/或年代范围，这些结果的整合提供了更广泛的考古陶瓷成分变化的视角。因此，这种合作方法是在关键地理区域进行考古测量研究的更有效的手段，因为它通过将其置于区域背景下来最大限度地利用从任何一个遗址或研究中获得的信息。这一提议的更广泛影响是，它将为两个主要考古中心的未来交流研究建立急需的区域视角和基础。 此外，该项目将促进年轻博士后学者和知名学者在考古调查中采用综合材料科学方法。该项目还将为研究生提供INAA和成分分析技术方面的强化实践培训，并为本科考古学学生提供通过实验室和工作经验参与“真实的世界科学”的机会。