Assessing the Role of Ecological Change on Economic and Demographic Transformations Between the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age in the Sizandro River Valley, Portugal

评估葡萄牙西赞德罗河谷新石器时代晚期和青铜时代早期生态变化对经济和人口转型的作用

• 批准号: 1153568
• 负责人: Katina Lillios
• 金额: $ 23.55万
• 依托单位: University of Iowa
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-06-01 至 2016-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1153568&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Assessing; Role; Ecological; Change; Economic

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Katina Lillios (University of Iowa) will lead an interdisciplinary team of US, Portuguese, and German researchers in a three-year archaeological project to determine what caused the collapse of complex societies around 2200 BC in the Sizandro River valley, west-central Portugal. The Sizandro River Valley Project brings specialists from archaeology, biological anthropology, and geoarchaeology to study the economic and demographic changes experienced by the ancient communities of the Sizandro River valley. During the Late Neolithic, the Sizandro valley was home to a thriving population, who lived in large fortified settlements and buried their dead in collective tombs. Trade goods that originated in the Portuguese interior and as far away as North Africa have been found in Late Neolithic sites along the Sizandro. During the Early Bronze Age (2200-1500 BC), many settlements were abandoned, and long-distance trade declined. During this same time, the sheltered estuary at the mouth of the Sizandro shrank as sea level fell, accelerated by hillslope erosion attributed to intensive Late Neolithic agriculture. Loss of the estuary might have cut the valley off from maritime trade, and silting of the river might have impeded trade with the interior. Estuarine resources dwindled and disappeared, and riverine ecosystems were transformed. However, the causal relationship between these ecological changes and the abandonments and collapse has never been tested. The Sizandro River Valley Project will contribute to a better understanding of the history of complex societies, including their collapse, by providing a detailed case study of one such collapse. It will also broaden the range of social and ecological contexts within which collapse has been studied. Most studies of collapse have been focused on vulnerable environments, such as the Classic Maya collapse in AD 900 in the rainforests of Central America, and the AD 1300 collapse in the American Southwest. Without broader knowledge, scholarly and popular understandings of climate change and societal collapse will remain limited. In order to evaluate the relationship between ecological change and social collapse in the Sizandro Valley and, ultimately, understanding of the regional transformations that occurred in Portugal, Dr. Lillios and her team will study mobility, diet, and settlement patterns. Specialists will analyze human skeletal remains and their bone chemistry from sites dated to prior to and post collapse. The team will also conduct excavations at the Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age burial of Bolores to collect additional skeletal material. To assess changes in settlement pattern and their economic significance, team members will carry out two seasons of survey. Sites will be mapped, tested, and dated to more precisely characterize the changes in settlement pattern between the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. The Sizandro River Valley Project will provide valuable educational opportunities for students and will strengthen working partnerships between US, Portuguese, and German archaeologists. Results will be broadly disseminated in scholarly publications, conference presentations, digital databases, public lectures, and classes. Project members will also share their findings in Portugal with local citizens, tourists, and schoolchildren.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Katina Lillios博士（爱荷华州大学）将领导一个由美国、葡萄牙和德国研究人员组成的跨学科团队，开展一个为期三年的考古项目，以确定是什么原因导致了公元前2200年左右葡萄牙中西部Sizandro河谷复杂社会的崩溃。Sizandro河谷项目带来了来自考古学，生物人类学和地质考古学的专家，研究Sizandro河谷古代社区所经历的经济和人口变化。在新石器时代晚期，Sizandro山谷是一个繁荣的人口的家园，他们生活在大型设防的定居点，并将死者埋葬在集体坟墓中。在西桑德罗沿着的新石器时代晚期遗址中发现了源自葡萄牙内陆和远至北非的贸易商品。在青铜时代早期（公元前2200-1500年），许多定居点被遗弃，长途贸易下降。与此同时，西桑德罗河口的避风港随着海平面下降而缩小，新石器时代晚期密集农业造成的山坡侵蚀加速了这一过程。河口的丧失可能会切断山谷与海上贸易的联系，而河流的淤塞可能会阻碍与内陆的贸易。河口资源减少和消失，河流生态系统发生了变化。然而，这些生态变化与废弃和崩溃之间的因果关系从未得到过检验。 Sizandro河谷项目将通过提供一个详细的崩溃案例研究，有助于更好地了解复杂社会的历史，包括其崩溃。它还将扩大崩溃研究的社会和生态背景的范围。大多数关于崩溃的研究都集中在脆弱的环境中，例如公元900年中美洲热带雨林的经典玛雅崩溃，以及公元1300年美国西南部的崩溃。如果没有更广泛的知识，学术界和公众对气候变化和社会崩溃的理解将仍然有限。 为了评估Sizandro山谷的生态变化和社会崩溃之间的关系，并最终了解葡萄牙发生的区域转型，Lillios博士和她的团队将研究流动性，饮食和定居模式。专家将分析人类骨骼遗骸和他们的骨化学从网站日期之前和之后崩溃。该团队还将在Bolores的新石器时代晚期-青铜时代早期墓葬中进行挖掘，以收集更多的骨骼材料。为了评估定居模式的变化及其经济意义，小组成员将进行两个季节的调查。这些遗址将被绘制地图、测试和测年，以更精确地描述新石器时代晚期和青铜时代早期之间定居模式的变化。Sizandro河谷项目将为学生提供宝贵的教育机会，并将加强美国，葡萄牙和德国考古学家之间的工作伙伴关系。研究结果将在学术出版物、会议报告、数字数据库、公开讲座和课堂上广泛传播。项目成员还将在葡萄牙与当地公民、游客和学童分享他们的发现。