At a Cross-Roads--Tracking The First Mediterranean Island Colonizers: Interdisciplinary Investigations at Early Neolithic Ais Giorkis, Cyprus

在国家科学基金会的支持下，艾伦·西蒙斯博士和一个国际研究小组将对地中海岛屿塞浦路斯最初的人类殖民进行考古调查。这发生在新石器时代，这代表了从狩猎和采集到驯化动植物和定居的村庄生活的转变。“新石器时代革命”是人类最重大的变革之一，大约1万年前首次发生在近东。毗邻的地中海岛屿被认为是新石器时代研究的边缘，因为早期的研究表明，其中大多数岛屿直到新石器时代开始很久之后才被占领。然而，最近的研究彻底改变了对这些岛屿殖民的看法，表明塞浦路斯被占领的时间比之前认为的要早得多。这些研究改变了考古学家对驯化的看法，以及伴随而来的社会变化，以及新石器时代的传播方式。西蒙斯和他的团队将在AIS Girokis(约7500卡)现场进行两个挖掘季节和一个研究季节。公元前)。这个遗址是最近发现的少数几个定居点之一，这些定居点将塞浦路斯的新石器时代的殖民主义推后了1000多年。AIS Giorkis因其独特的高原位置而从其他遗址中脱颖而出，与其他早期遗址的沿海环境形成了鲜明对比。它包含了盛宴的证据，具有独特的建筑特征，并拥有整个近东地区最早的一些家养动植物(包括牛，以前在塞浦路斯早期没有记录)。该项目的核心理论框架涉及岛屿等人口稀少地区如何被永久殖民。据推测，Ais Giorkis是塞浦路斯最初殖民战略的一个独特部分，有别于沿海定居点。这项研究的学术价值将塞浦路斯放在更广泛的近东地貌中看待，为早期航海技术和“新石器时代一揽子计划”从其大陆核心扩展提供了更广泛的背景。这一点很重要，因为传统观点认为新石器时代是从近东陆路传播到欧洲的。然而，塞浦路斯的新研究表明，海上路线也可能被使用过。事实上，最近对斯堪的纳维亚新石器时代墓葬的DNA研究表明，现代希腊人和塞浦路斯人都有一些基因联系。AIS Giorkis项目具有人类学意义，涉及对岛屿殖民、航海技术以及与定居新土地所涉及的经济和社会网络有关的适应进行全球比较。该项目的更广泛影响包括科学家如何理解新石器时代的转型，这是人类社会进化的关键时期。这项研究是塞浦路斯唯一一个涉及新石器时代的美国项目，与国际合作者合作，为美国和非美国本科生和研究生的专业培训做出贡献。这项研究还为古代农业社会如何适应不断扩大的人口、新的环境和资源枯竭提供了洞察力。了解他们的选择可能会对当代社会有所帮助，因为它面临着与这些早期农民面临的许多相同的挑战。

With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Alan Simmons and an international research team will conduct an archaeological investigation of the initial human colonization of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. This occurred during the Neolithic period, which represented the shift from hunting and gathering to the domestication of plants and animals and settled village life. The "Neolithic Revolution," one of humanity's most momentous transformations, first occurred in the Near East around 10,000 years ago. The adjacent Mediterranean islands were considered marginal to Neolithic research, since early studies indicated that most of them were not occupied until well after the Neolithic had begun. Recent research, however, has revolutionized perspectives on the colonization of these islands, showing that Cyprus was occupied far earlier than previously believed. These studies have changed how archaeologists view domestication, its accompanying social changes, and how the Neolithic spread. Simmons and his team will conduct two excavation seasons and one study season at the site of Ais Girokis (ca., 7,500 cal. BC). This site is one of but a handful of recently discovered settlements that have pushed the Neolithic colonization of Cyprus back by over a 1,000 years. Ais Giorkis stands out from other sites due to its unique uplands location, as opposed to the coastal setting of other early sites. It contains evidence of feasting, has unique architectural features, and has some of the earliest domestic plants and animals (including cattle, which previously had not been documented in early Cyprus) in the entire Near East. The central theoretical framework of the project relates to how under-inhabited regions, such as islands, were permanently colonized. It is hypothesized that Ais Giorkis formed a unique part of Cyprus' initial colonization strategy that was distinct from coastal settlements. The intellectual merit of this study views Cyprus within the wider Near Eastern landscape, providing a broader context for early seafaring technology and the expansion of the "Neolithic Package" from its continental cores. This is important since conventional wisdom was that the Neolithic spread overland from the Near East to Europe. The new Cypriot research, however, suggests that maritime routes also may have been used. Indeed, a recent DNA study of a Scandinavian Neolithic burial shows some genetic linkages to both modern Greeks and Cypriots. The Ais Giorkis project has anthropological significance that involves global comparisons of island colonization, seafaring technologies, and adaptations related to economic and social networks involved in settling new lands. The project's broader impacts include how scientists understand the Neolithic transformation, a critical period in the evolution of human societies. This research, the only American project in Cyprus dealing with the Neolithic, partners with international collaborators and contributes to the professional training of both US and non-US undergraduates and graduate students. This research also provides insight into how ancient farming societies adapted to expanding populations, new environments, and resource depletion. Understanding their choices may help contemporary society as it encounters many of the same challenges that these early farmers faced.