Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Interaction At The Periphery Of Empires

博士论文改进补助金：帝国边缘的互动

• 批准号: 1420111
• 负责人: Lauren Ristvet
• 金额: $ 1.86万
• 依托单位: University of Pennsylvania
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-04-15 至 2017-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1420111&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Interaction

One central goal of archaeology is to understand how complex social entities such as "states" and "empires" arise. In the process marginal regions which lie outside centers of power must develop means to interact and deal with such larger neighbors. ("Tribal regions" in Northwest Pakistan provide one modern example.) This research examines one such case. Doing so in an archaeological context provides the advantage of tracing interactions over an extended period of time.This project will explore the relationships between technology and politics by examining how ceramic technology in local centers in Naxçývan, Azerbaijan, at the periphery of the Urartian Empire (Middle Iron Age, MIA, 800-600 BCE), shaped life in the frontier. Urartu was the first empire to arise in the highlands of the Ancient Near East, encompassing much of Eastern Turkey, Northwest Iran, and the Southern Caucasus. What was the political relationship between the Plain, Naxçývan and Urartu? How did changing ceramic technology generate and/or reflect the development of new political relationships? Political context affects economic opportunities, consumer preferences, and labor conditions, which changes technology. In return, technological changes can alter political practices, as the desire for certain luxury goods, new food preparation methods, and previously unknown trade partners become essential to local communities. The research will reconstruct ceramic production from the Early Iron Age (EIA, 1200-800 BCE) and the MIA, and observe which aspects of ceramic technology show discontinuous change. Ceramic production usually changes gradually over time, and abrupt change generally requires a catalyst related to social, political, and economic shifts. Abrupt changes in ceramic technology probably show that Sharur inhabitants were reorganizing certain aspects of life in response to Urartu. Ceramic samples will be studied from excavations of a fortress, a domestic settlement in the valley below, and survey of the surrounding area to investigate how artisans, pastoralists, farmers, and administrators negotiated imperial expansion through material culture. Ceramics will be analyzed using multiple methods including petrography, XRD, NAA, SEM, and radiography to investigate raw material acquisition, forming, decoration, and exchange. Studying the provenience of raw materials provides evidence for exchange networks, forming reveals organization of production, and decoration indicates symbolic positioning. By layering these data, it will be possible to reconstruct how people in this region engaged with Urartu as a vassal, neighbor, or antagonist. The NSF grant will contribute to international collaboration between American and Azerbaijani archaeologists, with directors and team members from both countries working together towards common goals. The Naxçývan Archaeological Project provides resources to develop Azerbaijani archaeological research initiatives, facilitating Azerbaijani development of their own heritage including a site conservation plan. The project also provides training to undergraduate and graduate students from institutions throughout the United States. Research results will be presented at conferences for scholarly audiences, and public talks in Philadelphia and Azerbaijan. Ongoing excavation results are posted on the project website in English, Azerbaijani, and Russian. Finally, all results will be published in a monograph and as articles in peer-reviewed journals.Human-technological relations are a pressing concern of the modern world, and archaeology is uniquely positioned to add data with time depth to our understanding of how these relationships function. Azerbaijan lies at the nexus of Asia and Europe, and deeper knowledge of ancient life at these crossroads makes it possible to contextualize modern processes of technological change and globalization in this politically critical region. By reconstructing past relationships between technology and power, this research will shed light on the modern dynamics of technological complexity.

考古学的一个中心目标是了解“国家”和“帝国”等复杂的社会实体是如何产生的。在这一过程中，位于权力中心之外的边缘地区必须开发出与这样的较大邻国互动和打交道的手段。(巴基斯坦西北部的“部落地区”就是一个现代的例子。)这项研究考察了一个这样的案例。在考古背景下这样做提供了在较长一段时间内追踪相互作用的优势。该项目将通过研究位于乌尔雅帝国(中铁时代，公元前800-600年)边缘的阿塞拜疆纳克萨克勒万当地中心的陶瓷技术如何塑造边疆生活，来探索技术和政治之间的关系。乌拉尔图是第一个在古代近东高地崛起的帝国，包括土耳其东部、伊朗西北部和南高加索的大部分地区。普莱恩、纳克萨·凡和乌拉尔图之间的政治关系是什么？不断变化的陶瓷技术如何产生和/或反映新的政治关系的发展？政治环境会影响经济机会、消费者偏好和劳动条件，从而改变技术。作为回报，技术变革可以改变政治做法，因为对某些奢侈品、新的食物制作方法和以前不为人知的贸易伙伴的渴望对当地社区来说变得至关重要。这项研究将重建早期铁器时代(EIA，公元前1200-800年)和MIA的陶瓷生产，并观察陶瓷技术的哪些方面显示出不连续的变化。陶瓷生产通常会随着时间的推移而逐渐变化，而突然的变化通常需要与社会、政治和经济变化相关的催化剂。陶瓷技术的突然变化可能表明，沙鲁尔居民正在重新组织生活的某些方面，以回应乌拉尔图。陶器样本将从下面山谷中一个堡垒的挖掘和周围地区的调查中进行研究，以调查工匠、牧民、农民和行政人员如何通过物质文化谈判帝国扩张。将使用多种方法对陶瓷进行分析，包括岩相学、X射线衍射、NAA、扫描电子显微镜和射线照相，以调查原材料的获取、形成、装饰和交换。研究原料来源为交换网络提供了证据，形成了生产组织，而装饰则表明了符号定位。通过将这些数据分层，将有可能重建该地区的人们是如何作为附庸、邻居或对手与乌拉尔图接触的。NSF的赠款将有助于美国和阿塞拜疆考古学家之间的国际合作，两国的负责人和团队成员将为共同的目标而共同努力。纳克萨·凡考古项目提供资源，以发展阿塞拜疆的考古研究举措，促进阿塞拜疆发展自己的遗产，包括遗址保护计划。该项目还为美国各地机构的本科生和研究生提供培训。研究成果将在面向学术受众的会议上展示，并在费城和阿塞拜疆的公开演讲中展示。正在进行的挖掘结果以英语、阿塞拜疆语和俄语发布在项目网站上。最后，所有结果都将发表在专著和同行评议的期刊上。人与技术的关系是现代世界迫切关注的问题，考古学具有独特的地位，可以为我们理解这些关系是如何运作的提供具有时间深度的数据。阿塞拜疆地处亚洲和欧洲的交汇处，对这些十字路口的古代生活有更深入的了解，使我们有可能在这一政治上至关重要的区域将技术变革和全球化的现代进程联系起来。通过重建技术和权力之间的过去关系，这项研究将揭示技术复杂性的现代动态。