Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Interaction At The Periphery Of Empires

考古学的一个中心目标是了解复杂的社会实体，如“国家”和“帝国”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发展出与这些更大的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。）本研究考察了一个这样的案例。在考古环境中这样做提供了在较长时间内跟踪相互作用的优势。该项目将通过考察乌拉提亚帝国（中世纪铁器时代，米亚，公元前800-600年）边缘的阿塞拜疆Naxçývan当地中心的陶瓷技术如何塑造边疆生活，来探索技术与政治之间的关系。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。平原、Naxçývan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实践，因为对某些奢侈品的渴望，新的食品制备方法，以及以前未知的贸易伙伴对当地社区至关重要。该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表现出不连续的变化。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、政治和经济转变相关的催化剂。陶瓷技术的突然变化可能表明，沙罗尔居民正在重组生活的某些方面，以应对乌拉尔图。陶瓷样品将从一个堡垒的挖掘中进行研究，下面山谷中的一个家庭定居点，以及对周围地区的调查，以调查工匠，牧民，农民和管理者如何通过物质文化来协商帝国扩张。陶瓷将使用多种方法进行分析，包括岩石学，XRD， NAA， SEM和射线照相，以研究原材料的获取，形成，装饰和交换。研究原材料的来源为交换网络提供了证据，形状揭示了生产组织，装饰表明了符号定位。通过将这些数据分层，将有可能重建该地区的人们如何与乌拉尔图作为附庸，邻居或对手进行交往。国家科学基金会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，两国的主任和团队成员将为共同的目标而共同努力。Naxçývan考古项目为发展阿塞拜疆考古研究倡议提供资源，促进阿塞拜疆发展自己的遗产，包括遗址保护计划。该项目还为来自美国各地院校的本科生和研究生提供培训。研究成果将在费城和阿塞拜疆的学术会议和公开演讲上发表。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，所有结果将以专著的形式发表，并在同行评议的期刊上发表文章。人类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，可以为我们对这些关系如何运作的理解提供具有时间深度的数据。阿塞拜疆位于亚洲和欧洲的交汇处，对这些十字路口的古代生活有了更深入的了解，就有可能把这个政治上至关重要的地区的技术变革和全球化的现代进程置于背景之中。通过重构过去技术与权力之间的关系，本研究将揭示技术复杂性的现代动态。

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.