Geographies of Early Urbanism

研究人员试图了解哪些策略使城市能够在经济，生态和人口压力面前坚持下去。考古学能够追踪几个世纪甚至几千年来的城市适应，是提供相关见解的独特优势。该项目评估人类和动物的流动性和迁移是否是持久城市化的必要因素，特别是在脆弱和生态动态环境中。该研究小组专注于一个大城市持续了数千年的地区，其环境的特点是水资源的急剧变化和土壤极易受到盐碱化的影响，研究小组测试了早期城市是否依赖移民来维持人口，以及长距离的畜牧业来支持经济。在整个研究过程中，学生培训和与多个国家的不同公众的接触促进了公众的科学素养和全球STEM教育，最大限度地提高了考古研究的实用价值和道德价值。为了确定流动性和移民是否是城市成功的必要因素，一个国际小组研究了人类和动物种群的地理起源和流动性，洪泛区骨骼遗骸的同位素分析使科学家能够在有同位素值基线图的地区追踪古代生物的流动和迁移。该研究小组创建了该地区的第一个锶，钕和铅同位素地图，生成了一个开放获取的工具，为该地区正在进行的和未来的同位素研究奠定了基础。研究小组利用这张地图来确定从一座古城中发现的遗骸中的同位素值是否与城市对移民和专门的移动的畜牧业的依赖相一致。因此，该项目（a）支持区域多学科同位素研究，（B）确定前现代城市适应是否固有地包含显著的流动性和迁移水平，（c）在提高全球STEM参与度的同时创造科学培训机会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Researchers seek to understand which strategies enable cities to persist in the face of economic, ecological, and demographic stressors. Archaeology, able to trace urban adaptations over the course of centuries and even millennia, is uniquely well placed to provide relevant insights. This project assesses whether human and animal mobility and migration are necessary elements of durable urbanism, particularly in fragile and ecologically dynamic settings. Focusing on a region where large cities persisted for millennia in environments characterized by dramatic shifts in water availability and soils highly vulnerable to salinization, the research team tests whether early cities relied on immigration to sustain their populations and on long-distance pastoralism to support their economies. Throughout the research, student training and engagement with diverse publics in multiple countries advances public scientific literacy and global STEM education, maximizing the practical as well as ethical value of archaeological research.In order to determine whether mobility and migration are required elements of urban success, an international team examines the geographical origins and mobility of human and animal populations associated with durable urban settlement on a premodern floodplain. Isotopic analyses of skeletal remains enable scientists to trace ancient organisms’ mobility and migration in regions where baseline maps of isotope values are available. The research team creates the first strontium, neodymium, and lead isotope map of the region generating an open-access tool that establishes a foundation for ongoing and future isotope research in the region. The team uses this map to determine whether isotope values in remains recovered from one ancient city are consistent with urban reliance on immigration and specialized mobile pastoralism. The project thus (a) supports regional multidisciplinary isotope research, (b) determines whether premodern urban adaptations inherently encompass significant levels of mobility and migration, and (c) creates scientific training opportunities while enhancing global STEM engagement.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.