Collaborative Research: The Role of Long-distance Metallurgy Trade in Establishing Social Complexity

合作研究：长途冶金贸易在建立社会复杂性中的作用

• 批准号: 2317293
• 负责人: Jay Stephens
• 金额: $ 18.09万
• 依托单位: University of Missouri-Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-07-15 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2317293&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Role; Long; distance

Researchers are reconstructing the early history of mining and long-distance trade of metals within a region which saw the origins of metallury between about 400 and 1750 AD. Mining and metallurgy are major portions of the modern economies in the region, but most residents of the region are not aware that there was significant mining or trade of metals before the late nineteenth century, when European colonists began commercial mining. Many precolonial mines were noted at the beginning of the twentieth century, but these scattered historical records are largely forgotten, and almost of these mines have since been destroyed. This project focuses on indirectly reconstructing precolonial mining and trade of two metals – copper and tin – by comparing the chemical and lead isotopic ratios of objects from dated archaeological sites with those of ore minerals from copper and tin mines around the region. This approach is quite new for the region, and the results of the project are of interest to news media. They should be incorporated into high school and university history classes. This award funds a young researcher for six months of advanced training in these techniques at Missouri University.Small samples are extracted from copper objects excavated from archaeological sites dating from ca. 400 AD, when metal-using farmers first occupied this region, through the rise of the first state (Mapungubwe) around 1220 AD, its collapse around 1300 AD, and the emergence of a new state around 1650 AD. The chemical compositions and lead isotope ratios of these samples are measured at Missouri University. To identify the mines from which these metals derived, the lead isotope ratios of the samples are matched to a database of ore minerals from mines throughout the broader region. Since the archaeological sites are dated by the radiocarbon method, this project reveals when individual copper mines were exploited, and how far the copper from them was distributed. The project also determines when bronze (the alloy of copper and tin) first appears in the regional record, and from which mine(s) the tin came. At present the earliest bronzes along with the earliest gold – are in the royal cemetery but the project examines whether there are earlier bronzes. In summary, this project provides the first direct evidence of the origins and early history of regional metal mining and of the development of internal long-distance trade in the precolonial era.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.

研究人员正在重建一个地区的早期采矿和长途金属贸易历史，该地区在公元400年至1750年之间见证了金属的起源。采矿和冶金是该地区现代经济的主要部分，但该地区的大多数居民并不知道在欧洲殖民者开始商业采矿的19世纪晚期之前有大量的金属采矿或贸易。在20世纪初，人们注意到许多殖民地前的地雷，但这些分散的历史记录在很大程度上被遗忘了，这些地雷几乎都被摧毁了。该项目的重点是间接重建殖民前铜和锡两种金属的开采和贸易，方法是将来自年代久远的考古遗址的物品的化学和铅同位素比率与来自该区域周围铜矿和锡矿的矿石矿物的化学和铅同位素比率进行比较。这一方法对该区域来说是相当新的，新闻媒体对该项目的结果很感兴趣。他们应该被纳入高中和大学的历史课。该奖项资助一名年轻的研究人员在密苏里州大学进行为期六个月的这些技术的高级培训。公元400年，当使用金属的农民首次占领这一地区时，通过公元1220年左右第一个国家（Mapungubwe）的崛起，公元1300年左右的崩溃，以及公元1650年左右新国家的出现。密苏里州大学测量了这些样品的化学成分和铅同位素比值。为了确定这些金属的来源，将样品的铅同位素比率与整个更广泛地区的矿石矿物数据库进行匹配。由于考古遗址的年代是通过放射性碳方法确定的，因此该项目揭示了各个铜矿的开采时间以及铜矿的分布距离。该项目还确定了青铜（铜和锡的合金）何时首次出现在区域记录中，以及锡来自哪个矿山。目前，最早的青铜器沿着与最早的黄金-是在皇家墓地，但该项目研究是否有更早的青铜器。总之，该项目提供了第一个直接证据的起源和早期历史的区域金属采矿和发展的内部长途贸易在前殖民时代。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。