The Persepolis Basin (SW Iran): a System Model to investigate Human-Climate-Ecosystem interactions during the Holocene

波斯波利斯盆地是研究全新世中东内陆高原人类-气候-生态系统相互作用的独特天然实验室。它证明了自公元前7000年新石器时代以来人类几乎连续不断的占领历史，见证了几个伟大文明（埃兰文明、阿契美尼德-波斯文明、萨珊文明）的出现，波斯波利斯皇宫和其他纪念碑仍然保存完好。伊朗西南部的帝国在西南亚的地缘政治格局和文化演变中发挥了关键作用，阿契美尼德帝国是古代第一个超级大国和最大的近东帝国。因此，这种文明的兴起必然会对自然资源进行开发，并可能对生态系统产生严重影响。虽然该盆地的水来自小河和岩溶泉，但它位于扎格罗斯山脉的雨影处，使其水文对气候变化非常敏感。近年来，在盆地周围发现了大量湖泊和湿地沉积物。他们中的许多人似乎在更古老的时代已经被干燥了。这表明波斯波利斯平原曾经是一个湿润的地方，拥有大量的地表水资源，使其成为史前人类社区更有吸引力的地方。然而，平原水资源对气候变化的响应程度及其对人类生活方式和社会经济的影响在很大程度上仍然是模棱两可的。尽管在欧洲和东地中海地区对人类-气候-生态系统相互作用的调查越来越多，但在包括伊朗高原在内的中东内陆地区尚未开展全面的调查。该项目旨在采用跨学科的研究方法，将自然科学（古生态学）和人文科学（古代史和近东考古学）结合起来，为波斯波利斯盆地开发一个系统模型。其目的是：(1)通过绘制古湿地的地图、描述和定年来评估过去人类社会水资源的可用性；(2)通过分析湖泊和沼泽档案（花粉、木炭、化石昆虫）、土壤和土壤沉积物（木炭）、铭文和文学资料以及长时间序列的动植物生物考古遗迹，来评估人类对生态系统的影响；(3)利用生物代用物（chironomids, cladocera）与现有地球化学记录进行对比，建立不依赖人类的高分辨率水文气候记录。古环境数据将与铭文和历史文献的证据进行交叉核对。该结果将与该地区丰富的考古数据进行对比，然后将其置于更区域性的背景下，以更好地了解气候、人类文明和生态系统的相互作用。

The Persepolis Basin is a unique natural laboratory to investigate human-climate-ecosystem interactions in the interior plateaus of the Middle East during the Holocene. It attests to a near-continuous history of human occupation since Neolithic times at 7000 BC and has witnessed the emergence of several great civilizations (Elamite, Achaemenid-Persian, Sasanian) with the Royal Palace of Persepolis and other monuments still well-preserved. South-western Iranian empires have played a key role in the geopolitical configuration and cultural evolution of SW Asia, with the Achaemenid Empire as the first superpower state and the largest Near Eastern empire in antiquity. The rise of such a civilization thus necessitates the exploitation of natural resources, with potentially intensive impacts on the ecosystems. Although the Basin receives water from small rivers and karstic springs, its setting in the rain-shadow of the Zagros Mountains renders its hydrology very sensitive to climatic variations. Recently, numerous deposits of lake and wetland origin were found all around the Basin. Many of them appear to have been desiccated in more ancient times. This suggests that the Persepolis plain was once a wetter place with a great number of surface water resources making it a more attractive place for prehistoric human communities. However, the extent to which the plains water resources responded to climatic variations and their consequent impacts on the lifestyle and socio-economy of humans is still largely equivocal. Though the number of investigations on human-climate-ecosystem interactions in Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean is increasing, no comprehensive investigation has so far been undertaken in the interior parts of the Middle East including the Iranian Plateau. This project aims at applying an inter-disciplinary research approach, by bringing together Natural Sciences (Palaeoecology) and Humanities (Ancient History and Near Eastern Archaeology), to develop a system model for the Persepolis Basin. The aims are to (1) evaluate the availability of water resources to past human societies by the mapping, description and dating of palaeo-wetlands, (2) evaluate human impact on ecosystems by an analysis of lake and mire archives (pollen, charcoal, fossil insects), soils and soil sediments (charcoal), epigraphic and literary sources, and bioarchaeological remains from plants and animals from a long chronological sequence, and (3) establish human-independent high-resolution hydroclimatic records using biological proxies (chironomids, cladocera) correlated with available geochemical records. Palaeoenvironmental data will be cross-checked with evidence from epigraphic and historical documents. The outcome will be contrasted with the rich archaeological data available for the region, and then be placed in a more regional context to better understand the interactions of climate, human civilizations and ecosystems.