Re-contextualising the prehistoric central place Hujayrat al Ghuzlan (Jordan)

1998 - 2010年，对史前定居点Tall Hujayrat al-Ghuzlan（公元前4100-2500年）进行了多学科研究。由约旦大学和德国考古研究所与马尔堡大学（地质考古学）和吕贝克应用科学大学（考古水文学）合作进行。该遗址位于现代城市亚喀巴（约旦）的北方郊区，位于Wadi Yutum冲积扇上。2003年至2010年由DFG资助的实地工作在完成文件编制工作后停止，2015年，挖掘沟槽被系统地填充，以保护脆弱的粘土砖建筑发现物，在某些情况下仍然超过4米的高度。由于在极端干旱的环境中拥有丰富的水资源，Hujayrat al-Ghuzlan是一个绿洲定居点，位于复杂的、有等级的定居点系统的顶部，部分具有古奥贝都因方面;它是该地区最早的金属生产地之一。该遗址经历了两个建设时期，并在公元前4000年的旧时期结束时被地震摧毁。对该地区来说，它代表了文化历史的一个重要阶段，其特点是铜冶金、水利工程和防御技术领域的技术创新，迄今为止对它的研究还不够充分。与此同时，关于定居点的年表和文化印记以及一些临时综合的贡献也出现了。关于文化变迁，特别是在第一个建造时期（定居开始、冶金开始、自然灾害的影响）发生的文化变迁，目前还没有任何可证实的说法，因为记录在案的发现和发现尚未在地层学的基础上进行重新背景化。当地的项目负责人本打算将这项任务作为自己的贡献，但由于他的早逝（2014年）而无法解决。这项悬而未决的工作现在将由一名博士后研究员和一名助理接管。还建议首次利用自然科学现有的工具分析2002-2010年野外活动期间收集的现有样本，以便能够进行更深入的年代学研究，并随后提出结果。对发现进行与背景相关的解释，然后公布结果。此外，对发现物和发现物群的地层精确定位将有助于更深入地了解活动模式、经济战略和城市化进程，并为各种发现物类别的专门研究奠定基础。

Multidisciplinary research was carried out from 1998 – 2010 on the prehistoric settlement Tall Hujayrat al-Ghuzlan (4100-2500 B.C.) by the University of Jordan and the German Archaeological Institute in cooperation with Marburg University (geoarchaeology) and Lübeck University of Applied Sciences (archaeohydrology). This site is located on the northern outskirts of the modern city of Aqaba (Jordan) on the alluvial fan of Wadi Yutum. The fieldwork financed by DFG from 2003 to 2010 ceased after completion of the documentation work, and in 2015 the excavation trenches were systematically filled in to protect the fragile clay brick architectural findings, which in some cases still exceeded 4 m in height. Thanks to its significant water resources in a hyper-arid environment, Hujayrat al-Ghuzlan was an oasis settlement at the top of a complex, hierarchic settlement system with partly palaeobedouin aspects; it was one of the region’s earliest metal producing locations. The site experienced two construction periods and was destroyed by an earthquake at the end of the older period in the fourth millennium B.C. For this region it represents an important phase of cultural history characterized by technical innovations in the areas of copper metallurgy, hydraulic engineering and fortification technology, and it has only been inadequately researched to date. In the meantime, numerous contributions have appeared on the settlement’s chronology and cultural imprint, as well as some provisional syntheses. No verifiable statements can as yet be attempted about cultural changes, particularly those taking place during the first construction period (commencement of settlement, beginning of metallurgy, effects of a natural disaster), since the documented finds and findings have not yet been re-contextualised on the basis of stratigraphy. The local project director had intended to take on this task as his own contribution, but was unable to tackle it because of his early death (2014). This pending work is now to be taken over by a postdoctoral researcher and an assistant. It is also suggested that available samples collected during the 2002-2010 field campaigns be analysed for the first time with tools available in the natural sciences in order to make possible chronological studies in greater depth, and to subsequently present the results.The project goal is to analyse the local stratigraphic situation to enable more indicative, context-related interpretations of the finds and then to publish the results. Stratigraphic pinpointing of the finds and find groups will in addition lead to deeper insights into activity patterns as well as economic strategies and processes of urbanisation, and lay the foundation for specialized studies on various find categories.