The Origin of the Iron Culture and its Natural Environmental Background in Anatolia Plateau, Turkey

安纳托利亚高原是本项目的研究区域，被誉为世界铁器文化的发源地。赫梯帝国在青铜时代晚期以垄断铁器而扩张疆域而闻名。近年来的考古发掘在安纳托利亚高原发现了与青铜时代早中期陨铁截然不同的铁器。因此，铁文化的起源应该比周边地区铁器时代的开始早一千多年，本项目的目的是考察铁文化的起源，弄清它的背景，特别是自然环境背景。因此，铁文化起源的年代、传播途径等问题，不仅需要考古学和文献学的方法，而且需要化学、地理学和地质学的方法。我们还假设了安纳托利亚高原的自然环境，这使得新的文化得以创造。研究区域是Kiiltepe，靠近Kayseri，Kaman Kalehoyuk，安纳托利亚中部，Ayanis，安纳托利亚东部和Tel Sekr A '。叙利亚东北部的赫拉克勒斯。在野外调查中进行了以下调查：（1）钻探调查，以重建古环境，（2）地质雷达系统的渗透调查，（3）地理信息系统，（4）考古物品的化学分析，（5）考古调查和泥板文件。除了在土耳其和叙利亚进行的调查外，还在约旦和埃及进行了调查，取得了比较数据。2006年6月在蒙古和2007年3月在福冈举行了总结项目成果的国际研讨会。

Anatolian Plateau, the research area of this project, has been known as the first place of the Iron Culture in the world. It was very famous that the Hittite Empire monopolized iron tools enlarged its territory during Late Bronze Age. The recent archaeological excavations found the iron tool that was quite different from the meteorite iron from Early and Middle Bronze Age in the Anatolian Plateau. Therefore, the origin of the Iron Culture should be more than one thousand years before the beginning of the Iron Age at surrounding regions.The purpose of this project is to investigate the origin of the Iron Culture and to make clear its background, especially the natural environmental background. Therefore, not only archaeological and documental methods but also chemic, geographic and geologic methods are necessary to decide the date, diffusion routs of origin of the iron culture. We also presume the natural environment of the Anatolian Plateau which allowed the new culture to be created.The research areas were Kiiltepe, near Kayseri, Kaman Kalehoyuk, central Anatolia, Ayanis, eastern Anatolia and Tel Sekr A'. Heimal, north eastern part of Syria. The following investigations were done at the field surveys ; (1) Drilling surveys to reconstruct the palaeo-environment, (2) Penetrate survey by geo-radar system, (3)GIS, (4) Chemical analysis of archaeological objects, (5) archaeological survey and documents of mud tablets. In addition to the surveys at Turkey and Syria, we took the survey at Jordan and Egypt to take comparison data.The international symposiums were held to summarized the results of the project at Mongolia, June 2006, and at Fukuoka, March 2007.