Communities of ceramic practice and the development of complex societies in the Jordan Valley in the 4th and 3rd Millenia BC

研究背景青铜时代早期（EBA）在黎凡特见证了重大的政治和经济变革与该地区最早的protourban系统的兴起和崩溃。从农业村庄（公元前3600-3100年）转移到核心，强化定居点（公元前3100-2500年），然后返回分散的农村遗址（公元前2500-2000年）。我们对推动这些变化的力量的理解传统上是建立在伊拉克南部洪泛平原上形成的城市化理论中的。然而，最近的研究强调了社会发展的方式，特别是黎凡特形式的原始城市复杂性。在约旦河谷（JV），这些变化最为明显，其中一个关键的不同点是对橄榄和葡萄等园艺作物的开发。这些行业开发了新形式的陶瓷容器，用于储存，服务和运输高价值的液体商品，如石油和葡萄酒。这些船只提供了强有力的证据，了解整个EBA的社会经济发展。目的和objectivesThis项目将调查这些船只是如何在合资企业及其邻近的高地地区制造的。通过对来自12个地点的248块碎片的化学、矿物学和结构组成进行表征，该项目旨在确定EBA上的组构群。它将阐明陶瓷生产的连锁经营模式，包括材料选择（如。粘土源和添加到粘土基质中的夹杂物），表面处理（例如，抛光和/或油漆或泥浆的应用）和烧制技术（例如，温度和窑条件）。这些特征将使该项目能够识别非本地的陶瓷，表明运输或交换。这项研究将为合资公司建立第一个全面的岩相数据库，使该项目处于一个独特的位置，以解决以下研究问题：1）陶瓷制造和交换的模式如何反映公元前3600-2500年之间发展中的经济网络和园艺生产？2)这些模式告诉了我们什么关于这些网络的重新配置，在公元前2500-2000年之间放弃了强化的定居点？3)这些模式是否反映了约旦河谷低地定居点和邻近高地地区园艺社区之间不断变化的政治和经济关系？

Research backgroundThe Early Bronze Age (EBA) in the Levant witnessed major political and economictransformations associated with the rise and collapse of the region's earliest protourban systems. A shift from agricultural villages (3600-3100 BC) to nucleated, fortified settlements (3100-2500 BC) was followed by a return to dispersed, rural sites(2500-2000 BC). Our understanding of the forces driving these changes has beentraditionally framed within theories of urbanism forged on the floodplains of southernIraq. However, recent research stresses ways in which societies developed particularlyLevantine forms of proto-urban complexity. A key point-of-difference in the JordanValley (JV), where these changes are most apparent, was the exploitation ofhorticultural crops such as olive and grape. These industries developed new forms ofceramic vessels for the storage, serving and transportation of high-value liquidcommodities such as oil and wine. These vessels offer strong evidence forunderstanding socio-economic developments throughout the EBA.Aims and objectivesThis project will investigate how these vessels were manufactured across the JV andits adjacent upland zones. By characterising the chemical, mineralogical and texturalcomposition of 248 sherds from 12 sites , the project aims to define fabricgroups over the EBA. It will articulate patterns in the chaine opératoire of ceramicproduction, including materials selection (eg. clay sources and inclusions added to theclay matrix), surface treatment (eg. polishing and/or the application of paint or slips)and firing technology (eg. temperature and kiln conditions). These characteristics willenable the project identify non-local ceramics, suggesting transportation or exchange.This study will produce the first comprehensive petrographic database for the JV,placing the project in a unique position to address the following research questions:1) How do patterns in ceramic manufacture and exchange reflect developingeconomic networks and horticultural production between 3600-2500 BC?2) What do these patterns tell us about the reconfiguration of such networks followingthe abandonment of fortified settlements between 2500-2000 BC?3) Do these patterns reflect changing political and economic relationships betweenlowland Jordan Valley settlements and horticultural communities in adjacent uplandzones?