Transitional lifeways and identity construction in the Early Neolithic of the Eastern Fertile Crescent.

追溯西南亚农业和定居生活发展的考古研究，极大地促进了目前对采集者-农民或新石器时代过渡（公元前10000 -6000年）的理解。然而，尽管许多研究已经从动物考古学、考古植物学和微观背景的角度解决了与这种转变相关的主要问题，但很少有作品通过对人类遗骸进行综合生物考古学分析来关注人类的生活经历。该项目旨在为东部肥沃新月地区的新石器时代过渡提供新的、以人为中心的视角，该地区包括伊拉克东部和伊朗西部的扎格罗斯高地和平原，直到最近，考古学上的探索还很少。这项研究将涉及对新石器时代早期贝斯坦苏尔（伊拉克库尔德斯坦，公元前7700-7100年）人类饮食、活动和健康的跨学科探索，方法是将骨学和古病理学结合起来，对该遗址的个体样本进行稳定同位素分析和牙结石的光学显微镜检查。在一个连贯的研究结构中，将前沿方法和生物文化方法相结合，有望获得有关生命方式、人类环境相互作用和关键地点身份协商的开创性信息，最终有助于在适应变化的关键时期对生命和复杂性进行更广泛的讨论。

Archaeological research tracing the development of agriculture and settled life in Southwest Asia has greatly contributed to current understandings of the forager-farmer or Neolithic transition (c. 10,000-6000 BCE). Nevertheless, while numerous studies have addressed major issues associated with this shift from zooarchaeological, archaeobotanical and micro-contextual perspectives, few works have concentrated on the lived experience of people by means of an integrated bioarchaeological analysis of their mortal remains.This project aims to provide new, human-centred perspectives on the Neolithic transition in the Eastern Fertile Crescent, a region comprising the Zagros uplands and plains of eastern Iraq and western Iran that, until recently, has remained archaeologically little explored. The research will involve an interdisciplinary exploration of human diet, activity and health at Early Neolithic Bestansur (Iraqi Kurdistan, c. 7700-7100 BCE) through the combined application of osteology and palaeopathology, stable isotope analysis and light microscopy of dental calculus to a sample of individuals from the site. The integration of cutting-edge methods and biocultural approaches within a coherent research structure promises access to seminal information on lifeways, human environment interactions and the negotiation of identities at a key site, ultimately contributing to broader discussions on life and complexity during a crucial episode of adaptive change.