Resource security trade and the development of urbanism in the pre-Classical world

谷物等大宗食品的长途贸易是克服现代城市化世界粮食不安全问题的关键战略，但我们对其历史以及在世界上第一批城市和国家的出现和稳定中所起的作用所知相对较少。该项目开发了新的考古技术，探索了西南亚从新石器时代到铁器时代的大宗粮食贸易历史，以及在气候和政治快速变化时期，大宗粮食贸易在刺激社会经济变化和调解粮食不安全方面的作用。在彻底改变我们对古代食品贸易的看法的过程中，它将提供一个来自过去的例子，帮助为当代关于一项关键经济战略在缓和粮食供应波动方面的功效的辩论提供信息。

Long distance trade in bulk foods, such as grain, is a key strategy for overcoming food insecurity in the modern urbanised world, yet we know relatively little of its history and role in the emergence and stability of the world’s first cities and states. Developing new archaeological techniques, this project explores the history of trade in bulk grain in southwest Asia from the Neolithic to Iron Age and its role in stimulating socio-economic change and mediating food insecurity in a period of rapid climatic and political change. In revolutionising our view of ancient food trade it will provide an example from the past to help inform contemporary debates about the efficacy of a key economic strategy in moderating fluctuations in food supply.