新疆是欧亚草原的重要组成部分，从青铜时代（2000BC-900BC）到早期铁器时代（900BC-100BC）本区从以狩猎采集、畜牧、农耕为主的半农半牧转变为了以游牧为主的生产方式。受新疆考古学文化绝对年代界限模糊的限制，仅从较大尺度的古气候变化与考古学文化的对比难以获得对游牧化进程环境动因的清晰认识。在内陆干旱区，地貌往往是决定局地水热分配的主要因素，小范围、高精度、量化的遗址古地貌复原对理解古人的生业模式具有重要意义。本项目拟选择西天山地区位于冲积平原（绿洲）、冲积扇（山地）、河岸黄土台地三种地貌部位的五个代表性遗址，通过地貌结构和沉积特征观察、古环境指标分析等研究遗址的古地貌，通过植物遗存鉴定等研究其生业模式；并拟在博尔塔拉河流域、伊犁河谷开展遗址分布及典型地貌演化的考察。进而探讨西天山青铜－早期铁器时代游牧化过程中的人地适应，以期由小到大地推进新疆游牧社会复杂化进程中的人地关系研究。

Human-land relationships during the Bronze to the Early Iron Age in the western Tianshan areas in China experienced several different fluctuations from nomadic to agricultural cultures. As an important area of the Eurasian steppe, people in Xinjiang lived a semi-agricultural lifestyle that transitioned to nomadic Pastoralism from the Bronze Age (2000BC-900BC) to the Early Iron Age (900BC-100BC). However, it is difficult to understand the environmental drivers of this change in subsistence practices just by comparing archaeological cultures to climatic changes. In the inland arid regions, geomorphologic change is often a main factor determining the local water availability and heat. The small-scale, high-precision and quantitative reconstruction of ancient geomorphology is of therefore of very important to understand the ancient people's settlement patterns. This project plans to select five representative Bronze-Early Iron Age sites in the western Tianshan area, which are located in the alluvial plains (oasis), alluvial fans (mountain), and loess platforms, respectively. We plan to conduct fieldwork to observe both geomorphological and sedimentary features, and analyze paleoenvironmental indexes, such as particle size and magnetic susceptibility. We will also study the ancient economic botany of these sites by identification ancient plant remains. Additionally, we will survey the distribution of the Bronze-Early Iron Age sites and the evolution of the typical geomorphology in the Bortala River Valley and the Yili River Valley. Based on this, we will discuss the changes in human relationship to land as subsistence practices changed in the western Tianshan area. This study will promote research on human-land relationships in the process of the nomadic social complexity in Xinjiang Province.