The German Late Mesolithic and Forager-Farmer Contact

迈克尔·约希姆博士率领的一个研究小组将在德国费德里希地区进行调查和考古发掘。Jochim博士之前的工作揭示了中石器时代晚期/晚期遗址的存在，该遗址位于费德西湖一条已灭绝的海岸线附近。该遗址具有巨大的潜力，因为材料位于一层被水淹没的泥炭中，这使得文化遗迹得到了极好的保存。不仅动物遗骸可以恢复，脆弱的植物标本也可以恢复。从这些发掘中发现的材料将被分析，以显示从晚期到中石器晚期过渡过程中生存和物质文化的变化模式。约希姆博士还将进行一项地区性调查，以确定其他地点的位置。这段中欧史前时期令人感兴趣，因为它标志着农学家第一次出现在一个在那之前只被狩猎和采集社会占据的地区。在中石器时代晚期，只有这样的觅食民族居住在费德西地区。在末期，第一批农学家很可能来自东南部。考古学家对这种接触的影响进行了推测，并提出了许多模型来解释这种相互作用的结果。一些人认为敌意是常态，而另一些人则认为迅速同化发生了。然而，解决这个问题的可用数据很少，因此，Jochim博士的工作非常有兴趣。从更广泛的角度来看，这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。首先，它考察了技术更先进的社会和技术更不发达的社会之间的互动，出现的一般原则可能适用于许多情况，包括当代情况。其次，由于德国和美国团队的密切合作，两国之间的科学联系将得到加强。

A research team, lead by Dr. Michael Jochim, will conduct a survey and archaeological excavation in the Federsee region of Germany. Prior work by Dr. Jochim has revealed the presence of a Late/Terminal Mesolithic site, Henauhof West, which is located near an extinct shoreline of Lake Federsee. The site holds great potential because materials lie in a layer of waterlogged peat and this has resulted in the excellent preservation of cultural remains. Not only faunal remains but also fragile plant specimens can be recovered. The materials recovered from these excavations will be analyzed to show changing patterns of subsistence and material culture during the transition from Late to Terminal Mesolithic. Dr. Jochim will also conduct a regional survey to locate other sites. This period of Central European prehistory is of interest because it marks the first appearance of agriculturalists in an area which until then had been occupied solely by hunting and gathering societies. During the Late Mesolithic the Federsee region was inhabited solely by such foraging peoples. In the Terminal period the first agriculturalists most likely appeared from the Southeast. Archaeologists have speculated on the effect of this contact and have proposed a number of models for the interaction which resulted. Some have suggested that hostility was the norm while other believe that rapid assimilation took place. Very little data however are available to address this issue and, for this reason, Dr. Jochim's work is of great interest. From a broader perspective, this research is important for several reasons. First, it examines the interactions between more and less technologically advanced societies, and the general principles which emerge may be applicable to many situations, including contemporary ones. Secondly, because of the close cooperation between the German and American teams, scientific ties between the two countries will be strengthened.