Neolithic and Bronze Age Chiefdoms of Thy, Denmark

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，蒂莫西·厄尔博士和他的同事们将继续在丹麦日德兰半岛东北部的Thy半岛进行考古研究。虽然在这个地区做的工作有限，但该地区已知有丰富的考古遗迹，包括大量的古墓或墓室。在第一季的调查和挖掘中，厄尔博士发现了一些其他的地点，这些地点是定居点或生活区。在接下来的两个季节里，其中一些将被挖掘出来。他和他的团队将首先在两个教区进行2平方公里的侦察调查，并在5平方公里的范围内进行密集的线路步行，以确定更多的地点。表层材料将被收集，土壤的上层“耕地”层将被取样。将在新石器时代和青铜器时代的15个遗址进行更密集的挖掘。在此基础上，应该有可能确定该地区复杂社会的发展情况。随着世界上许多地方农业和畜牧业的发展，人们可以追溯到社会组织的变化，这些变化最终导致了国家的兴起。在这一过程的早期，出现了酋长管辖地，人类学家仍然不了解发生这种情况的机制。一些人认为，更稳定的生存基础所允许的人口增长提供了动力，而另一些人则指出其他因素，如长途贸易的发展。在青铜和铁器时代的斯堪的纳维亚，酋长领地经历了兴衰的循环。从该地区收集的数据将与世界其他地区的病例进行比较。由此，应该可以将历史细节与更基本的潜在机制分开。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据。它还将增加我们对导致像我们自己这样的复杂社会兴起的过程的理解。

With National Science Foundation support Dr. Timothy Earle and his colleagues will continue their archaeological research on the Thy peninsula which is located in northeastern Jutland, Denmark. While limited work has been done in this area, the region is known to be rich in archeological remains including large numbers of barrows or burial chambers. In a first season of survey and excavation Dr. Earle located a number of additional sites which are settlement or living areas. During the next two seasons a number of these will be excavated. He and his team will first conduct a reconnaissance survey of 2 square kilometers in two parishes and undertake intensive line walks over 5 square kilometers to locate more sites. Surface materials will be collected and the upper "plowzone" level of the soil will be sampled. More intensive excavation will be conducted at 15 sites distributed across the Neolithic and Bronze age periods. On this basis it should be possible to determine how complex societies developed in this region. Following the development of agriculture and pastoralism in many parts of the world, one can trace changes in social organization which lead, ultimately, to the rise of states. Early in this process, chiefdoms arose and anthropologists still do not understand the mechanisms through which this happened. Some argue that population growth permitted by a more stable subsistence base provided the driving force while others point to other factors such as the development of long distance trade. Over the course of the Bronze and Iron Ages in Scandinavia, chiefdoms underwent cycles of rise and decline. The data collected from this area will allow comparison with cases from other parts of the world. From this it should be possible to separate historical particulars from the more basic underlying mechanisms. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will also increase our understanding of the processes which led to the rise of complex societies such as our own.