Investigation of Early Neolithic Adaptive Strategies in Southern Jordan

在国家科学基金会的支持下，唐纳德·亨利博士和他的同事们将在约旦南部荒漠的瓦迪希斯马地区进行为期两个季节的考古田野工作。该地区以前的考古工作揭示了一个大型的陶器前新石器时代B(PPNB)遗址的存在，从类型学的角度来看，它可能有9000年的历史。该遗址名为Ain Abu Nekheileh，由一系列曲线石墙结构组成，暴露在一个小冲积扇的表面，占地约2250平方米。根据房屋形式的不同，可能存在多达五个建筑阶段，因此场地可能包含一段相当长的时间。伴生的沉积物分层很细，由于干燥的条件，保存了丰富的文化材料，包括大量保存完好的骨骼。亨利博士和他的同事们将在现场进行广泛的挖掘，收集文化和环境信息，以重建PPNB的社会和生存模式，并将其置于更广泛的生态背景中。特别是，他将把重点放在动物遗骸的丰富上，因为它们提供了对该遗址被占领的季节以及对山羊物种(绵羊和山羊)进行有目的的操纵的程度的洞察。近东是文明的发源地之一，达到这种复杂程度所需的动植物驯化工作就是在这一地区进行的。来自许多地点的优秀数据为国内小麦和大麦从当地野生祖先那里进化提供了洞察力。数据还表明，直到大约1000年后，家养绵羊和山羊才出现在考古记录中。然而，后一种转变的历史及其背后的过程是未知的。尽管许多遗址都是在近东水资源较好的地区发掘出来的，但人们对边缘沙漠地区的了解相对较少，亨利博士的注意力就集中在这样一个地区。亨利博士认为，因为当时有狂野的反复无常的祖先，所以艾因阿布·内赫勒的研究可能会提供相关数据。这项研究将提供关于一个研究不足的地区的基本信息，其结果将引起许多考古学家的兴趣。它有望为人类文化的重大变革之一带来新的曙光。该项目包括一些研究生，他们将在实地与亨利博士一起工作，因此将进行重要的培训。

With National Science Foundation support Dr. Donald Henry and his colleagues will conduct two seasons of archaeological fieldwork in the desertic Wadi Hisma region of southern Jordan. Previous archaeological work in this area has revealed the presence of a large Pre Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB) site which, on typological grounds, may be as much as 9,000 years old. The site, Ain Abu Nekheileh, consists of a constellation of curvilinear stone-walled structures exposed on the surface of a small alluvial fan over an area of ca. 2,250 square meters. Based on variation in house form, as many as five building phases may be present and thus the site may encompass a significant period of time. Associated sediments are finely stratified and, because of the dry conditions, preserve an abundance of cultural materials including large numbers of well preserved bones. Dr. Henry and his colleagues will conduct extensive excavation at the site and collect both cultural and environmental information to reconstruct PPNB social and subsistence patterns and set these into a broader ecological context. In particular he will focus on the wealth of faunal remains because they provide insight both into the season in the site was occupied and the extent to which purposeful manipulation of caprid species (sheep and goat) took place. The Near East is one of the cradles of civilization and the domestication of plants and animals necessary to achieve this level of complexity took place in this region. Excellent data from many sites have provided insight into the evolution of domestic wheat and barley from their local wild progenitors. Data also indicate that not until ca. 1,000 years later do domestic sheep and goat appear in the archaeological record. However the history of this latter transformation and the processes which underlie it are unknown. Although many sites have been excavated in better watered regions of the Near East, relatively little is known about marginal desert regions and Dr. Henry has focused his attention in just such an area. Because wild caprid ancestors were present, Dr. Henry believes that work at Ain Abu Nekheileh may provide relevant data. This research will provide basic information about an understudied region and the results will be of interest to many archaeologists. It will, hopefully, shed new light on one of the major transformations of human culture. The project includes a number of graduate students who will work with Dr. Henry in the field and thus important training will take place.