Pastures, Chert Sources, and Upland-Lowland Mobility in Neolithic Southwest Germany

在国家科学基金会的支持下，由Lynn Fisher、Susan Harris、Corina Knipper和Rainer Schreg组成的美国/德国团队将对中欧新石器时代早期的流动性和高地土地利用进行为期两年的跨学科考古研究。该项目汇集了考古学、地质学、稳定同位素分析和地理信息系统的专家，以调查低地山谷中的早期农业村庄与德国西南部环境对比鲜明的高地地区之间的经济联系。早期新石器时代(Linearband keramik或LBK，约公元前5500-4900年)人们是中欧最早的农民，他们在那里引进了种植的谷物、驯养的牛、羊和猪，这是该地区最早的定居村庄，以及独特的陶瓷器皿。LBK聚落和经济的主流观点强调经济和聚落系统的同质性，主要集中在黄土肥沃的低地地区。高地土地利用的证据，以及新石器时代早期聚落在规模、组织和经济上的巨大差异，对这一情景提出了挑战。以前对新石器时代早期聚落的考古研究主要集中在低地聚落，而这个项目调查了在新石器时代早期聚落和经济系统中获取用于石器生产和林地牧场的硅质岩原料，作为高地资源开发和高地和低地地区联系的例子。通过在斯瓦边白灰岩高原的两个季节的田野工作，调查了硅质岩的采购和运输。斯瓦边白灰岩高原是邻近低地生产工具的重要石材来源。对几个低地地点的牛牙进行锶和氧同位素分析，将揭示在地质条件不同的高地地区季节性使用牧场的重要性。美国和德国的研究人员和学生将1)绘制天然石材来源的地图，2)完成来源周围工具生产碎片的系统调查，3)进行地磁调查，以定位诸如原材料采购坑和房屋的考古特征，4)对这些特征的样本进行测试挖掘，5)对调查和挖掘产生的文物进行完整的分析，6)对牛牙样本进行同位素分析，7)完成识别牧场所需的天然锶同位素水平的参考数据库，8)将考古学和同位素分析的结果整合到地理信息系统分析中。这项研究将测试LBK土地使用和流动性的模型，这些模型是关于欧洲农业传播所涉及的经济和社会过程的长期考古学辩论的一部分。该项目还将通过调查LBK对可能吸引采集者和农民进入高地的资源的使用，有助于理解早期农民和当代采食者之间的关系。该项目对考古学研究具有更广泛的影响，因为它将测试研究养牛业的方法，并建立考古、地质和环境数据的数字档案，供其他研究人员使用。该项目在伊利诺伊大学斯普林菲尔德分校(美国)和图宾根大学(德国)之间的持续伙伴关系中结合了研究和国际教育。美国和德国的本科生和研究生将参加田野调查和数据分析，以加强他们在考古方法和理论方面的培训，并增加他们对欧洲史前重要时期的知识。该奖项由社会行为和经济科学局和国际科学与工程办公室共同资助

With National Science Foundation support a U.S./German team of Lynn Fisher, Susan Harris, Corina Knipper and Rainer Schreg will conduct a two-year interdisciplinary archaeological study of mobility and upland land use in the Central European Early Neolithic. The project brings together specialists in archaeology, geology, stable isotope analysis, and Geographic Information Systems to investigate economic linkages between early farming villages in lowland valleys and environmentally contrasting upland regions in southwest Germany.Early Neolithic (Linearbandkeramik or LBK, ca. 5500 - 4900 B.C.) people were the first farmers in Central Europe, where they introduced cultivated cereals, domesticated cattle, sheep and pigs, the region's first sedentary villages, and distinctive ceramic vessels. Prevailing views of LBK settlement and economy have emphasized homogeneity in economic and settlement systems focused on lowland areas with fertile loess soils. This scenario has been challenged by evidence for upland land use and substantial variation in size, organization, and economy of early Neolithic settlements. While previous archaeological research on the Early Neolithic focused on lowland settlements, this project investigates the procurement of chert raw material for stone tool production and woodland pastures for cattle as examples of upland resource exploitation and linkage of upland and lowland areas in the early Neolithic settlement and economic system.Procurement and transport of chert is investigated through two seasons of field work on the Swabian Alb limestone plateau, an important source of stone for tool production in neighboring lowlands. Strontium and oxygen isotope analyses on cattle teeth from several lowland sites will inform about the importance of seasonal use of pasture grounds in upland areas with contrasting geological conditions. U.S. and German researchers and students will 1) map natural stone sources, 2) complete systematic survey of tool production debris around sources, 3) carry out geomagnetic survey to locate archaeological features such as raw material procurement pits and houses, 4) conduct test excavations on a sample of such features, 5) complete analysis of artifacts from survey and excavation, 6) carry out isotope analyses on samples of cattle teeth, 7) complete a reference database of natural strontium isotope levels needed to identify pasture areas, and 8) integrate results of archaeological and isotope analyses in a Geographic Information Systems analysis.The research will test models of LBK land use and mobility that are part of long-standing archaeological debates about the economic and social processes involved in the spread of farming in Europe. It will also contribute to understandings of relationships between early farmers and contemporary foragers by investigating LBK use of resources that may have attracted both foragers and farmers into the uplands.The project has broader implications for research in archaeology because it will test methods for the study of cattle husbandry and build a digital archive of archaeological, geological and environmental data that will be made available to other researchers. The project combines research and international education in a continuing partnership between the University of Illinois-Springfield (USA) and the University of Tubingen (Germany). U.S. and German undergraduate and graduate students will participate in fieldwork and data analysis to enhance their training in archaeological method and theory and increase their knowledge of an important period in European prehistory.This award is co-funded by the Directorate For Social Behavioral and Economic Sciences and the Office of International Science and Engineering