Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Politics of Agricultural Practice: An Archaeobotanical Case Study from Ziyaret Tepe, Turkey

在凯瑟琳·莫里森博士的监督下，Melissa Rosenzweig将分析从Ziyaret Tepe(由Timothy Matney博士领导)的考古挖掘中收集的植物学数据，Ziyaret Tepe是安纳托利亚东南部图罕已故亚述驻军的所在地。图罕是旨在支持亚述向北部领土扩张的堡垒网络的一部分，在公元前900至600年间，它是亚述帝国主义的一个重要的省级中心。在其鼎盛时期，该遗址占地32公顷，包括城市上下的住所、大型行政结构、加固的城墙和护城河。位于底格里斯河南岸的Ziyaret Tepe和该地区河谷的当代遗址据信已被已故的亚述人占领，目的是为亚述中心地带日益增长的城市人口发展农业盈余。然而，人们对亚述人在这一地区强化农业的过程知之甚少，也不知道这些做法如何影响当地环境和社区。因此，本项目将利用植物学文物来研究Ziyaret Tepe农业生产和消费随时间的变化，以努力阐明亚述帝国主义对该地区和时间段的机制和后果。本研究将使用三条环境证据线来重建Ziyaret Tepe及其周围的农业历史。从遗址本身来看，通过挖掘收集到的烧焦的木材、种子、坚果和水果的大型植物学遗骸将进行检查，以确定Ziyaret Tepe随着时间的推移种植和使用的作物。在更广泛的范围内，从距离Ziyaret Tepe 10公里的一个湖泊中提取的沉积物岩心进行微量元素和花粉分析，将更深入地了解上底格里斯河流域的环境历史。在这些岩芯中捕获的有机物质将揭示数千年来人类土地利用实践的植物学特征，并有助于重建该地区的气候和植被记录。最后，为了描绘Ziyaret Tepe居民利用土地和资源的范围，该项目纳入了一项国际协调的景观调查，旨在探测古遗址周围的聚落、农业和灌溉要素。从这些不同的数据来源，将恢复农业生产和消费的日常和长期做法的模式。由于资源谈判是社会政治关系和土地管理的重要组成部分，这些关于农业战略的信息将有助于了解亚述土地控制对古代安纳托利亚东南部人民和环境的影响。这项拟议的研究将为理解皇朝统治下的农地遗址的古代政治生态做出重大贡献。此外，这项研究是应土耳其当局的要求，在修建伊尔阿利苏大坝(约2016年)之前，为保存底格里斯河上游河谷的数据和精选材料而进行的大规模国际努力的组成部分。关于这项研究结果的定期报告将提供给土耳其文化部，研究结果将在Rosenzweig女士的博士论文中提交，并提交同行评议的期刊发表。宣传和教育工作还包括以土耳其语公开介绍正在进行的挖掘活动，以帮助Ziyaret Tepe的当地居民。

Under the supervision of Dr. Kathleen Morrison, Melissa Rosenzweig will analyze botanical data gathered from archaeological excavations (led by Dr. Timothy Matney) at Ziyaret Tepe, site of the Late Assyrian garrison of Tu'han in southeastern Anatolia. Part of a network of fortresses intended to support Assyria's expansion into northern territories, Tu'han was an important provincial center for Assyrian imperialism between 900 and 600 BCE. At its zenith, the site extended 32 hectares and included upper and lower city habitations, large administrative structures, a fortified city wall, and moat. Situated upon the southern bank of the Tigris River, Ziyaret Tepe and contemporary sites in the region's river valleys are understood to have been occupied by the Late Assyrians in an effort to develop agricultural surpluses for the growing urban populations in Assyria's heartland. However, little is known about the processes by which the Assyrians intensified agriculture in this region, or how these practices affected the local environment and communities. Therefore, this project will utilize botanical artifacts to study changes in agricultural production and consumption over time at Ziyaret Tepe, in an effort to clarify the mechanics and consequences of Assyrian imperialism for this region and time period.This study will use three lines of environmental evidence to reconstruct the agricultural history of Ziyaret Tepe and its surroundings. From the site itself, macrobotanical remains of charred wood, seeds, nuts, and fruits collected by excavation will be examined in order to identify the crops grown and used over time at Ziyaret Tepe. At a broader scale, more regional and temporal depth into the environmental history of the Upper Tigris River Valley will come from trace element and pollen analyses of sediment cores extracted from a lake 10km from Ziyaret Tepe. The organic materials captured in these cores will reveal botanical signatures of human land-use practices over several thousand years, and help reconstruct a record of climate and vegetation in the region. Finally, in order to delineate the extent of land and resources utilized by inhabitants of Ziyaret Tepe, this project incorporates an internationally-coordinated landscape survey, designed to detect elements of settlement, farming, and irrigation around the ancient site. From these various sources of data, patterns in both everyday and long-term practices of agricultural production and consumption will be recovered. Because the negotiation of resources is a critical component of socio-political relations and land management, this information on agricultural strategies will help discern the impact of Assyrian agrarian control on both the people and the environment of ancient southeastern Anatolia. The proposed research will make a significant contribution toward understanding ancient political ecologies of agrarian sites under imperial government. In addition, this study is one component of a large-scale, international effort to preserve data and curated materials of the Upper Tigris River Valley prior to the construction of the Ilýsu Dam (ca. 2016), at the behest of Turkish authorities. Regular reports on the findings of this research will be made available to the Turkish Ministry of Culture, and the results of the study will be presented in Ms. Rosenzweig's Ph.D. dissertation and submitted for publication in peer-reviewed journals. Outreach and educational efforts also include public presentations on the on-going excavations, in Turkish, for the local residents of Ziyaret Tepe.