At a Cross-Roads--Tracking The First Mediterranean Island Colonizers: Interdisciplinary Investigations at Early Neolithic Ais Giorkis, Cyprus

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，艾伦·西蒙斯博士和一个国际研究小组将对地中海塞浦路斯岛上最初的人类殖民进行考古调查。这发生在新石器时代，这代表了从狩猎和采集到驯化动植物和定居乡村生活的转变。“新石器时代革命”是人类最重大的变革之一，最早发生在大约一万年前的近东地区。邻近的地中海岛屿被认为是新石器时代研究的边缘，因为早期的研究表明，大多数岛屿直到新石器时代开始很久之后才有人居住。然而，最近的研究彻底改变了对这些岛屿殖民化的看法，表明塞浦路斯被占领的时间远比以前认为的要早。这些研究改变了考古学家对驯化、伴随的社会变化以及新石器时代如何传播的看法。西蒙斯和他的团队将在Ais Girokis遗址（约公元前7500 cal. BC）进行两个挖掘季节和一个研究季节。这个遗址是最近发现的少数几个定居点之一，这些定居点将新石器时代的塞浦路斯殖民地推回到1000多年前。与其他早期遗址的沿海环境相反，他的乔尔基斯因其独特的高地位置而从其他遗址中脱颖而出。它包含了宴会的证据，具有独特的建筑特征，并且拥有整个近东地区最早的一些家养植物和动物（包括牛，以前在早期塞浦路斯没有记录）。该项目的核心理论框架涉及到无人居住的地区，如岛屿，是如何被永久殖民的。据推测，Ais Giorkis形成了塞浦路斯最初殖民战略的一个独特部分，与沿海定居点不同。本研究的知识价值在于将塞浦路斯置于更广阔的近东景观中，为早期航海技术和从其大陆核心扩展的“新石器时代一揽子计划”提供了更广阔的背景。这一点很重要，因为传统观点认为新石器时代是从近东通过陆路传播到欧洲的。然而，塞浦路斯的新研究表明，海上航线也可能被使用过。事实上，最近一项对斯堪的纳维亚新石器时代墓葬的DNA研究表明，现代希腊人和塞浦路斯人在基因上都有联系。Ais Giorkis项目具有人类学意义，它涉及岛屿殖民、航海技术以及与定居新土地相关的经济和社会网络的适应的全球比较。该项目更广泛的影响包括科学家如何理解新石器时代的转变，这是人类社会进化的关键时期。这项研究是塞浦路斯唯一一个与新石器时代有关的美国项目，与国际合作者合作，为美国和非美国本科生和研究生的专业培训做出了贡献。这项研究还深入了解了古代农业社会是如何适应不断扩大的人口、新环境和资源枯竭的。理解他们的选择可能有助于当代社会，因为它面临着许多与这些早期农民所面临的同样的挑战。

With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Alan Simmons and an international research team will conduct an archaeological investigation of the initial human colonization of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. This occurred during the Neolithic period, which represented the shift from hunting and gathering to the domestication of plants and animals and settled village life. The "Neolithic Revolution," one of humanity's most momentous transformations, first occurred in the Near East around 10,000 years ago. The adjacent Mediterranean islands were considered marginal to Neolithic research, since early studies indicated that most of them were not occupied until well after the Neolithic had begun. Recent research, however, has revolutionized perspectives on the colonization of these islands, showing that Cyprus was occupied far earlier than previously believed. These studies have changed how archaeologists view domestication, its accompanying social changes, and how the Neolithic spread. Simmons and his team will conduct two excavation seasons and one study season at the site of Ais Girokis (ca., 7,500 cal. BC). This site is one of but a handful of recently discovered settlements that have pushed the Neolithic colonization of Cyprus back by over a 1,000 years. Ais Giorkis stands out from other sites due to its unique uplands location, as opposed to the coastal setting of other early sites. It contains evidence of feasting, has unique architectural features, and has some of the earliest domestic plants and animals (including cattle, which previously had not been documented in early Cyprus) in the entire Near East. The central theoretical framework of the project relates to how under-inhabited regions, such as islands, were permanently colonized. It is hypothesized that Ais Giorkis formed a unique part of Cyprus' initial colonization strategy that was distinct from coastal settlements. The intellectual merit of this study views Cyprus within the wider Near Eastern landscape, providing a broader context for early seafaring technology and the expansion of the "Neolithic Package" from its continental cores. This is important since conventional wisdom was that the Neolithic spread overland from the Near East to Europe. The new Cypriot research, however, suggests that maritime routes also may have been used. Indeed, a recent DNA study of a Scandinavian Neolithic burial shows some genetic linkages to both modern Greeks and Cypriots. The Ais Giorkis project has anthropological significance that involves global comparisons of island colonization, seafaring technologies, and adaptations related to economic and social networks involved in settling new lands. The project's broader impacts include how scientists understand the Neolithic transformation, a critical period in the evolution of human societies. This research, the only American project in Cyprus dealing with the Neolithic, partners with international collaborators and contributes to the professional training of both US and non-US undergraduates and graduate students. This research also provides insight into how ancient farming societies adapted to expanding populations, new environments, and resource depletion. Understanding their choices may help contemporary society as it encounters many of the same challenges that these early farmers faced.