Deltaic Resilience and the Genesis of Mesopotamian Cities (Iraq)

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下。Jennifer Pournelle， Carrie Hritz和Jennifer Smith将在伊拉克南部进行为期三年的考古、地质和地貌学研究。研究人员认为，湿地地区可能在美索不达米亚文明的兴起中发挥了重要作用。这些沼泽地最初很难调查，但近年来排水提供了一个独特的机会——随着该地区恢复到以前的状态，这个窗口可能很快就会关闭。伊拉克南部的底格里斯河-幼发拉底河三角洲是5000多年来城市持续存在的地方。公元前4千年开始时，早期苏美尔文明的高度标志着一定程度的经济分化，社会政治复杂性和城市化，因此在世界上任何地方都看不到。虽然苏美尔人利用了周围地区的可灌溉平原和牧场，但也有假设认为，该社会从他们的三角洲系统中获得了巨大的财富和交通优势，即使在剧烈的气候波动周期中，三角洲系统也提供了各种丰富的资源。研究人员认为，这种“三角洲弹性”通过涉及社会和环境变化的多种系统性变化来维持城市化进程。与邻近环境相比，对该三角洲成分的了解相对较少，研究人员将收集相关的考古、地质和古环境资料。他们将重建过去的环境模式，并在此背景下研究人类的反应。这个项目的一个重要的实际成果将是加强美国和伊拉克之间的考古联系，这项研究可能为该国未来的考古项目提供机会。这项工作的结果还可以指导恢复伊拉克南部城市环境资源的项目，促进有弹性的环境管理战略，并支持未来可持续的生活方式。美国和伊拉克的学生都将参与这项研究。

With National Science Foundation support Drs. Jennifer Pournelle, Carrie Hritz and Jennifer Smith will undertake a three year program of archaeological, geoarchaeological and geomorphological research in southern Iraq. The focus is on wetland regions which the investigators believe may have played a major role in the rise of Mesopotamian civilization. These marshlands were originally difficult to survey but draining in recent years has provided a unique opportunity - a window which likely will soon be closed - as the region is restored to its prior state. The Tigris-Euphrates delta of southern Iraq has been the locus of a continuous urban presence for over five millennia. The height of early Sumerian civilization there at the onset of the 4th millennium BC marked a degree of economic differentiation, socio-political complexity and urbanization theretofore unseen anywhere in the world. While the Sumerians made use of irrigable plains and pasture lands in the surrounding regions, it is also postulated that the society drew significant wealth and transportation advantage from their situation in a deltaic system that provided varied and abundant resources even through cycles of dramatic climatic fluctuation. The investigators believe that this "deltaic resiliency" sustained the urbanizing processes through multiple systemic changes involving both social and environmental change. Compared with adjacent environments relatively little is known about this deltaic component and the investigators will collect relevant archaeological, geological and paleoenvironmental data. They will both reconstruct past environmental patterns and examine human responses within this context.One important practical result of this project will be the strengthening of archaeological ties between the US and Iraq and the opportunity this research may provide for future archaeological projects in the country. The results of the work may also guide projects to restore environmental resources to Iraq's southern cities, promote resilient environmental management strategies, and support sustainable lifeways for the future. Both American and Iraqi students will be involved in the research.