The Persepolis Basin (SW Iran): a System Model to investigate Human-Climate-Ecosystem interactions during the Holocene

波斯波利斯盆地是一个独特的天然实验室，研究全新世期间中东内陆高原的人类-气候-生态系统相互作用。它证明了自公元前7000年新石器时代以来人类占领的近乎连续的历史，并见证了几个伟大文明（埃兰人，阿契美尼德-波斯人，萨珊人）的出现，波斯波利斯的皇家宫殿和其他古迹仍然保存完好。伊朗西南部的帝国在亚洲西南部的地缘政治格局和文化演变中发挥了关键作用，阿契美尼德帝国是古代第一个超级大国和近东最大的帝国。因此，这样一种文明的兴起需要开发自然资源，这可能会对生态系统产生严重影响。虽然该盆地接受来自小河流和岩溶泉的水，但其位于扎格罗斯山脉的雨影中，使其水文对气候变化非常敏感。近年来，在盆地周围发现了许多湖泊和湿地成因的沉积。它们中的许多似乎在更古老的时代就已经干燥了。这表明波斯波利斯平原曾经是一个更潮湿的地方，拥有大量的地表水资源，使其成为史前人类社区更具吸引力的地方。然而，平原水资源对气候变化的反应程度及其对人类生活方式和社会经济的影响在很大程度上仍然不明确。虽然在欧洲和东地中海对人类-气候-生态系统相互作用的调查数量正在增加，但迄今为止尚未在包括伊朗高原在内的中东内陆地区进行全面调查。该项目旨在采用跨学科研究方法，将自然科学（古生态学）和人文科学（古代历史和近东考古学）结合起来，为波斯波利斯盆地开发一个系统模型。其目的是（1）通过对古湿地的测绘、描述和年代测定，评价过去人类社会水资源的可利用性;（2）通过对湖泊和沼泽档案的分析，评价人类对生态系统的影响（花粉、木炭、昆虫化石）、土壤和土壤沉积物（木炭），金石和文学来源，以及从植物和动物的生物考古遗迹，从很长的时间顺序，（3）利用生物代用指标（摇蚊、枝角类）与现有地球化学记录建立独立于人类的高分辨率水文气候记录。古环境数据将与来自金石和历史文献的证据进行交叉核对。研究结果将与该地区丰富的考古数据进行对比，然后将其置于更具区域性的背景下，以更好地了解气候、人类文明和生态系统之间的相互作用。

The Persepolis Basin is a unique natural laboratory to investigate human-climate-ecosystem interactions in the interior plateaus of the Middle East during the Holocene. It attests to a near-continuous history of human occupation since Neolithic times at 7000 BC and has witnessed the emergence of several great civilizations (Elamite, Achaemenid-Persian, Sasanian) with the Royal Palace of Persepolis and other monuments still well-preserved. South-western Iranian empires have played a key role in the geopolitical configuration and cultural evolution of SW Asia, with the Achaemenid Empire as the first superpower state and the largest Near Eastern empire in antiquity. The rise of such a civilization thus necessitates the exploitation of natural resources, with potentially intensive impacts on the ecosystems. Although the Basin receives water from small rivers and karstic springs, its setting in the rain-shadow of the Zagros Mountains renders its hydrology very sensitive to climatic variations. Recently, numerous deposits of lake and wetland origin were found all around the Basin. Many of them appear to have been desiccated in more ancient times. This suggests that the Persepolis plain was once a wetter place with a great number of surface water resources making it a more attractive place for prehistoric human communities. However, the extent to which the plains water resources responded to climatic variations and their consequent impacts on the lifestyle and socio-economy of humans is still largely equivocal. Though the number of investigations on human-climate-ecosystem interactions in Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean is increasing, no comprehensive investigation has so far been undertaken in the interior parts of the Middle East including the Iranian Plateau. This project aims at applying an inter-disciplinary research approach, by bringing together Natural Sciences (Palaeoecology) and Humanities (Ancient History and Near Eastern Archaeology), to develop a system model for the Persepolis Basin. The aims are to (1) evaluate the availability of water resources to past human societies by the mapping, description and dating of palaeo-wetlands, (2) evaluate human impact on ecosystems by an analysis of lake and mire archives (pollen, charcoal, fossil insects), soils and soil sediments (charcoal), epigraphic and literary sources, and bioarchaeological remains from plants and animals from a long chronological sequence, and (3) establish human-independent high-resolution hydroclimatic records using biological proxies (chironomids, cladocera) correlated with available geochemical records. Palaeoenvironmental data will be cross-checked with evidence from epigraphic and historical documents. The outcome will be contrasted with the rich archaeological data available for the region, and then be placed in a more regional context to better understand the interactions of climate, human civilizations and ecosystems.