The Rise and Fall of Basin-irrigated Agriculture at Remote outposts and the Origin of Pastoral Nomadism in the Near East.

为了追踪在近东地区的游牧过程，我们研究了在约旦南部贾法尔盆地的新石器时代水坝系统的洪水淹没区内的盆地灌溉农业的兴衰。研究表明，用于流域灌溉农业的大型、开放式堰坝逐渐向小型、封闭式、试验性蓄水堰坝转变。具有重要意义的是，前者侧重于靠近当代农业社区的西部地区，往往与农牧前哨结合，而后者深入沙漠，通常与世隔绝，没有任何相关的定居点。这一事实有力地表明，在游牧化的过程中，最初的游牧游牧民的成熟的社会基础设施转变为临时的集水设施。这一系列的研究成果，使我们能够从生命（水）和死亡（丧葬习俗）两个方面来追溯游牧民族的游牧化过程。

With a view to tracing the process of pastoral nomadization in the Near East, we examined the rise and fall of basin-irrigated agriculture within the flooded area of Neolithic barrage systems in the Jafr Basin, southern Jordan. The investigations have proved that large-scale, open type of barrages used for basin-irrigated agriculture ｇgradually changed into small-scale, more closed type of barrages specializing in tentative water storage. Of significance is the fact that while the former focused on the westerly area nearer to contemporary farming communities and was often combined with an agro-pastoral outpost, the latter penetrated deep into the desert and was usually isolated without any related settlement. This fact strongly suggests that the full-fledged social infrastructure of initial pastoral transhumants shifted into the ad hoc water-catchmentfacilities in the course of pastoral nomadization. The series of research outcome has enabled us to trace the process of pastoral nomadization from both aspects of life (water) and death (burial practice).