The Origin of the Iron Culture and its Natural Environmental Background in Anatolia Plateau, Turkey

该项目的研究区域安纳托利亚高原，被誉为世界上铁器文化的发源地。在青铜时代晚期，赫梯帝国垄断了铁器工具，扩大了领土，这是非常著名的。最近在安纳托利亚高原的考古发掘中发现了与青铜时代早期和中期的陨石铁有很大不同的铁制工具。因此，铁器文化的起源应该比周围地区的铁器时代开始早一千多年。这个项目的目的是调查铁器文化的起源，明确铁器文化的背景，特别是自然环境背景。因此，确定铁器文化起源的时间和传播途径，不仅需要考古学和文献方法，还需要化学、地理和地质方法。我们还假定安纳托利亚高原的自然环境允许创造新的文化。研究区为Kiiltepe、Kayseri附近、Kaman Kalehoyuk、安纳托利亚中部、Ayanis、安纳托利亚东部和Tel Sekr A'。海姆，叙利亚东北部。在实地调查中进行了以下调查：(1)钻孔调查重建古环境；(2)地质雷达系统穿透调查；(3)地理信息系统（GIS）；(4)考古物项化学分析；(5)考古调查及泥碑文献。除了对土耳其和叙利亚的调查外，我们还对约旦和埃及进行了调查，以获取比较数据。国际研讨会分别于2006年6月在蒙古和2007年3月在福冈举行，总结了该项目的成果。

Anatolian Plateau, the research area of this project, has been known as the first place of the Iron Culture in the world. It was very famous that the Hittite Empire monopolized iron tools enlarged its territory during Late Bronze Age. The recent archaeological excavations found the iron tool that was quite different from the meteorite iron from Early and Middle Bronze Age in the Anatolian Plateau. Therefore, the origin of the Iron Culture should be more than one thousand years before the beginning of the Iron Age at surrounding regions.The purpose of this project is to investigate the origin of the Iron Culture and to make clear its background, especially the natural environmental background. Therefore, not only archaeological and documental methods but also chemic, geographic and geologic methods are necessary to decide the date, diffusion routs of origin of the iron culture. We also presume the natural environment of the Anatolian Plateau which allowed the new culture to be created.The research areas were Kiiltepe, near Kayseri, Kaman Kalehoyuk, central Anatolia, Ayanis, eastern Anatolia and Tel Sekr A'. Heimal, north eastern part of Syria. The following investigations were done at the field surveys ; (1) Drilling surveys to reconstruct the palaeo-environment, (2) Penetrate survey by geo-radar system, (3)GIS, (4) Chemical analysis of archaeological objects, (5) archaeological survey and documents of mud tablets. In addition to the surveys at Turkey and Syria, we took the survey at Jordan and Egypt to take comparison data.The international symposiums were held to summarized the results of the project at Mongolia, June 2006, and at Fukuoka, March 2007.