Communities of ceramic practice and the development of complex societies in the Jordan Valley in the 4th and 3rd Millenia BC

研究背景黎凡特的早期青铜时代(EBA)见证了与该地区最早的前图拉班制度的兴衰相关的重大政治和经济变革。从农业村庄(公元前3600-3100)转移到有核的、设防的定居点(公元前3100-2500年)，随后又回到分散的农村(公元前2500-2000年)。我们对推动这些变化的力量的理解，传统上是建立在伊拉克南部洪泛平原上形成的城市化理论框架内的。然而，最近的研究强调了社会发展原始城市复杂性的方式。在这些变化最明显的约旦山谷(JV)，一个关键的不同点是对橄榄和葡萄等园艺作物的开发。这些行业开发了新形式的陶瓷容器，用于储存、服务和运输高价值的液体商品，如石油和葡萄酒。这些船只为了解整个EBA的社会经济发展提供了强有力的证据。目的和目标本项目将调查这些船只是如何在合资企业及其邻近的高地地区制造的。通过对来自12个地点的248片碎屑的化学、矿物学和结构成分进行表征，该项目旨在定义EBA上的组构。它将阐明陶瓷生产链条操作目录中的模式，包括材料选择(例如，添加到覆盖层基质中的粘土来源和包裹体)、表面处理(例如。抛光和/或涂抹油漆或瓷砖)和烧制技术(例如，温度和窑炉条件)。这些特征将使该项目能够识别非本地陶瓷，建议运输或交换。这项研究将为合资企业产生第一个全面的岩相学数据库，使该项目处于独特的位置，以解决以下研究问题：1)陶瓷制造和交换的模式如何反映公元前3600-2500年间不断发展的经济网络和园艺生产？2)这些模式告诉我们在公元前2500-2000年间放弃设防定居点后这些网络的重新配置？3)这些模式是否反映了低地乔丹山谷聚落和邻近高地地区园艺社区之间不断变化的政治和经济关系？

Research backgroundThe Early Bronze Age (EBA) in the Levant witnessed major political and economictransformations associated with the rise and collapse of the region's earliest protourban systems. A shift from agricultural villages (3600-3100 BC) to nucleated, fortified settlements (3100-2500 BC) was followed by a return to dispersed, rural sites(2500-2000 BC). Our understanding of the forces driving these changes has beentraditionally framed within theories of urbanism forged on the floodplains of southernIraq. However, recent research stresses ways in which societies developed particularlyLevantine forms of proto-urban complexity. A key point-of-difference in the JordanValley (JV), where these changes are most apparent, was the exploitation ofhorticultural crops such as olive and grape. These industries developed new forms ofceramic vessels for the storage, serving and transportation of high-value liquidcommodities such as oil and wine. These vessels offer strong evidence forunderstanding socio-economic developments throughout the EBA.Aims and objectivesThis project will investigate how these vessels were manufactured across the JV andits adjacent upland zones. By characterising the chemical, mineralogical and texturalcomposition of 248 sherds from 12 sites , the project aims to define fabricgroups over the EBA. It will articulate patterns in the chaine opératoire of ceramicproduction, including materials selection (eg. clay sources and inclusions added to theclay matrix), surface treatment (eg. polishing and/or the application of paint or slips)and firing technology (eg. temperature and kiln conditions). These characteristics willenable the project identify non-local ceramics, suggesting transportation or exchange.This study will produce the first comprehensive petrographic database for the JV,placing the project in a unique position to address the following research questions:1) How do patterns in ceramic manufacture and exchange reflect developingeconomic networks and horticultural production between 3600-2500 BC?2) What do these patterns tell us about the reconfiguration of such networks followingthe abandonment of fortified settlements between 2500-2000 BC?3) Do these patterns reflect changing political and economic relationships betweenlowland Jordan Valley settlements and horticultural communities in adjacent uplandzones?