The social, organizational and technological context of pottery production in mid-3rd millennium Southern Mesopotamia

第三个千年中美索不达米亚南部陶器生产的社会、组织和技术背景

• 批准号: 2630619
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Manchester
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2630619
• 关键词: social; organizational; technological; context; pottery

The transition from the Early Dynastic III to the Akkadian period (ca. 2450-2250 BC) in southern Mesopotamia wasa period of great social and political change which saw a shift from land being controlled by independent city-statesto territory being unified under a central administration. The transformation of the social organization led to a morecomplex administrative structure, where the authorities of the individual centres were no longer independent butacted on behalf of the ruler [4]. Raw materials and specialized craft production became highly centralized, withspecialists working under the elites' control. Administrative and economic texts [6] reveal much detail aboutspecific crafts, such as textile and metal working, including production output, worker numbers, internalorganization, and affiliation with political institutions. In contrast, little information is available for potters andceramic manufacture [6].The Early Dynastic III/Akkadian pottery production has received little scholarly attention and it is assumed that potswere wheel-made, standardized and mass produced, all traits typically associated with a state-organized society[3]. The first evidence of potter's wheels goes back to the 5th millennium BC, and they seem well established in themid-3rd millennium BC. However, recent studies have highlighted that the manufacturing process was much morecomplex, involving wheel-made, handmade and hybrid techniques, thus inviting a reassessment of the potteryproduction and questioning the assumed regulatory relationship between potters and the state. The proposed PhDaims to clarify the role, organization, and performance of potters within a centralized economic system and theirinteraction with the institutions. To achieve this, my research will reconstruct the pottery manufacturing processthrough the study of the material culture from select southern Mesopotamian sites.The main site to be investigated is Abu Tbeirah located 7 km south of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq that has revealedstrata from both periods and has been excavated to high modern standards. The excavations led by La SapienzaUniversity unearthed a large settlement of 42 ha that was occupied by the Early Dynastic III/Akkadian period with acontinuation in the Ur III and Old Babylonian period (ca. 2112 - 1763 BC). Information about Early DynasticIII/Akkadian pottery comes from Areas 1 and 4, in the northeastern and southeastern parts of the site, wherearticulated buildings, graves and traces of different activities (fireplaces, hearts) were found. Preliminary analysisshowed, in contrast with traditional assumptions, a limited use of the wheel. One of the PhD's broader aims is toestablish whether this represents merely a local characteristic or whether it might reflect the production contextsalso at other Mesopotamian sites.The interdisciplinary approach that will be used combines macroscopic, scientific analyses and experimentalarchaeology to gain a contextual understanding of pottery production.

美索不达米亚南部从第三王朝早期到阿卡德时期（约公元前 2450-2250 年）的过渡是一个社会和政治发生巨大变革的时期，土地由独立城邦控制转变为中央行政管辖下的统一领土。社会组织的转变导致行政结构更加复杂，各个中心的权力不再独立，而是代表统治者行事[4]。原材料和专业工艺生产变得高度集中，专家在精英的控制下工作。行政和经济文本 [6] 揭示了有关纺织和金属加工等特定工艺的许多细节，包括产量、工人数量、内部组织以及与政治机构的隶属关系。相比之下，关于陶艺家和陶瓷制造的信息很少[6]。早期王朝三世/阿卡德陶器生产很少受到学术界的关注，并且假设陶器是轮制的、标准化的和大规模生产的，所有特征通常与一个国家相关。 -有组织的社会[3]。陶轮的第一个证据可以追溯到公元前 5 世纪，而且它们似乎在公元前 3 世纪中期就已经很成熟了。然而，最近的研究强调，制造过程要复杂得多，涉及轮制、手工和混合技术，因此引发了对陶器生产的重新评估，并对陶器与国家之间假定的监管关系提出了质疑。拟议的博士学位旨在阐明中央集权经济体系中陶工的角色、组织和表现以及他们与机构的互动。为了实现这一目标，我的研究将通过研究美索不达米亚南部遗址的物质文化来重建陶器制造过程。要调查的主要遗址是位于伊拉克南部纳西里耶以南 7 公里的阿布特贝拉 (Abu Tbeirah)，该遗址揭示了两个时期的地层，并具有已按照现代高标准进行挖掘。由 La Sapienza 大学领导的发掘工作发现了一个占地 42 公顷的大型定居点，该定居点曾被第三代早王朝/阿卡德时期占据，并延续到乌尔第三时期和古巴比伦时期（约公元前 2112 年 - 1763 年）。有关早王朝 III/阿卡德陶器的信息来自区域 1 和区域 4，在遗址的东北部和东南部，在那里发现了铰接式建筑、坟墓和不同活动的痕迹（壁炉、心脏）。初步分析表明，与传统假设相反，轮子的使用有限。该博士更广泛的目标之一是确定这是否仅代表当地特征，或者是否可能反映其他美索不达米亚遗址的生产背景。将使用的跨学科方法结合了宏观、科学分析和实验考古学，以获得对陶器生产的背景理解。