Archaeological Research at The Great Salt Spring

在过去几季考古实地工作的基础上，乔恩·穆勒博士和他的同事们将继续在伊利诺伊州南部盐河上的大盐泉遗址进行挖掘。在密西西比时期（约公元900 - 1500年），这个大型复杂的遗址是盐生产的焦点。在盐泉地区的挖掘中，发现了大量用于从盐水中提取盐的实用陶器。盐作为一种贸易商品很有价值。人们对位于上面悬崖上的居住区域知之甚少，穆勒博士将在该地区进行调查和挖掘。这将包括绘图，然后是螺旋钻，土壤探针和小型铲子测试。在此基础上，制定采样策略，并进行小规模挖掘。然后，有希望的地区将被更大规模地挖掘。这项研究的目标是将盐生产置于更广泛的社会背景下。密西西比社会达到了酋长规模的组织，在那里，一个平等的社会已经发展成一个更等级的组织形式。然而，考古学家不同意这种集中化的劳动分工规模是否发生，或者特定的任务，如制盐，是否由“普通”群体成员兼职完成。在大盐泉居住区的挖掘应该有助于回答这个问题。这项研究很重要，因为它增加了我们对复杂社会的理解，比如我们自己的社会是如何发展的。人类学家知道，随着人口增长和社会组织变得更加等级化，在某种程度上，工艺专业化出现了。然而，这种情况何时发生尚不清楚。据推测，密西西比制盐是一个早期的例子。然而，这一论点一直存在争议，穆勒博士的工作应该提供一个答案。它还将增加我们对美洲原住民史前史上一个重要但鲜为人知的篇章的理解。

Building on past seasons of archaeological fieldwork, Dr. Jon Muller and his colleagues will continue excavation at the site of Great Salt Spring located on the Saline River in Southern Illinois. Occupied during the Mississippian period (ca. 900 - 1500 A.D.), this large complex site served as a focus for salt production. Consisting of a bluff area overlying a salt spring, excavation in the spring area has revealed large amounts of utilitarian pottery which was used to extract salt from the saline water. Salt was much valued as a trade item. Much less is known about the habitation area situated on the overlying bluff, and Dr. Muller will conduct both survey and excavation in this area. This will consist of mapping followed by auger, soil probe, and small-scale shovel testing. Based on the results, a sampling strategy will be formulated and followed by small scale excavation. Promising areas will then be excavated at a larger scale. The goal of this research is to set salt production into a broader social context. Mississippian society reached a chieftain scale of organization, where an egalitarian society had developed into a more hierarchical form of organization. Archaeologists disagree, however, on whether at this scale of centralization specialization of labor takes place or whether specific tasks, such as salt production, are carried out by "ordinary" group members on a part time basis. Excavation in habitation areas at Great Salt Spring should help to answer this question. This research is important because it increases our understanding of how complex societies such as our own develop. Anthropologists know that as population increases and societal organization becomes more hierarchical, at some point craft specialization emerges. Just when this occurs, however, is unclear. It has been postulated that Mississippian salt making stands as an early example. This contention, however, has been disputed and Dr. Muller's work should provide an answer. It will also increase our understanding of an important but poorly understood chapter of Native American prehistory.