Dissertation Research: Systematic Cultural Change in the U. S. Prehistoric Southwest

在玛格丽特·尼尔森博士的指导下，Michael Diehl先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将在一些美国博物馆研究材料，这些博物馆收藏着新墨西哥州莫高隆地区的考古收藏品。这项工作的目标是研究随着时间的推移社会群体中出现的不平等现象。迪尔博士将把重点放在皮特豪斯早期和晚期，因为在这段时间里，考古记录中记录了生存和定居策略的明显变化。皮特豪斯人一开始是流动性很强的猎人和收藏家，随着时间的推移，似乎已经定居在更大的群体中。这些地点被占用的时间更长，对农业的依赖似乎有所增加。在世界许多地区，类似的变化与国内家庭单位之间出现的社会不平等有关。目前还不清楚皮特豪斯人中是否存在这种现象，迪尔先生将研究这个问题。更重要的是，他将试图辨别发生变化的潜在机制，并试图确定准确的因果关系。为了做到这一点，他将检查一系列遗址的挖掘文件、植物遗骸、陶瓷和“奢侈品”，这些遗址跨越了这一时期。通过这种方式，他可以重建生存、定居和社会分化的变化。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。社会不平等既是生活中的现实，也是当今许多社会面临的问题的根源。人类学家希望了解这种现象最初是如何产生的，这项研究将解决这个问题。它还将帮助培训一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Margaret Nelson, Mr Michael Diehl will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will study materials at a number of U.S. museums which house archaeological collections from the Mogollon region of New Mexico. The goal of the work is to examine the emergence of inequality within social groups over time. Dr. Diehl will focus on the Early and Late Pithouse periods because over this time period clear changes in subsistence and settlement strategy are documented in the archaeological record. Pithouse peoples started as highly moble hunters and collectors and over time appear to have settled in larger groupings. Sites were occupied for longer periods of time and dependence on agriculture appears to have increased. In many parts of the world similar changes are correlated with the emergence of social inequality among domestic household units. It is unclear whether a this phenomenon occurred among Pithouse peoples and Mr. Diehl will examine this question. More importantly, he will try to discern the underlying mechanisms which underlay the changes which took place and try to determine precise cause and effect relationships. To accomplish this, he will examine excavation documents, botanical remains, ceramics and "luxury" items from a series of sites which span this time period. In this way he can reconstruct changes in subsistence, settlement and social differentiation. This research is important for several reasons. Social inequality is both a fact of life and a cause of problems which face many societies today. Anthropologists wish to understand how this phenomenon originally arose and this research will address the issue. It will also assist in the training of a promising young scientist.