The Study of Cultural Change and Continuity in the Multi- Ethnic Colony of Fort Ross, California

9304297莱特福特在国家科学基金会的支持下，肯特·莱特福特博士和他的同事们将在位于加利福尼亚州北部海岸的罗斯堡遗址继续他们的考古研究。罗斯堡是由俄美公司于1812年创立的，该公司是一家商业垄断企业，代表着俄罗斯在利润丰厚的北太平洋毛皮贸易中的利益。这座堡垒是加州沿海捕杀海獭和海豹的集结地，也是饲养农作物和牲畜的农业社区。它一直掌握在这家俄美公司手中，直到1841年它被解散，土地被出售。罗斯堡是一个多民族的社区，其中包括俄罗斯人和相当数量的阿拉斯加阿留申印第安人，他们是为了狩猎而被输入的。最后，当地的波莫印第安人也与堡垒联系在一起，并执行了许多任务。莱特福特博士的研究目标是了解发生的种族互动，并深入了解文化适应是如何发生的。为了实现这一目标，他将继续进行考古挖掘，重点是文件显示混血家庭居住的遗址的种族间地区。波莫女人嫁给了俄罗斯男人和阿留申男人。莱特福特博士将清理大片区域，以揭示个别家庭。他将分析收集到的文物，以确定发生的文化融合的程度。通过使用调查、文献来源以及波莫和阿留申的线人，他还将试图重建更大的聚落模式和文化景观。文化接触和变革是当今世界的主导力量，因为即使是最偏远的地区也被吸引到全球互动和经济体系中。人类学家希望了解文化适应和同化的过程，以及新大陆，因为它的面积很大，而且它与旧世界相对较近的接触证明是进行这种研究的肥沃土壤。莱特福特博士指出，研究人员倾向于使用简单的模型，这些模型假定欧洲人和单一的美洲原住民群体之间存在直接接触。事实上，现实往往更为复杂，因为曝光往往是由其他印度社会调停的。罗斯堡提供了一个极好的例子，莱特福特博士希望通过详细的研究，确定以阿留申为中间人的中介变革是如何发生的。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将增加我们对种族间互动和文化变化过程的理解。它将为了解加州的早期历史提供新的线索，并有助于培养几名研究生。***

9304297 Lightfoot With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Kent Lightfoot and his colleagues will continue their archaeological research at the site of Fort Ross which is located on the northern California coast. Fort Ross was founded in 1812 by the Russian-American Company, a mercantile monopoly that represented Russia's interests in the lucrative North Pacific fur trade. The fort served as a staging area for sea otter and fur seal hunts along the coast of California and as an agricultural community for raising crops and livestock. It remained in the hands of the Russian-American company until 1841 when it was disbanded and the land sold. Fort Ross was a multiethnic community and included Russians as well as a sizeable contingent of Alaskan Aleut Indians who were imported to hunt. Finally, local Pomo Indians were also associated with the Fort and performed a number of tasks. The goal of Dr. Lightfoot's research is to understand the ethnic interactions which took place and to gain insight into how acculturation occurred. To accomplish this, he will continue archaeological excavation with a focus on the inter-ethnic areas of the site where, documents indicate, mixed- group families lived. Pomo women married both Russian and Aleut men. Dr. Lightfoot will clear large areas to reveal individual households. He will analyze artifacts collected to determine the degree of cultural syncretism which took place. Through use of survey, documents sources and both Pomo and Aleut informants, he will also attempt to reconstruct the larger settlement pattern and cultural landscape. Culture contact and change are dominant forces in today's world as even the most remote areas are drawn into global interaction and economic systems. Anthropologists wish to understand the processes by which cultural accommodation and assimilation take place and the New World, because of its large size and its relatively recent contact with the Old has proven a fertile ground for such investi gations. Dr. Lightfoot notes that researchers have tended to work with simple models which posit direct contact between Europeans and a single Native American group. In fact, the reality was often more complicated since exposure was often mediated by other Indian societies. Fort Ross provides an excellent example and through a detailed examination Dr. Lightfoot hopes to determine how mediated change, with Aleuts as intermediaries, took place. This research is important for several reasons. It will increase our understanding of inter-ethnic interaction and the process of culture change. It will shed new light on California's early history and assist in the training of several graduate students. ***