Political Hegemony and the Archaeology of Early Cahokia

在国家科学基金会的支持下，蒂莫西·波基特博士和 他的合作者将进行三季的考古 在卡霍基亚遗址和周边地区进行挖掘。这 位于密苏里州圣路易斯郊区的一个大型场地， 代表了世界上最大的 北美史前建筑先前的工作表明 卡霍基亚政体在公元第一个千年发展起来， 在公元1000年左右达到顶峰。该网站随后进行了 早在欧洲人到达新大陆之前就衰落了。基础上 在该地区的工作之前，Pauketat博士希望了解 导致卡霍基亚崛起的过程。支持三个 他将收集一系列数据。因为他专注于 他将挖掘和收集 文化材料的一部分网站占领的精英。 其次，他将进行一次区域调查， 考古发现的日期，以同一时期，这 将使他能够将卡霍基亚置于更广泛的区域背景下。 最后，他将在四个已知的附属遗址进行挖掘， 决定了它们与中心的关系。 虽然考古学家已经追踪到了 世界上许多地方的社会，他们仍然不了解 所涉及的基本过程。在早期社会 不平等变得明显， 特征简单的先行组让位于社会 分层有几种理论可能 解释"酋长"或"大人物"的崛起。"一个强调， 另一种观点认为酋长是"管理者"， 他们主要负责协调活动和重新分配 财富因为他采用了一种区域性的方法， Cahokia的非精华部分可以直接进行比较， Pauketat博士说， 希望解决这个问题。 这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将脱落新的 史前美洲原住民发展的顶峰。它 将为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据， 我们对社会复杂性的理解。

With National Science Foundation support Dr. Timothy Pauketat and his collaborators will conduct three seasons of archaeological excavation at the site of Cahokia and the surrounding region. This large site located on the outskirts of St. Louis Missouri consists of a series of large mounds and represents one of the most massive prehistoric constructions in North America. Prior work indicates that the Cahokia polity developed in the first millennium AD and reached its height around 1000 AD. The site subsequently underwent decline well before Europeans reached the New World. Building on prior work in the region, Dr. Pauketat wishes to understand the processes which led to the rise of Cahokia. With support for three field seasons, he will collect a range of data. Because his focus is on the rise of centralized power he will excavate and collect cultural material from a portion of the site occupied by elites. Secondly he will conduct a regional survey to locate all smaller archaeological occurrences which date to the same period and this will allow him to set Cahokia into a broader regional context. Finally he will excavate at four known subsidiary sites to determine their relationship to the central one. While archaeologists have traced the rise complex centralized societies in many parts of the world they still do not understand the underlying processes involved. At an early stage social inequality becomes evident and the egalitarianism which characterizes simpler antecedent groups gives way to social stratification. Several theories exist which may potentially explain the rise of "chiefs" or "big men." One emphasizes the possible role of dominance while another views chiefs as "managers" who serve essentially to coordinate activities and redistribute wealth. Because he adopts a regional approach in which elite and non-elite portions of Cahokia can be directly compared and Cahokia itself can be set into a broader regional context, Dr. Pauketat hopes to address this issue. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed new light on a pinnacle of prehistoric Native American development. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and increase our understanding of the emergence of social complexity.