Dissertation Research: Power and Status: Enslaved African-Americans on the Hermitage Plantation, 1830-1860

在Randall McGuire博士的指导下，Brian Thomas先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将分析来自田纳西州艾尔米塔奇种植园历史遗址的材料。这是安德鲁·杰克逊的家。这项工作本身将包括分析从三个奴隶小屋中发现的文物和动物遗骸，这些小屋位于距离主种植园不同的距离。历史文献表明，地位差异不仅存在于“主人”和“奴隶”之间，也存在于后者之间。工作的不同与社会和经济地位有关。社会地位也反映在居住距离上。考虑到相当可控的环境，将有可能检查不同类别的文物——陶瓷、个人物品、动物和花卉遗骸——并确定权力和地位关系在整个遗址分布中的反映程度。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。许多人类学考古学的目标是重建过去的社会制度和检查地位分化。托马斯先生提供了一个背景来评估人类学家广泛持有的分析假设，并测试用于社会重建的特定技术的功效。它还将协助培训一名有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Randall McGuire, Mr. Brian Thomas will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will analyze material from the historic period site of the Hermitage Plantation in Tennessee. This was the home of Andrew Jackson. The work itself will involve analyzing artifacts and faunal remains recovered from three slave cabins which are located at varying distances from the main plantation house. Historic documents indicate that status differences existed not only between "masters" and "slaves", but also among the latter group. Differences in job were related to both social and economic status. Social position was reflected in residential distance as well. Given the fairly controlled context, it will be possible to examine different classes of artifacts - ceramics, personal belongings, faunal and floral remains - and determine how well power and status relations are reflected in their distribution across the site. This research is important for several reasons. Much anthropological archaeology is directed at the reconstruction of past social systems and the examination of status differentiation. Mr. Thomas' provides a context to evaluate analytic assumptions which anthropologists widely hold and to test the efficacy of specific techniques which are used in social reconstruction. It will also assist in the training of a promising young scientist.