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

在兰德尔·麦奎尔博士的指导下，布莱恩·托马斯先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将分析田纳西州赫米蒂奇种植园历史时期遗址的材料。这是安德鲁·杰克逊的家。这项工作本身将涉及分析从三个奴隶小屋中发现的文物和动物遗骸，这三个小屋位于距离主要种植园房屋不同的距离。历史文献表明，不仅“主人”和“奴隶”之间存在地位差异，而且后者之间也存在地位差异。工作上的差异与社会地位和经济地位都有关。社会地位也反映在居住距离上。考虑到相当受控制的背景，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它们在遗址上的分布中反映得有多好。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考察身份分化。托马斯先生的书提供了一个背景，用来评估人类学家普遍持有的分析假设，并测试在社会重建中使用的特定技术的有效性。它还将帮助培训一位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.