Dissertation Research: Ceramic Standardization in Household Production at Bezuapan, Veracruz, Mexico

在国家科学基金会的支持下，在大卫·布朗曼博士的指导下，乔治亚·布里特女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她将分析位于墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯的Bezuapan考古遗址的陶瓷材料。先前对单个家庭的挖掘已经从明确的地层环境中获得了大量的陶瓷样品。所有这些都是在晚形成期的不同时期进行的。有证据表明，这些陶瓷是在每个家庭中制作的。布里特女士将从多个角度检查这些材料，以确定每个样品中每种陶瓷类型的标准化程度。她将记录指标以及技术和装饰属性。本研究的基本目标是研究陶瓷生产与社会组织之间的关系。考古学家认为，随着社会变得越来越复杂，经济专业化程度提高，大规模生产程度提高。他们还假设标准化也会增加，陶瓷和其他普通物品的标准化程度可以作为社会复杂性的间接衡量标准。然而，这些假设并没有经过仔细的检验。其他种类的考古证据表明，韦拉克鲁斯的后期形成时期标志着社会复杂性的增加。在接下来的早期古典时期，一个明显划分等级的社会出现了。布里特女士将与其他研究后期陶瓷的研究人员一起，专注于后期形成时期，以确定实际上社会复杂性和陶瓷标准化是否相关。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。这将有助于改进一种广泛用于考古的工具。它还将协助培训一名有前途的年轻科学家。

Browman With National Science Foundation support and under the direction of Dr. David Browman, Ms. Georgia Britt will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will analyze ceramic material from the archaeological site of Bezuapan which is located in Veracruz, Mexico. Prior excavation of individual households has yielded large samples of ceramics from well defined stratigraphic contexts. All date from different intervals within the Late Formative period. Evidence indicates that the ceramics were made within each household. Ms. Britt will examine these materials from a number of perspectives to determine the degree of standardization within each ceramic type within each sample. She will record metric as well as technical and decorative attributes. The underlying goal of this research is to study the relationship between ceramic production and social organization. Archaeologists have argued that as societies grow more complex, the degree of economic specialization increases and the degree of mass production increases. They have also assumed that standardization increases as well and that degree of standardization in ceramics and other common objects can be used as an indirect measure of social complexity. However these assumptions have not been carefully tested. Other kinds of archaeological evidence indicate that the Late Formative period in Veracruz marks a time of increased social complexity. By the following Early Classic period a clearly divided hierarchical society had emerged. In conjunction with other researchers who have examined ceramics from the later period, Ms. Britt will focus on the Late Formative to determine whether, in fact, social complexity and ceramic standardization are related. This research is important for several reasons. It will help to refine a tool which is of wide archaeological use. It will also assist in the training of a promising young scientist.