Dissertation Research: Cypress Bayou Archaeological Survey

在Tristram Kidder博士的指导下，Douglas Wells先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将在密西西比州和路易斯安那州交界的田纳西盆地地区进行考古调查和挖掘。他将把重点放在一个被称为“科尔斯溪”的史前文化时期，这一时期横跨公元650年至1200年。在这一时期，农业开始取代狩猎和采集成为主要的生存来源，以凸起的土丘结构为特征的居住中心变得普遍。韦尔斯将重点关注一段约7.2英里的几乎未蓄水的河口，以及伴随而来的被称为“柏树河口”的天然堤防。他将进行地面测量，并划出四条横断面，这四条横断面将覆盖整个测量区域。收集有代表性的表面材料。在此基础上，将在2-4个地点进行挖掘。将使用道路平地机从整个遗址上剥离覆盖层，然后使用标准考古技术对原位材料进行挖掘。这项工作将提供对该地区较小的典型遗址的深入了解。在实地考察的最后阶段，威尔斯先生将在沙克尔福德湖遗址进行挖掘，这是一个位于柏树湾项目区域内的中型土丘中心。该遗址展示了邻近地区保存最完好的文化特征，因此最有可能提供关于遗址内部结构、活动、生存和年代的最佳信息。该地点将被绘制地图，收集表面并进行铲测。在此信息的基础上，选定的区域将被挖掘。近一个世纪以来，美国南部地区一直是考古研究的焦点。这些巨大的土丘遗址标志着该地区史前的最后阶段，表明了高度集权的复杂社会组织水平。大片地区被纳入单一的社会单位，大型土丘的建造证明了大量个人的协调。考古学家希望了解导致这一发展的过程，而科尔斯溪文化很重要，因为它是“密西西比”高潮成就的直接前身。韦尔斯先生对这一发展顺序提出了几个假设，他认为，精英们对高度复杂的丧葬仪式的控制，可能使权力集中到相对少数人手中。这项研究应该能让他检验这个结论。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据，并为美国的史前史提供新的线索。它将增加对社会复杂性如何发展的理解，并有助于培养有前途的年轻科学家。

Kidder Under the direction of Dr. Tristram Kidder, Mr. Douglas Wells will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct archaeological survey and excavation in the Tensas basin region located on the border between Mississippi and Louisiana. He will focus on a prehistoric cultural period termed "Coles Creek" which spans the period between ca 650 and 1200 AD. During this period agriculture began to replace hunting and gathering as a primary source of subsistence and habitation centers characterized by raised mounded structures became widespread. Mr. Wells will focus on a ca. 7.2 mile segment of nearly unfilled bayou and accompanying natural levees known as "Cypress Bayou." He will conduct a surface survey and set out four transects which will run the entire length of the survey area. Representative surface materials will be collected. On this basis, excavations will be conducted at 2-4 sites. A road grader will be used to strip overburden from entire sites and then excavation of in situ material will proceed by standard archaeological techniques. This work will provide insight into the smaller typical sites in the region. In the final stage of the fieldwork, Mr. Wells will conduct excavations at the Shackleford Lake site, a medium-sized mound center located within the Cypress Bayou project area. This site exhibits the best preserved cultural features in the immediate area and thus is most likely to yield the best information on intrasite structure, activities, subsistence and chronology. The site will be mapped, surface collected and shovel tested. On the basis of this information, selected areas will be excavated. The Southern region of the United States has provided a focus for archaeological research for almost a century. The large mounded sites which mark the final phase of the areas prehistory indicate a complex level of social organization with a high degree of centralized authority. Large areas were incorporated into single social units and the construction of large earth filled mounds attests to coordination of large numbers of individuals. Archaeologists wish to understand the process which led to this development and the Coles Creek culture is important because it stands as a direct predecessor to this climax "Mississippian" achievement. Mr. Wells has proposed several hypotheses about this developmental sequence and believes that elite control of a highly complex mortuary ritual may have allowed the concentration of power into relatively few hands. This research should allow him to test this conclusion. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and shed new light on the prehistory of the United States. It will increase understanding of how social complexity develops and contribute to the training of a promising young scientist.