Dissertation Research: Hunting, Feasting, and Communal Ritual: Social Differentiation in Ancient Zuni Communities

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Under the direction of Dr. Katherine Spielmann, Mr. James Potter will collect data for his doctoral thesis. He will analyze both faunal and ceramic remains from a series of archaeological sites from the Zuni region of Arizona. He will focus on the crucial interval from approximately 1250-1350 A.D. It was during this period, many archaeologists argue, that the first indications of differential status and political differentiation appear. To test this hypothesis Mr. Potter will examine large collections of faunal remains and plot their differential distribution across sites. He argues that status differentiation among individuals should be reflected in the clustering bones which derive from choice cuts of meat in relatively restricted areas. A non-clustered distribution should be indicative of an egalitarian society. Both archaeological and ethnographic data indicate that Southwestern Native Americans employed control of ritual knowledge to achieve status and this often involved the use of species of birds which were used for ceremonial purposes. In his research Mr. Potter will also examine the distribution of bird bones across the sites. Because tree ring dating has allowed precise chronological ages to be assigned to many Southwestern U.S. sites, it is possible to examine social transitions at a chronological scale impossible to achieve in most other parts of the world. Thus archaeologists have used this area as a test case to study how complex socially stratified societies arise. Based on architectural changes, the period under examination appears to mark a critical transition stage and Mr. Potter's analyses will bring a new class of data to bear in this study. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will shed new light on the prehistory of the United States and will assist in the training of a promising young scientist.