Dissertation Research: Social Complexity and Corporate Group Dynamics: A Case Study of Corporate Households on theLower Columbia River, on the Southern Northwest Coast

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Under the direction of Dr. John Speth, MS Elizabeth Sobel will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will analyze archaeological materials which have been excavated from three sites on the lower Columbia River on the Washington-Oregon border. These sites span the chronological period from late prehistoric to early historic times and thus serve to document both pre and post-Colombian periods. This Northwest area is well known anthropologically for the degree of cultural complexity achieved by groups which relied solely on hunting and gathering and lacked domestic plants and animals. This level of complexity is unique among hunter gatherers and is characteristic of settled agricultural and pastoral populations. Therefore this region has been focus of sustained anthropological work. MS Sobel is interested in the social processes which fostered this development and has turned to a body of theoretical literature which examines the relationships between corporate groups and broader social organization. Northwest societies were organized into multifamily units which inhabited individual long houses. A series of alternative formulations posit driving forces based on competitive relationships both within and between such corporate groups. Longhouses often leave a clear archaeological imprint and the three sites which form the basis for MS Sobel's analysis contain a number of such units. Working with well controlled museum collections she will examine the spatial distribution of objects both within and between structures. Abundant, well preserved remains such as highly prized obsidian (volcanic glass) tools and other exotics which were traded over long distances allow status relationships to be determined. Thus it is possible to elucidate hierarchical relationships and see how these changed over time. This research is important for several reasons. It addresses an important anthropological question. It makes maximum use of excavated data and synthesizes it in a form useful to many researchers. It also will assist in training a promising young scientist.