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

在约翰·斯佩思博士的指导下，伊丽莎白·索贝尔女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她将分析从华盛顿-俄勒冈州边界的哥伦比亚河下游三个地点挖掘出来的考古材料。这些遗址的年代跨度从史前晚期到早期历史时期，因此有助于记录前哥伦比亚时期和后哥伦比亚时期。这个西北地区在人类学上以其文化的复杂程度而闻名，这些群体仅仅依靠狩猎和采集，缺乏家养植物和动物。这种复杂程度在狩猎采集者中是独一无二的，也是定居的农业和畜牧业人口的特征。因此，这一地区一直是人类学工作的重点。索贝尔女士对促进这一发展的社会过程感兴趣，并转向了一系列理论文献，这些文献研究了公司集团与更广泛的社会组织之间的关系。西北地区的社会被组织成多家庭单位，居住在单独的长房子里。一系列替代性的表述方式都是基于这类公司集团内部和集团之间的竞争关系的驱动力。长屋通常会留下清晰的考古印记，构成索贝尔分析基础的三个遗址就包含了许多这样的单元。与控制良好的博物馆藏品工作，她将研究对象的空间分布内和结构之间。大量保存完好的遗迹，如高度珍贵的黑曜石（火山玻璃）工具和其他经过长距离交易的异国情调，使地位关系得以确定。因此，有可能阐明等级关系，看看这些如何随着时间的推移而变化。 这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它解决了一个重要的人类学问题。它最大限度地利用挖掘出的数据，并以对许多研究人员有用的形式加以综合。它还将帮助培养一名有前途的年轻科学家。

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.