Dissertation Research: Decoupling Complexity: An Archaeological Investigation of Three Chacoan Great House Communities

论文研究：解耦复杂性：三个查科大宅群的考古调查

• 批准号: 9726342
• 负责人: Keith Kintigh
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1997
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1997-12-01 至 2001-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9726342&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Decoupling; Complexity; Archaeological

Under the direction of Dr. Keith Kintigh, MS Nancy Mahoney will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. The goal of her research is to understand how prehistoric Native Americans in the Chaco region of the US achieved the high degree of social complexity which is manifest in the archaeological record. At its height in the early second millennium AD, the Chaco culture covered an area of over 120,000 square kilometers of the Colorado Plateau. Archaeologically the system is defined by a distinctive architectural style which ostensibly forms a three-tier settlement hierarchy. At its core in Chaco Canyon, several monumental `great houses` were four stories tall and contained over 600 rooms. The geometric ground plans and distinct masonry techniques suggest they required considerable planning, labor and skill to construct. Surprisingly, despite decades of study it is still not possible to determine the functions they served. At a second level smaller great houses are distributed across the wider Chaco region and associated with each are a series of small pueblo dwellings. Similarity of architectural styles, material remains and as well as traces of ancient roads which connected great houses indicates a complex culture which integrated large numbers of people in some form of hierarchical social structure. Archaeologists however do not understand the degree to which centralized power existed, how it was maintained or what practical purpose it served. Some have argued that the `Chaco Phenomenon` was primarily ritual in nature, that individual small great houses were essentially independent and that the largest great houses in Chaco Canyon itself were occupied only sporadically for religious functions. Others have postulated a much greater degree of centralized control and believe that the system worked to store and distribute subsistence resources across a desert area in which rainfall varied markedly and unpredictably from year to year and place to place. MS Mahoney has noted that very little research has been conducted at secondary great houses. She argues that through analysis of behavior at individual great houses and associated pueblos, and then comparison among great house-pueblo systems, it will be possible to reconstruct the essential aspects of the broader social organization. With NSF support she will study data from two great house-pueblo complexes and continue excavation at a third to collect comparable material. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will shed new light on the impressive achievements of prehistoric Native Americans and will assist in training a promising young scientist.

在 Keith Kintigh 博士的指导下，Nancy Mahoney 女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她的研究目标是了解美国查科地区的史前美洲原住民如何实现考古记录中所体现的高度社会复杂性。查科文化在公元二千年初期达到鼎盛时期，覆盖科罗拉多高原面积超过 12 万平方公里。从考古学角度来看，该系统由独特的建筑风格定义，表面上形成了三层聚落层次结构。在查科峡谷的核心地带，有几座四层楼高的纪念性“大房子”，包含 600 多个房间。几何平面图和独特的砖石技术表明它们需要大量的规划、劳动力和技能来建造。令人惊讶的是，尽管经过了数十年的研究，仍然无法确定它们的功能。在第二层，较小的大房子分布在更广阔的查科地区，与每座小房子相关的是一系列小型普韦布洛住宅。建筑风格、物质遗迹以及连接伟大房屋的古道痕迹的相似性表明了一种复杂的文化，这种文化以某种形式的等级社会结构将大量的人融合在一起。 然而考古学家并不了解中央集权存在的程度、它是如何维持的或者它有什么实际目的。一些人认为，“查科现象”本质上主要是仪式，各个小大房子本质上是独立的，而查科峡谷本身最大的大房子只是零星地用于宗教功能。其他人则假设有更大程度的集中控制，并认为该系统可以在沙漠地区储存和分配生存资源，而沙漠地区的降雨量每年和地点都有显着变化且难以预测。 马奥尼女士指出，对二级豪宅进行的研究很少。她认为，通过分析各个大家族和相关普韦布洛的行为，然后比较大家族-普韦布洛系统，将有可能重建更广泛的社会组织的基本方面。在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，她将研究两个大型住宅-普韦布洛综合体的数据，并继续在第三个住宅区进行挖掘，以收集可比较的材料。这项研究很重要，原因有几个。它将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的数据。它将为史前美洲原住民的令人印象深刻的成就提供新的视角，并将有助于培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。