Dissertation Research: Elite Control and Chiefdom Development in the Eastern Caribbean

论文研究：东加勒比地区的精英控制和酋长国发展

• 批准号: 9800289
• 负责人: James Richardson, III
• 金额: $ 1.19万
• 依托单位: University of Pittsburgh
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1998
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1998-02-01 至 1999-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9800289&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Elite; Control; Chiefdom

Under the direction of Dr. James Richardson, Mr. John Crock will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct archaeological research on Anguilla, a small relatively flat limestone island with an area of 55 square km and a maximum elevation of 65 m. It is the northernmost island in the Lesser Antillean chain and has been the subject of intensive archaeological survey. Because deposition rate is low and arable land extensively plowed it is likely that all archaeological sites are known. Most Caribbean islands were occupied as early as the first millennium BC and underwent significant change at roughly the end of first millennium AD. The post Saladoid cultures are characterized by larger populations who inhabited both more and larger sites in comparison to their earlier counterparts. The appearance of large numbers of exotic and rare items such as ground stone axes and copper ornaments and their unequal distribution over space suggests the emergence of a hierarchical chiefly society. On Anguilla Mr. Crock has located several sites which span the pre and post Saladoid period as well as many others which follow the transition. The goal of his research is to search for the mechanisms which underlay the change and which allowed power to become concentrated in chiefly hands. Because the island is both small and poor in natural resources it is relatively easy to determine what was imported and thus constitutes a high status good. This gives Mr. Crock the ability to characterize with relative ease the status differences both between sites and between different habitation areas within a single site. Because islands have clearly demarcated boundaries they have formed the basis for many comparative studies in both anthropology and may subfields of biology. The Caribbean provides an almost laboratory setting since many islands were inhabited at roughly the same time by relatively few linguistic groups and thus started their prehistories with a relatively homogeneous population. Across the region islands vary greatly in terms of size, geology, arable land and other natural resources. It is therefore possible to compare differences in cultural sequences between islands and then attempt to relate these to environmental variables. Archaeological research is considerably more advanced in Puerto Rico and windward islands compared to Anguilla and other leeward island counterparts. This research should help to provide the necessary counterbalance. It is important because it will provide insight into the emergence of hierarchical societies and it will also contribute to training a promising young scientist.

在James Richardson博士的指导下，John Crock先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将对安圭拉进行考古研究，安圭拉是一个面积为55平方公里、最高海拔65米、相对平坦的石灰岩小岛。它是小安的列斯群岛链中最北端的岛屿，一直是密集的考古调查的主题。由于沉积率低，耕地广泛耕作，很可能所有的考古遗址都是已知的。大多数加勒比岛屿早在公元前第一个千年就被占领，大约在公元第一个千年结束时经历了重大变化。后萨拉多文化的特点是人口更多，居住在更多和更大的网站相比，他们的早期同行。大量外来和稀有物品的出现，如研磨石斧和铜饰品，以及它们在空间上的不平等分布，表明等级制的酋长社会的出现。Crock先生在安圭拉找到了跨越萨拉多期前后的几个地点以及过渡期之后的许多其他地点。他的研究目标是寻找阻止这种变化的机制，以及使权力集中在主要人物手中的机制。 由于该岛面积小，自然资源贫乏，因此比较容易确定哪些是进口的，因而构成高等级货物。这使Crock先生能够相对容易地描述不同地点之间以及同一地点内不同居住区之间的地位差异。 由于岛屿有明确的分界线，它们构成了人类学和生物学许多分支领域中许多比较研究的基础。加勒比地区提供了一个几乎是实验室的环境，因为许多岛屿在大致相同的时间里居住着相对较少的语言群体，因此它们的史前史开始于相对同质的人口。整个区域的岛屿在大小、地质、可耕地和其他自然资源方面差别很大。因此，可以比较岛屿之间文化序列的差异，然后尝试将这些与环境变量联系起来。与安圭拉和其他背风岛屿相比，波多黎各和迎风岛屿的考古研究要先进得多。这项研究应有助于提供必要的平衡。它之所以重要，是因为它将使人们深入了解等级社会的出现，也将有助于培养有前途的年轻科学家。