Dissertation: Eighteenth Century Seneca Iroquois Household Archaeology-- Excavation and Analysis at the Townley-Read Site, ca. 1710-1754

在Nan Rothschild博士的指导下，Kurt Jordan先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他的研究目标是了解易洛魁人的社会和社区组织的变化，在18世纪初与欧洲殖民者广泛接触后。历史记载和有限的考古数据表明，定居模式发生了变化。在此之前，这些部落居住在防御性很强的大型寨子里。之后，主要的定居点要小得多，位于更开放的地方，不适合防御目的。虽然这种一般模式可能是正确的，但在家庭变化的时间、原因和性质方面存在着许多科学分歧。许多研究人员断言，定居点的分散伴随着传统的多家庭树皮长屋的放弃，而有利于核心家庭规模的欧式小木屋。这一论点认为，由于多年的欧洲传染病、战争和对非易洛魁人个人和群体的收养，传统的母系社会组织解体，更大的定居点分散，长屋建筑被放弃。然而，在乔丹工作的纽约塞尼卡地区，人们放弃的时间却提出了另一种解释。在易洛魁人、法国人、英国人和西部美洲原住民群体之间签订了一系列重要的和平条约之后，村庄首次搬迁。乔丹先生认为，在经历了几年的相对和平之后，塞尼卡易洛魁人可能已经相信和平将是持久的，因此分散到更好地获得田地和水。如果这一假设是正确的，定居点的转移并不意味着传统社会组织的崩溃，而是对变化的条件做出理性和积极的反应。为了确定哪个答案是正确的，Jordan先生将在纽约日内瓦附近的Townley-Read遗址进行考古研究。他将利用各种技术进行远程地球物理勘探，以确定被掩埋的房屋遗骸的位置，然后进行部分挖掘。虽然他从表面材料知道定居点既小又分散，但不确定建造了什么类型的住宅。传统的母系房屋在大小和形状上与殖民时期的房屋不同，Townley-Read的社会进程取决于目前的房屋结构类型。它将提供一个重要的殖民历史时期的洞察力。它将为文化接触和变革提供新的视角，并有助于培养有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Nan Rothschild, Mr. Kurt Jordan will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. The goal of his research is to understand the changes in social and community organization of the Iroquois people in the early 1700s after extensive contact with European colonists. Historical accounts, and limited archaeological data, indicate a change in settlement pattern. Prior to this time groups lived in large stockaded villages located in highly defensible positions. Afterwards primary settlements were much smaller and located in more open ground less suited to defensive purposes. While this general pattern is likely correct, there is much scientific disagreement over the timing, causes and character of household change. Many researchers assert that settlement dispersal was accompanied by the abandonment of traditional multi-family bark longhouses in favor of nuclear family sized European style log cabins. This argument asserts that larger settlements dispersed and longhouse construction was abandoned because of the disintegration of traditional matrilineal social organization, caused by years of European borne epidemics, warfare and adoption on non-Iroquois individuals and groups. The timing of the abandonment however in the Seneca New York region where Mr. Jordan works suggests an alternative explanation. There village relocations first occurred after an important series of peace treaties were enacted among the Iroquois, French, English and western Native American groups. Mr. Jordan believes that after several years of relative local peace, the Seneca Iroquois may have become convinced that the peace was going to be durable and thus dispersed to obtain better access to fields and water. If this hypothesis is correct, settlement shift does not imply a breakdown of traditional social organization but rather a reasoned and positive response to changed conditions. In an attempt to determine which answer is correct, Mr. Jordan will conduct archaeological research at the site of Townley-Read located near Geneva New York. He will conduct remote geophysical prospecting using a variety of techniques to locate buried house remains and then conduct partial excavation. Although he knows from surface materials that the settlement is both small and dispersed, it is uncertain what types of dwellings were built. Traditional matrilineal houses are distinct in size and shape from their colonial counterparts and the determination of social process at Townley-Read hinges on the type of house structures present.This research is important for several reasons. It will provide insight into an important period of colonial history. It will shed new light on culture contact and change and assist in training a promising young scientist.