The Nature and Structure of a Frontier Mississippian Village: The Aztalan Site, Wisconsin

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Lynne Goldstein博士和她的学生将继续在Aztalan遗址进行考古研究。坐落在小龙虾河之间的麦迪逊和密尔沃基威斯康星州，这个大而不寻常的网站占地约21英亩。它被一个栅栏或栅栏包围着，每个柱子都插在地上，上面涂着灰泥。堡垒或了望塔是以固定的间隔建造的，除了这堵外墙外，还发现了几堵内栅栏墙。遗址内的房屋保存完好，可以识别出个别活动区。从史前晚期开始，大约。800-1300 AD阿兹塔兰是不寻常的，因为它是与中密西西比文化有其地理重点在南部密西西比山谷。在这遥远的北方没有其他已知的事件，该网站是一个异常的边远边境社区。戈尔茨坦博士希望了解中密西西比州的变化范围，阿兹塔兰是如何组织起来的，以及它如何与其他当地社区互动。虽然明显是密西西比州中部，但初步数据表明，阿兹塔兰的空间组织与南部的对应地区有很大不同。为了解决这些问题，将采用三种方法。首先，在遗址的四个区域进行有选择的测试挖掘，将提供有关遗址结构的更多信息。其次，将分析丰富的植物和动物遗迹。一项试点研究表明，这些数据将提供关于粮食生产性质和用于仪式目的的植物和动物的重要信息。最后，地理信息系统将扩大到包括基本的遗址数据，如地形和现代特征，以及关于个别特征和Goldstein博士以及过去的研究人员挖掘的房屋的信息。这项研究将为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据。它将揭示美国史前史的一个重要而又鲜为人知的方面，并增加对酋长领地组织的科学理解。它还将协助培训本科生和研究生。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Lynne Goldstein and her students will continue their archaeological research at the site of Aztalan. Situated on the Crawfish River between Madison and Milwaukee Wisconsin, this large and unusual site covers approximately 21 acres. It was surrounded by a stockade or palisade with individual posts set into the ground and covered with clay plaster. Bastions or watchtowers were constructed at regular intervals and in addition to this outer wall, several inner palisade walls have also been identified. Excellent preservation of houses within the site has permitted identification of individual activity areas. Dating from the late prehistoric period, ca. 800-1300 AD Aztalan is unusual because it is associated with the Middle Mississipean culture which has its geographical focus in the southern Mississippi Valley. No other occurrences are known this far North and the site is an anomalous outlying frontier community. Dr. Goldstein wishes to understand the range of variability within the Middle Mississipean, how Aztalan was organized and how it interacted with other local communities. While clearly Middle Mississippean, preliminary data demonstrate that Aztalan's spatial organization differs significantly from its Southern counterparts. To address these questions three approaches will be employed. First, selective test excavations in four areas of the site will provide additional information on site structure. Secondly, abundant botanical and faunal remains will be analyzed. A pilot study demonstrates that such data will provide important information on the nature of food production and plant an animal use for ritual purposes. Finally a geographic information system will be expanded to include basic site data such as topography and modern features as well an information on individual features and houses excavated by Dr. Goldstein as well as past researchers. This research will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will shed light on an important and poorly understood aspect of U.S. prehistory and increase scientific understanding of chiefdom organization. It will also assist in training both undergraduate and graduate students.