Doctoral Dissertation Research: Cranial Vault Modification in the Pre-Columbian Andes

博士论文研究：前哥伦布时期安第斯山脉的颅穹改造

• 批准号: 0124594
• 负责人: Phillip Walker
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Barbara
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-01-15 至 2002-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0124594&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Cranial; Vault

The ability to effectively convey information about a person's social status is fundamental to the creation of ethnic identities and social hierarchies. The custom of cranial vault modification, permanently altering the head shape of children to create social distinctions, was widespread among Native Americans during the pre-conquest period. Analysis of this practice has the potential to provide important insights into aspects of prehistoric social relations that are available from no other source. In this Ph.D. dissertation research, the health and social organizational correlates of cranial vault modification are analyzed from a broad temporal and spatial perspective in the pre-Columbian Andes. This work focuses on the social functions of cranial modification, both within and between groups, and its relationship to the rise of social complexity in the Andes. The goal of the research is to integrate physical anthropological and archaeological data into an analysis that clarifies the social factors that motivate body modification. Collections were carefully selected to encompass a broad spectrum of social systems. The research will include a large-scale survey of the cranial vault modification exhibited by more than 2,500 pre-Columbian skulls from the Andes housed in museums in the United States and Chile. The methods used in the analysis follow the recommendations in the Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains. Analysis of cranial modification in a large number of individuals from a variety of cultural contexts is a powerful tool for testing hypotheses concerning the factors responsible for the development of socially stratified societies. The bioarchaeological approach, with its emphasis on the reconstruction of human behavior patterns and health status provides a direct means through which theories of cultural complexity and the biological consequences of inequality can be explored. The issues of social differentiation and cultural complexity addressed in this research have many implications for understanding the social relations of modern ethnic groups.

有效传达个人社会地位信息的能力对于创建种族身份和社会等级制度至关重要。在征服前的时期，颅顶改造的习俗在美洲原住民中很普遍，永久改变儿童的头部形状以创造社会差异。对这种实践的分析有可能为史前社会关系的各个方面提供重要的见解，而这些见解是无法从其他来源获得的。在这个博士学位中。在论文研究中，从广泛的时间和空间角度分析了前哥伦布时期的安第斯山脉颅顶改造的健康和社会组织相关性。这项工作重点关注群体内部和群体之间颅骨改造的社会功能，及其与安第斯山脉社会复杂性上升的关系。该研究的目标是将体质人类学和考古学数据整合到分析中，以阐明促进身体改造的社会因素。馆藏经过精心挑选，涵盖广泛的社会体系。该研究将包括对收藏在美国和智利博物馆中的 2,500 多个来自安第斯山脉的前哥伦布时代头骨进行的颅顶改造的大规模调查。分析中使用的方法遵循人类骨骼遗骸数据收集标准中的建议。对来自不同文化背景的大量个体的颅骨改造进行分析是检验有关社会分层社会发展因素的假设的有力工具。生物考古学方法强调重建人类行为模式和健康状况，为探索文化复杂性和不平等的生物学后果理论提供了直接手段。本研究涉及的社会分化和文化复杂性问题对于理解现代族群的社会关系具有许多意义。