An Ethnoarchaeological Study of the Gamo Caste System in Southwestern Ethiopia

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，约翰·W.亚瑟和凯瑟琳·韦德曼以及他们的同事将在2006年夏季对埃塞俄比亚南部的加莫人进行民族考古学研究。加莫人等级森严，将农民和工匠分为不同的种姓群体，但对他们的历史以及埃塞俄比亚南部种姓制度的发展或起源几乎一无所知。 人种学家和历史学家已经提出了许多理论来概述种姓制度的起源，但很少有研究集中在确定考古记录中种姓制度的物质相关性。 亚瑟博士和威德曼博士此前花了两年时间研究加莫工匠（特别是陶工和使用石器加工兽皮的兽皮工人）现在，他们试图解开他们的历史。在这个单一的领域季节的目标将是概述材料和空间的相关性，确定种姓制度的存在，通过民族考古学研究，并定位和测试考古遗址，将更充分地挖掘，未来 作为第一步，在加莫人中的初步目标是对加莫种姓群体与其物质文化差异（陶瓷、塑料、编织、铁器、石器、木制工具等）之间的相互关系进行民族考古学调查。物质空间分布（家、大院、村）。 该小组将清点和绘制三个加莫村庄的物质和结构世界，这将作为分析基线，与未来的考古和口述历史研究进行比较和对比，以帮助确定种姓群体及其在考古记录中的发展。在这项研究中，研究人员将试图获得加莫人所理解的物质世界的愿景，并将他们的世界观过滤到对他们过去的解释中。 该小组还将采访加莫长老，并调查加莫地区的一部分，以找到历史遗址。调查的目标有两个：1）确定以前有人居住的村庄，概述一般的定居点格局; 2）确定4至6个没有证据表明受到耕种干扰的大型村庄，以便将来进行全面挖掘。一旦确定了一个地点，该小组将给它分配一个编号，用全球定位系统仪器在地形图上定位，拍照，并填写一份标准化的地点表格。他们还将进行铲测试或小型挖掘单元，并通过5毫米筛网筛选土壤，以定位和辨别地下文物，特征和地层。 这些测试将使我们能够确定哪些地点最适合未来的挖掘。希望这项研究将使Gamo在他们自己的过去中发出声音，并有助于更好地理解人类学和考古学中更广泛的问题，包括工艺专业化的识别，材料可变性与个人和群体身份之间的关联，以及复杂社会的形成，特别是种姓制度。 该项目是解释加莫种姓制度起源和发展的重要一步，并可能提供一个可适用于其他种姓社会的模式。

With National Science Foundation support, Drs. John W. Arthur and Kathryn Weedman and their colleagues will spend the summer months of 2006 conducting ethnoarchaeological research among the Gamo people of southern Ethiopia. The Gamo people are highly stratified and segregate farmers from artisans into distinct caste groups, but virtually nothing is known about their history and the development or origin of the caste system in southern Ethiopia. Ethnographers and historians have postulated many theories outlining the origin of caste systems, but there has been little research focused on identifying the material correlates of a caste system in the archaeological record. Drs. Arthur and Weedman previously spent two years studying the Gamo artisans (particularly potters and hideworkers who use stone tools to process the hides) and now they seek to unravel their history.The goals in this single field season will be to outline material and spatial correlates that identify the presence of the caste system through ethnoarchaeological studies and to locate and test archaeological sites that will be more fully excavated in the future. As a first step the initial goal among the Gamo is to conduct an ethnoarchaeological investigation of the correlations between Gamo caste groups and their material culture variation (ceramics, plastics, basketry, iron tools, stone tools, wood implements, etc.) and material spatial distribution (household, compound, and village). The team will inventory and map the material and structural world of three Gamo villages, which will serve as an analytical baseline for comparing and contrasting against future archaeological and oral historical studies to help identify caste groups and their development in the archaeological record. In this study, researchers will attempt to procure a vision of the material world as understood by the Gamo people and to filter their worldview into the interpretation of their past. The team also will interview Gamo elders and survey a portion of the Gamo region to locate historical sites. The survey goals are two-fold: 1) to locate previously occupied villages outlining the general settlement pattern and 2) to locate four to six substantial villages with little evidence of disturbance from cultivation for full-scale excavation in the future. Once a site is identified, the team will assign it a number, locate it with a GPS instrument on a topographic map, take photographs, and fill out a standardized site form. They also will conduct shovel tests or small excavation units and screen the soil through 5 mm mesh screens to locate and discern subsurface artifacts, features, and stratigraphy. These tests will enable us to determine which sites are best suited for future excavation. Hopefully this research will give the Gamo a voice in their own past, as well as contributing to better understandings of broader issues in anthropology and archaeology including the identification of craft specialization, the association between material variability and individual and group identities, and the formation of complex societies most notably caste systems. This project is an important step in the interpretation of the origins and development of the Gamo caste system and may provide a model that could be applied to other caste societies.