Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Technological Organization and Thermal Efficiency of Grayware Ceramics from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

在帕特里夏·克朗 (Patricia Crown) 博士的监督下，玛丽安·廷德尔 (Marianne Tyndall) 将探讨新墨西哥州查科峡谷陶瓷技术变革与木材资源枯竭之间的相关性。 对过去环境条件的研究表明，在过去的 2000 年里，查科峡谷一直是一片贫瘠、干旱的景观，树木稀少，水源稀少。尽管环境恶劣、资源稀缺，然而，查科峡谷却有着悠久的人类占领历史。早在八世纪，建筑用木材和燃料就很稀缺。陶瓷制造和使用的调整是对这种稀缺性的回应之一。尽管环境极端，但查科峡谷的居住强度和持续时间提供了一个理想的环境，可以在其中研究陶工如何改变他们制作陶瓷的方式以应对燃料的减少。这项研究提出，当地陶工在陶瓷生产过程中修改了烹饪器具的某些属性，以提高烹饪容器的热效率。最适合烹饪的粘土容器可以通过以下两种方法之一生产。薄壁容器可以快速传递热量，但在制造过程中需要更热和更长时间的烧制条件。或者，厚壁容器在初始烧制过程中需要较少的燃料，但在烹饪过程中使用更多的燃料。廷德尔认为，查科峡谷的陶工选择前一种策略是为了使锅在日常烹饪中具有更高的热效率。实验室分析将针对影响热效率的属性：容器尺寸、壁厚、孔隙率、原始烧制温度和回火选择。这项研究意义重大，因为它考虑了陶瓷技术变化的社会和环境背景。烹饪陶瓷的生产和使用涉及有关容器功能、资源可用性和烹饪行为的决策。因此，将研究燃料使用模式和食品加工策略。木材资源的可用性将来自已发表的古环境研究，而有关燃料使用和烹饪策略的数据将从挖掘报告中收集。与实验室分析相关，这些数据将提供有关烹饪技术变化的补充信息。 这项研究的智力价值超出了人类学学科的范围。该实验室方法将创建一个宝贵的数据库，用于未来对史前实用陶瓷热效率的研究。有关大型植物遗骸和食品加工工具的数据库将突出西班牙裔前查科社区的烹饪和营养行为，并跟踪饮食随时间的变化。研究美国西南部生态的学者可能会发现有关薪材可用性的数据是重要的资源。 这项研究的独特之处在于对查科遗址中发现的实用器皿进行了广泛的检查。通过使用博物馆藏品，将从宝贵但未充分利用的资源中生成新数据。大量可供研究的完整罐子和碎片提供了通过大样本观察烹饪技术变化的机会。这项研究的更广泛影响包括感兴趣的部落理事会的担忧。所有调查结果都将传播给那些将查科峡谷视为其祖先土地的群体。此外，结果还将提供给查科峡谷国家历史公园，以加强为每年超过 85,000 名游客提供的口译服务。该研究将在国家公园管理局、史密森学会、美国自然历史博物馆和新墨西哥大学之间建立联系。 最后，该项目将提供宝贵的研究生培训。

Under the supervision of Dr. Patricia Crown, Marianne Tyndall will address the correlation between ceramic technological change and wood resource depletion in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. Studies of past environmental conditions indicate that Chaco Canyon has been a barren, arid landscape with few trees and little water for the last 2,000 years. Despite the harsh environment and scarce resources, however, Chaco Canyon has a long history of human occupation. Wood for building and fuel were scarce as early as the eighth century. Adaptations in the manufacture and use of ceramics are one response to such scarcity. The intensity and duration of habitation in Chaco Canyon despite the extreme environment presents an ideal setting within which to examine how potters change the way they make ceramics in response to dwindling fuel. This research proposes that local potters modified certain attributes of culinary ware during ceramic production to improve the thermal efficiency of cooking vessels. Clay vessels most suitable for cooking may be produced one of two ways. Vessels with thin walls transfer heat rapidly but require hotter and longer firing conditions during manufacture. Alternatively, thick-walled vessels require less fuel during initial firing, but use more fuel during cooking. Tyndall argues that potters in Chaco Canyon chose the former strategy to make pots more thermally efficient in daily cooking. Laboratory analyses will target attributes that influence thermal efficiency: vessel size, wall thickness, porosity, original firing temperature, and temper choice. This research is significant because it considers the social and environmental contexts within which ceramic technology changes. The production and use of culinary ceramics involve decisions regarding vessel function, resource availability, and cooking behavior. Therefore, fuel-use patterns and food-processing strategies will be studied. The availability of timber resources will be derived from published paleoenvironmental studies, while data regarding fuel use and cooking strategies will be gathered from excavation reports. Correlated with laboratory analyses, these data will provide complementary information regarding changes in cooking technology. The intellectual merits of this research reach beyond the anthropological discipline. The laboratory methodology will create an invaluable database upon which to build future research on the thermal efficiency of prehistoric utilitarian ceramics. Databases concerning macrobotanical remains and food-processing tools will highlight the culinary and nutritional behavior of prehispanic Chaco communities and track dietary changes through time. Scholars who study American Southwest ecology may find data regarding fuelwood availability an important resource. This study is unique in its extensive examination of utility ware recovered from Chaco sites. By using museum collections, new data will be generated from a valuable, yet under-utilized resource. The substantial number of whole jars and sherds available for study offers an opportunity to observe changes in cooking technology with a large sample. Broader impacts of this research include the concerns of interested tribal councils. All findings will be disseminated to those groups who regard Chaco Canyon as their ancestral lands. Furthermore, results will be made available to the Chaco Canyon National Historical Park to enhance the interpretive services provided to over 85,000 annual visitors. The study will create links among the National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, American Museum of Natural History, and University of New Mexico. Finally, this project will provide invaluable graduate student training.