Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Late Prehistoric Socio-Economic Organization in Northwest Alaska: a Study of Pottery Production and Distribution in the Arctic

博士论文改进资助：阿拉斯加西北部史前晚期社会经济组织：北极陶器生产和分配的研究

• 批准号: 0936696
• 负责人: Ben Fitzhugh
• 金额: $ 2.55万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-15 至 2011-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0936696&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Late

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This research examines the history of emergent complexity in Northwest Alaska over the past 2000 years through a focused study of archaeological pottery from the coast of Kotzebue Sound and the adjacent river corridors into the Alaskan interior. Northwest Alaska witnessed significant social change over the past two millennia with the development of organized whale hunting, aggregated coastal villages, wealthy burials, and warfare. On both sides of the Bering Strait ethnic groups formed strong regional identities during this period that led to marked differences in material culture styles from sub-region to sub-region and eventually the expansion of Thule whale hunters eastward across the Canadian arctic. The relationships, interaction, and evolution of these ethnic populations remain among the most unresolved issues in the archaeology of this region. This research attempts to shed light on these issues and their implications for changing social and political organization in Northwest Alaska through the study of the pottery used by these groups. Pottery composition, manufacture techniques, and stylistic variability from archaeological assemblages around Kotzebue Sound will allow the student P.I. to evaluate several predictions about social development between the first and second millennia A.D. These predictions include the expectation for increased population density, territoriality, and social asymmetry at the corporate group level (within and between settlements) with implications for the production and distribution of pottery from clay source to production, use and discard. Archived and newly acquired pottery collections from Cape Krusenstern, the northern coast of the Seward Peninsula including Cape Espenberg, the shores of Kotzebue Sound, and the Noatak and Kobuk River valleys will be studied to determine chemical composition of clays used in constructing the pots, the nature of pot manufacture (form, wall thickness, tempering, firing regime, etc), and variability in stylistic characteristics (of both decorated and non-decorated pottery). These characteristics will be studied to determine the degree of inter-regional pottery movement and inter- and intra-settlement differences in access to diverse sources, technologies, and/or styles of pots An important component of this research includes the collection of clay samples from geological sources around Kotzebue Sound and the Kobuk and Noatak Rivers for comparison to archaeological pottery samples. This will allow an estimation of the degree of pottery movement from source to deposition locales and a proxy for social interaction and movement. Another component of this research will be precision mapping and dating of archaeological features around this region in order to develop estimates of changes in regional population densities and distributions. Expanded radiocarbon and thermoluminescence chronologies will be built to refine and supplement existing chronological models for the region.This work is conducted in partnership and under permit with the National Park Service. Project results will be shared with Native Alaskans and other local groups in the Northwest Alaska community through public and school presentations, primarily in Kotzebue, Alaska. In addition, large laminated posters and a self-timed PowerPoint presentation describing this research will be created and distributed to communities across the region. These educational products are easily distributed to remote communities and schools and are more effective and cost-efficient than trying to present in person in every village community in the region. Project results will be disseminated more widely through presentation at professional conferences, the creation of a project website, and public and school presentations in the Seattle area. University of Washington undergraduate students will participate in the project, assisting in sample preparation while taking an independent lab course for credit, supervised by the Co-PI.

该奖项由 2009 年《美国复苏和再投资法案》（公法 111-5）资助。这项研究通过对科策布海峡海岸和邻近河流走廊进入阿拉斯加内陆的考古陶器进行重点研究，探讨了过去 2000 年来阿拉斯加西北部出现的复杂性的历史。 过去两千年来，随着有组织的鲸鱼捕猎、聚集的沿海村庄、富裕的墓葬和战争的发展，阿拉斯加西北部见证了重大的社会变革。 白令海峡两岸的族群在这一时期形成了强烈的区域认同，导致各个次区域的物质文化风格存在显着差异，最终导致图勒鲸鱼狩猎者向东扩展到加拿大北极地区。这些种族人口的关系、相互作用和进化仍然是该地区考古学中最悬而未决的问题之一。 本研究试图通过对这些群体使用的陶器的研究来阐明这些问题及其对阿拉斯加西北部社会和政治组织变化的影响。 科策布湾周围考古组合的陶器成分、制造技术和风格变化将使学生 P.I.评估关于公元一千年和二千年之间社会发展的几个预测。这些预测包括对人口密度、地域性和企业集团层面（定居点内和定居点之间）社会不对称性增加的预期，对陶器从粘土来源到生产、使用和丢弃的生产和分配产生影响。将研究来自克鲁森斯特恩角、苏厄德半岛北海岸（包括埃斯彭伯格角）、科策布湾海岸以及诺阿塔克河和科伯克河谷的存档和新获得的陶器收藏，以确定用于建造陶器的粘土的化学成分、陶器制造的性质（形式、壁厚、回火、烧制方式等）以及风格特征的变化（两者） 有装饰和无装饰的陶器）。 将研究这些特征，以确定区域间陶器运动的程度以及定居点之间和定居点内在获得不同来源、技术和/或陶器风格方面的差异。这项研究的一个重要组成部分包括从科策布海峡以及科伯克河和诺阿塔克河周围的地质来源收集粘土样本，以便与考古陶器样本进行比较。 这将允许估计陶器从源头到沉积地点的移动程度以及社会互动和移动的代理。 这项研究的另一个组成部分是对该地区周围的考古特征进行精确制图和测年，以便对区域人口密度和分布的变化进行估计。 将建立扩展的放射性碳和热释光年表，以完善和补充该地区现有的年表模型。这项工作是在国家公园管理局的许可下与合作伙伴进行的。项目结果将通过公共和学校演示，与阿拉斯加原住民和阿拉斯加西北部社区的其他当地团体分享，主要是在阿拉斯加的科策布。此外，还将制作描述这项研究的大型层压海报和自动定时 PowerPoint 演示文稿，并将其分发给该地区的社区。这些教育产品可以轻松分发到偏远社区和学校，并且比尝试在该地区的每个村庄社区亲自呈现更有效且更具成本效益。项目成果将通过在专业会议上的演示、创建项目网站以及西雅图地区的公共和学校演示来更广泛地传播。华盛顿大学的本科生将参与该项目，协助样品制备，同时修读由 Co-PI 监督的独立实验室课程以获得学分。