Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Community and Demography in Bronze Age Southern Russia

博士论文改进补助金：俄罗斯南部青铜时代的社区和人口学

• 批准号: 1034903
• 负责人: Bryan Hanks
• 金额: $ 1.8万
• 依托单位: University of Pittsburgh
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2012-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1034903&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Community

Under the supervision of Dr. Bryan Hanks, doctoral candidate, James A. Johnson, will analyze data collected during systematic pedestrian survey of and between the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) (2100 - 1700 BC) fortified settlements of Stepnoye and Chernorech'ye in the Chelyabinsk Oblast in southern Russia. This region has drawn increased attention of regional and international scholars due to the development of twenty-two fortified settlements in what had long been considered a predominately mobile pastoralist region. The fortified settlements are notable due to the similarity in spatial organization and the lack of differentiation in sizes between household structures. In addition, scholars have posited that some, if not all, of these settlements acted as centers for metallurgical production, indicative of not only demographic, but also economic and political centralization. Yet, no studies have been undertaken to actively test if these communities were centralized and if they were, to what degree. Research focusing on the spatial relationships between centers and hinterlands is important as it will contribute vital information to a basic foundation of community social organization and demography shared across geographic regions. Broader social, economic and political processes common to anthropological archaeology such as social inequality, urbanization, and societal collapse cannot be empirically modeled without first developing a better understanding of the community dynamics involved. A logical starting place for such models is to empirically evaluate changes in local and regional demography. The evaluation of demographic changes in community spatial organization (through demographic distribution and density) can indicate the emergence and strength of centripetal trends that coincide with the development of social stratification, and might also reveal changes in human-environment relationships. Furthermore, systematic pedestrian survey can reveal the extent and the intensity to which centralized communities disintegrate and go on to form smaller, more mobile pastoral groups in post-collapse contexts. Documenting such patterns has long been a methodological and theoretical concern in anthropological archaeology and studies of early forms of social complexity, and in particular, early processes of urbanization. This project utilizes data gleaned from surface collections on changes in demographic distributions and densities to further evaluate the changing relationships between centers and their hinterlands as well as sedentary and more mobile groups. Beyond the more specific research questions pertaining to anthropological archaeology, this project seeks to further develop international ties between Russian and American scholarly communities. Working closely with faculty from various Russian academic institutions, as well as Russian and American students from numerous universities, the project seeks to further bring Russian prehistory within the comparative lens of scientific research on the development of early forms of social complexity. By incorporating graduate and undergraduate students from both the US and Russian Federation, and encouraging the training of these students in new field methods, the project will help to overcome traditional obstacles between the two national archaeological traditions. Furthermore, the preparation of databases for publication on the University of Pittsburgh Center for Comparative Archaeology website will allow students and other scholars open access to view and utilize data collected from this research project.

在布莱恩·汉克斯博士的指导下，博士生詹姆斯·A。约翰逊将分析在系统的行人调查期间收集的数据，以及在青铜时代中期（MBA）（公元前2100 - 1700年）俄罗斯南部车里雅宾斯克州的斯泰普诺耶和斯捷潘雷奇耶的强化定居点之间收集的数据。由于在这个长期以来被认为是以移动的牧民为主的地区建立了22个设防定居点，该地区引起了区域和国际学者越来越多的关注。由于空间组织的相似性和家庭结构之间缺乏规模差异，强化定居点是值得注意的。此外，学者们认为，这些定居点中的一些（如果不是全部的话）是冶金生产的中心，这不仅表明了人口的集中，而且也表明了经济和政治的集中。然而，没有进行任何研究来积极测试这些社区是否集中，如果是，集中到什么程度。 重点研究中心和荒地之间的空间关系是很重要的，因为它将有助于社区社会组织和跨地理区域共享人口的基本基础的重要信息。更广泛的社会，经济和政治过程共同的人类学考古学，如社会不平等，城市化和社会崩溃不能经验建模，而首先开发一个更好的理解所涉及的社区动态。这种模式的一个合乎逻辑的起点是经验性地评估地方和区域人口的变化。通过人口分布和密度来评价社区空间组织中的人口变化，可以揭示与社会分层发展相一致的向心趋势的出现和强度，也可以揭示人与环境关系的变化。此外，系统的行人调查可以揭示在崩溃后的环境中，集中的社区解体并继续形成更小、更移动的牧民群体的程度和强度。长期以来，记录这种模式一直是人类学考古学和社会复杂性早期形式研究的方法论和理论问题，特别是城市化的早期过程。该项目利用从地面收集的关于人口分布和密度变化的数据，进一步评估各中心与其居住地以及定居和更多移动的群体之间不断变化的关系。 除了与人类学考古学有关的更具体的研究问题之外，该项目还寻求进一步发展俄罗斯和美国学术界之间的国际联系。该项目与来自俄罗斯各学术机构的教师以及来自许多大学的俄罗斯和美国学生密切合作，旨在进一步将俄罗斯史前史纳入关于社会复杂性早期形式发展的比较透镜科学研究。通过吸收来自美国和俄罗斯联邦的研究生和本科生，并鼓励对这些学生进行新的实地方法培训，该项目将有助于克服两个国家考古传统之间的传统障碍。此外，匹兹堡大学比较考古学中心网站上公布的数据库的准备工作将使学生和其他学者能够开放访问，查看和利用从该研究项目收集的数据。