Prehistoric Native Copper Technology in Northwest North America: Innovation, Diffusion, and Heritage

北美西北部存在三个不同的地区(北极中部、亚北极洲西部和西北海岸)，这些地区拥有原生铜的来源和史前使用铜的证据，这为在社会政治上不同的狩猎-采集者群体中比较研究与单一材料创新有关的技术变化提供了机会。一个具有北部考古学和人种学、地质学和材料科学背景的协作跨学科团队将开展一项为期三年的研究计划，调查北美西北部狩猎-采集者中的本地铜创新及其与新兴社会复杂性(即遗传等级的发展)的关系。整个地区的土著群体使用自然产生的纯天然铜来制造工具、武器和个人装饰品。考古学家传统上认为后一种用途是试图用名牌商品(名牌技术)来展示财富，因此，与史前冶金的讨论类似，这些地区使用原生铜与新出现的社会复杂性有关。与Ahtna社区合作收集的来源和文物的区域内和区域间空间分析、博物馆收藏品中文物的成分分析、铜加工制造的详细实验研究以及口述历史将提供有关本地铜创新的定量和定性数据。将使用一个设计理论框架综合这些数据，该框架将对狩猎-采集者在不同社会和环境背景下采用这项技术所带来的好处和制约因素有一个全面的、多尺度的了解。虽然该项目的重点是围绕狩猎-采集者使用特定材料进行的创新，但它将有助于对创新进行更广泛的人类学讨论，并将生成数据，用于开发技术创新模型，以供未来测试。此外，该项目还包括跨学科研究生和本科教育、培训和实践研究的重要机会，以及与Ahtna社区多代人接触的机会。

The existence of three distinct regions within northwest North America (central Arctic, western Subarctic, and Northwest Coast) with sources of native copper and evidence for its prehistoric use provides the opportunity for a comparative study of technological change related to the innovation of a single material among socio-politically diverse groups of hunter-gatherers. A collaborative interdisciplinary team with backgrounds in northern archaeology and ethnography, geology, and materials science will undertake a three-year program of research investigating native copper innovation, and its relationship to emergent social complexity (i.e., the development of hereditary rank), among northwest North American hunter-gatherers. Naturally occurring pure native copper was used by indigenous groups throughout the region for tools, weapons, and objects of personal adornment. This latter use has been traditionally viewed by archaeologists as attempts to display wealth using prestige goods (prestige technology) and as a result, and similar to discussions of prehistoric metallurgy in general, the use of native copper in these regions has been associated with emergent social complexity. Intra- and inter-regional spatial analysis of sources and artifacts, compositional analysis of artifacts in museum collections, detailed experimental studies of copper-working manufacturing, and oral history collected in collaboration with the Ahtna community, will provide quantitative and qualitative data on native copper innovation. These data will be integrated using a design theory framework that will provide a holistic multi-scalar understanding of the benefits and constraints associated with the adoption of this technology by hunter-gatherers in different social and environmental contexts. Though focused on innovation surrounding the use of a specific material among hunter-gatherers, this project will contribute to more general anthropological discussions of innovation and will generate data for use in developing models of technological innovation for future testing. Additionally, the project includes significant opportunities for interdisciplinary graduate and undergraduate education, training, and hands-on research, and opportunities for multi-generational engagement with the Ahtna community.