Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Initiation and Maintenance of the Early Woodland Interaction Sphere: A Multiscalar Analysis of Northeastern Mortuary Sites

人类社会中社会和政治复杂性的出现目前是考古学研究的一个中心领域，部分原因是对这些过程的理解具有超出人类学和其他社会科学领域的含义。长期以来，社会群体对农业的采用和人口密度的增加经常被认为是复杂性产生的核心因素。然而，另一些人认为，参与群体之间持续的、远距离的物资交换在某些情况下可能是社会和政治变革的形成性催化剂。然而，通常，这些转变过程是通过时间回溯和使用“复杂”社会作为起点来检查的。在Hetty Jo Brumbach博士的指导下，纽约州立大学奥尔巴尼分校的Francis Robinson将探索促进土著群体之间区域间互动的条件和机制，这些土著群体被大多数人认为是狩猎-采集-捕鱼者，或者可能是有限的园艺学家。具体来说，他将专注于早期林地相互作用圈的一个节点，大约3000 - 2000年前，在北美东北部。为了做到这一点，他将检查八个先前挖掘的早期林地墓地的结构和内容，这些墓地位于西部哈德逊河和东部康涅狄格河之间。通过在多个尺度上分析和比较墓葬和墓地的结构，以及埋葬在其中的文物的起源和形式，他将测试一系列关于这些群体参与互动领域的原因的假设，以及这些群体参与的社会和政治含义。这项研究代表了一个重要的案例研究，启动了社会复杂性的第一步，以及这些最初步骤的脆弱本质。事实上，在早期林地互动圈的参与群体中，只有少数最终形成了持久的复杂社会和政治结构，至少在一千年后大规模农业出现之前是这样。拟议研究的一个更基本但仍然重要的方面是对上述地点进行彻底的核算和分析。它们可以说是北美东北部最重要的，但迄今为止记录很少的印第安人殡仪馆。正确地记录它们将使东北地区被视为更广泛的早期林地相互作用领域的积极参与者，并且来自这些分析的原始数据将在未来供研究人员使用。该项目的结果将在这些站点所在地区（包括纽约州北部、康涅狄格州和佛蒙特州）的同行评审出版物以及学术和一般公共讲座中传播。此外，与西部阿本纳基人的圣弗朗西斯/索科基部落的April St. Francis和莫希干人的斯托克布里奇/芒西部落历史保护官员Sherry White就这项研究进行了讨论，这可能会导致合作讲座、讨论，甚至可能为他们各自的社区出版出版物。

The emergence of social and political complexity in human societies is currently a central area of research in archaeology, partly because an understanding of these processes has implications beyond the realms of anthropology and the other social sciences. The adoption of agriculture by social groups and an increase in population densities have long and often been cited as central factors in the initiation of complexity. Yet, others have suggested that the sustained, long-distance exchange of goods and materials between participating groups may in some cases represent an even more formative catalyst for social and political change. Often, however, these processes of transformation are examined working back through time and using 'complex' societies as a starting point. Under the guidance of Dr. Hetty Jo Brumbach, Francis Robinson of the University at Albany- SUNY will explore the conditions and mechanisms that fostered the emergence of an interregional sphere of interaction among Native groups that are considered by most to have been hunter-gatherer-fishers or perhaps limited horticulturalists. Specifically, he will focus on one node of the Early Woodland Interaction Sphere, ca. 3,000-2,000 cal yr BP, in Northeastern North America. To do this, he will examine the structure and content of eight previously excavated Early Woodland cemeteries located between the Hudson River on the west and the Connecticut River on the east. By analyzing and comparing the structure of burials and cemeteries and the origin and form of the artifacts interred within them at multiple scales he will test a series of hypotheses about the reasons for these groups' participation in the interaction sphere, and the social and political implications of these groups' participation. This research represents an important case study in the processes that initiate the first steps toward social complexity, and the tenuous nature of these initial steps. Indeed, among the participating groups in the Early Woodland Interaction Sphere, only a few ultimately ended up forming enduring complex social and political structures, at least until the emergence of large-scale agriculture over a millennium later. A more fundamental but nonetheless important aspect of the proposed research is a thorough accounting and analysis of the sites outlined above. They are arguably some of the most important, but heretofore poorly documented Native American mortuary sites in Northeastern North America. Properly documenting them will allow the Northeastern region to be seen as an active participant in the broader Early Woodland Interaction Sphere, and the raw data from these analyses will be available for researchers in the future. The results of this project will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications and both scholarly and general public lectures in the areas where these sites are located, including upstate New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. Moreover, discussions with April St. Francis of the St. Francis/Sokoki band of the Western Abenaki and Sherry White, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) of Stockbridge/Munsee band of the Mohican, have taken place related to this research, which may result in collaborative lectures, discussions, and perhaps publications for their respective communities.