Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Interaction, Tradition, and Middle Woodland Monumentality at Garden Creek, North Carolina

博士论文改进补助金：北卡罗来纳州花园溪的互动、传统和中部林地纪念性

• 批准号: 1225872
• 负责人: Robin Beck
• 金额: $ 2.52万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-06-01 至 2014-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1225872&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Interaction

Roughly 2000 to 1500 years ago, the southern Appalachian Mountains marked the edges of two spheres of indigenous culture contact and exchange: Hopewell, centered in the Midwest, and the Kolomoki pattern of platform mound ceremonialism, concentrated in the Deep South. Under the direction of her advisor, Dr. Robin Beck, dissertation student Alice Wright will examine the relationships between these interaction spheres and the emergence of monumental architecture at the Middle Woodland period (ca. 300 BC - AD 800) Garden Creek site in western North Carolina. Since monuments are well-known archaeological signposts of novel social, political, and religious institutions, Ms. Wright's research stands to clarify how interactions among far-flung egalitarian communities contributed to profound cultural changes in the pre-Columbian Eastern Woodlands. Garden Creek includes significant archaeological deposits that pre-date and coincide with the construction of earthen mounds and enclosures, as well as large assemblages of local and non-local artifacts, providing an ideal case study for evaluating the roles of both local traditions and non-local influences in shaping unprecedented monument construction. To date, Ms. Wright's research at Garden Creek has involved the re-analysis of large but unpublished artifact collections from the 1965 excavations of Garden Creek Mound No. 2 and five months of fieldwork (2011-2012) targeting areas around the mound. Preliminary analyses of these datasets have focused on evidence for continuity and change in the spatial organization of activities, food production and consumption, and craft production. In this award, several monumental and non-monumental contexts will be radiocarbon dated to link such changes to the history of monument construction at the site. Several stratified features will be examined micromorphologically to clarify the nature and timing of the activities that generated them. Ms. Wright will also coordinate macrobotanical and geoarchaeological (Fourier transform infrared microscopic) analyses by specialists to further refine observations regarding foodways and possible feasting associated with monumentality. Finally, several non-invasive geophysical survey techniques (magnetometry, magnetic susceptibility, ground penetrating radar) will be employed to map the extent of the site and to generate an incomparable view of its monuments and surrounding built environment. The results of this research will form the basis of Wright's dissertation and subsequent publications, and will elucidate the relationships among cross-cultural interactions, monuments, and historical change in ancient Eastern North America (and in comparative case studies worldwide). The project will have broader impacts on the local community that presently inhabits the site and its surroundings, as well as on the non-renewable archaeological resources of western North Carolina. Ms. Wright has worked closely with local residents, the Canton Area Historical Museum, archaeologists at the National Forests of North Carolina, and several regional universities to foster archaeological engagement and stewardship. By developing a museum exhibit on Garden Creek, maintaining a regularly updated blog to report recent findings, hosting a public archaeology day at the site, and presenting talks to local schools and historical societies, the project actively encourages local interest and enthusiasm for archaeological research, essential for insuring the preservation of archaeological resources in the rapidly developing portions of western North Carolina.

大约2000年至1500年前，阿巴拉契亚山脉南部标志着土著文化接触和交流的两个领域的边缘：霍普韦尔，集中在中西部，以及平台土墩仪式主义的科洛莫基模式，集中在南方腹地。在她的导师罗宾·贝克博士的指导下，论文学生爱丽丝·赖特将研究这些互动领域与中林地时期纪念性建筑的出现之间的关系。（公元前300年-公元800年）北卡罗来纳州西部的花园溪遗址。由于纪念碑是著名的新的社会，政治和宗教机构的考古路标，赖特女士的研究站在澄清如何遥远的平等主义社区之间的相互作用，有助于在前哥伦布东部林地深刻的文化变革。花园溪包括重要的考古沉积物，这些沉积物早于土丘和围栏的建造，并与土丘和围栏的建造相吻合，以及当地和非当地文物的大型组合，为评估当地传统和非当地影响在塑造前所未有的纪念碑建设中的作用提供了理想的案例研究。迄今为止，Wright女士在Garden Creek的研究涉及对1965年Garden Creek Mound 2号发掘的大型但未发表的文物藏品进行重新分析，以及针对土墩周围地区进行的为期五个月的实地考察（2011-2012）。对这些数据集的初步分析侧重于活动、粮食生产和消费以及手工艺生产的空间组织的连续性和变化的证据。在这个奖项中，几个纪念性和非纪念性的背景将被放射性碳测年，以将这些变化与遗址的纪念碑建设历史联系起来。几个分层的功能将进行检查微观形态，以澄清的性质和时间的活动，产生他们。Wright女士还将协调专家进行的宏观植物学和地质考古学（傅立叶变换红外显微镜）分析，以进一步完善对食物通道和与纪念碑相关的可能盛宴的观察。最后，将采用几种非侵入性地球物理调查技术（磁力测量、磁化率、探地雷达）来绘制遗址范围的地图，并生成其古迹和周围建筑环境的无与伦比的视图。这项研究的结果将形成赖特的论文和随后的出版物的基础上，并将阐明跨文化的互动，古迹和历史变化之间的关系在古代北美东部（和全球范围内的比较案例研究）。 该项目将对目前居住在该遗址及其周边地区的当地社区以及北卡罗来纳州西部的不可再生考古资源产生更广泛的影响。赖特女士与当地居民、坎顿地区历史博物馆、北卡罗来纳州国家森林的考古学家以及几所地区大学密切合作，以促进考古参与和管理。通过在花园溪上开发博物馆展览，保持定期更新的博客以报告最新发现，在现场举办公共考古日，并向当地学校和历史学会发表演讲，该项目积极鼓励当地对考古研究的兴趣和热情，这对于确保北卡罗来纳州西部快速发展部分的考古资源保护至关重要。