REU Site: Multidisciplinary Training for Students in Environmental and Social Sciences through Archaeological Research

这个REU网站将本科生纳入到专注于重建天使丘的环境、文化和时间景观的研究中，天使丘是位于俄亥俄河上的一个有栅栏的密西西比州小镇。REU的目标是为学生提供1)考古学、地质考古学、地球化学和地球物理学方面的重要实地和实验室培训，包括：挖掘、遥感、动手使用仪器、现代实验室分析以及成果的收集和传播；2)有机会建立将在他们的整个职业生涯中服务的队列和专业网络，以及3)有机会参与具有地区和历史意义的项目。该项目将通过形成性和终结性评估进行评估。长期的成功将通过项目后指导和跟踪REU校友的专业参与来衡量。智力价值：天使丘是一个国家历史地标，在中西部史前晚期的社会政治和人口动态中发挥了突出作用。该遗址是俄亥俄河谷最上游的密西西比州城镇，就像黑底的Kincaid和美国底部的Cahokia一样，它的定居点是该地区一次重大的社会政治和人口重组。与其他遗址不同，人们对它的年表、发展历史以及在当地聚落和生态系统中的位置了解得较少。使用多学科方法和教学，REU本科生将接受培训，研究围绕景观的人为变化、中世纪温暖和小冰河时期的环境变化，以及当地和地区的战争和人口学模式。由于天使丘的大部分挖掘都发生在WPA时代，一些空白也将通过对GBL策划的遗产收藏品的重新分析来填补。此外，还将使用有针对性的地球物理调查、固体地球取心和有选择的新挖掘，以使以前收集的不那么严格的数据具有背景意义并使之现代化。作为REU网站的一部分，学生通过定向研究进行这些调查。通过1)土方施工阶段，2)区域古环境重建，3)栅栏建设的时间和关系，4)发现的邻里？在现场，以确定它们与中世纪温暖时期的定居点增长和小冰期村庄被遗弃的时间顺序的联系。从这个角度来看，拟议的项目同时解决了天使丘的景观和建筑环境。REU的学生参与了项目的每个阶段，从研究设计和数据收集到实验室分析、档案研究和解释。广泛的影响：考古研究已经从典型的多年现场考试演变为更有针对性的研究项目，具有精细化的问题和建立在积累的知识基础上的多学科研究团队。天使丘REU创造了这样的研究环境。来自自然科学和社会科学以及STEM研究机会有限的机构的有才华的学生被积极招募并鼓励他们申请该项目。考虑到美国原住民在考古学中的代表性不足，从后代社区招募学生的工作积极地通过现有的、基于IUPUI的关系进行。通过设计轮流的现场项目来回答特定的问题和对现有收藏品的重新分析，天使丘REU准备学生进行有针对性的项目，同时依赖于传统和最新的领域和实验室方法。预计项目参与者将在中西部考古会议(MAC)等会议上展示他们的研究项目的成果。学生还将在调查报告(GBL-ROI)系列中发布他们的研究报告。

This REU site integrates undergraduates into research focused on reconstructing the environmental, cultural and temporal landscapes of Angel Mounds, a palisaded Mississippian town located on the Ohio River. The REU objectives are to provide students with 1) significant field and laboratory training in archaeology, geoarchaeology, geochemistry and geophysics, including: excavation, remote sensing, hands-on use of instruments, modern laboratory analyses, and the assembly and dissemination of results, 2) an opportunity to build cohort and professional networks that will serve them throughout their careers, and 3) an opportunity to participate in a project of regional and historical significance. The project will be evaluated by formative and summative assessments. Long-term success will be measured with post-program mentoring and tracking of the professional engagement of REU alumni.Intellectual Merit: Angel Mounds is a National Historic Landmark that figured prominently in the late prehistoric socio-political and population dynamics of the Midwest. The site is the furthest upstream Mississippian town in the Ohio Valley and, like its sister sites Kincaid in the Black Bottom and Cahokia in the American Bottom, its settlement was a major socio-political and population reorganization for the area. Unlike these other sites, its chronology, developmental history, and place within the local settlement and ecological systems are less well understood. Using multidisciplinary methods and instruction, REU undergraduates will be trained to examine questions surrounding anthropogenic transformation of the landscape, environmental change during the Medieval Warm and Little Ice Age, and local and regional patterns of warfare and demography. Because most excavation at Angel Mounds occurred during the WPA-era, some gaps will also be filled via reanalysis of legacy collections curated at the GBL. In addition, targeted geophysical survey, solid-earth coring and selective new excavation will be used to contextualize and modernize the earlier, less rigorously collected data. Students undertake these investigations through directed research as part of the REU Site. The development and evolution of the site and region are examined through: 1) earthwork construction episodes, 2) paleoenvironmental reconstruction for region, 3) the timing and relationship of palisade construction, and 4) the excavation of detected ?neighborhoods? on site to determine their chronological association with settlement growth during the Medieval Warm and village abandonment during the Little Ice Age. From this perspective, the proposed project simultaneously addresses the landscape and built environment of Angel Mounds. The REU students participate in every phase of the project from research design and data collection to laboratory analyses, archival research, and interpretation.Broader Impacts: Archaeological research has evolved from the prototypical multiyear site exams to more targeted research projects with refined questions and multidisciplinary research teams that build upon the accumulated body of knowledge. The Angel Mounds REU creates such a research environment. Talented students from the natural and social sciences and institutions with limited STEM research opportunities are actively recruited and encouraged to apply to the program. Given the underrepresentation of Native Americans in archaeology, recruitment of students from descendant communities are actively pursued through extant, IUPUI-based relationships. With rotating on-site projects designed to answer specific questions and the reanalysis of extant collections, the Angel Mounds REU prepares students to conduct targeted projects that rely simultaneously on traditional and state of the art field and laboratory methods. Project participants are expected to present the results of their research projects at conferences, such as Midwest Archaeological Conference (MAC). Students will also publish their research reports in the Report of Investigations (GBL-ROI) series.