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

这个REU网站将本科生融入研究，重点是重建天使土丘，一个栅栏密西西比州的小镇位于俄亥俄州河的环境，文化和时间景观。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的重要领域和实验室培训，包括：挖掘，遥感，动手使用仪器，现代实验室分析，以及结果的汇编和传播，2）有机会建立队列和专业网络，将在他们的整个职业生涯，（三）参与具有地区和历史意义的项目的机会。该项目将通过形成性和总结性评估进行评估。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。智力优势：天使土丘是一个国家历史地标，在中西部的史前社会政治和人口动态中占有突出地位。该遗址是俄亥俄州山谷中密西西比河最上游的城镇，就像它在黑底的姐妹遗址金凯德和在美国底的卡霍基亚一样，它的定居点是该地区的一次重大社会政治和人口重组。与其他遗址不同的是，它的年代、发展历史以及在当地定居点和生态系统中的位置鲜为人知。使用多学科的方法和教学，REU本科生将接受培训，以研究周围的景观，环境变化的人为改造问题在中世纪温暖和小冰期，以及战争和人口的地方和区域模式。由于天使土丘的大部分挖掘都发生在WPA时代，因此一些空白也将通过重新分析GBL的遗产藏品来填补。此外，还将利用有针对性的地球物理调查、固体土取芯和有选择的新挖掘，对较早收集的、不太严格的数据进行背景分析和现代化改造。学生进行这些调查，通过直接研究作为REU网站的一部分。通过对遗址和区域的历史发展和演变的分析，探讨了遗址和区域的发展和演变过程：1）遗址和区域的古环境重建; 2）栅栏建造的时间和关系;邻里关系在现场，以确定其与中世纪温暖时期的定居点增长和小冰河时期的村庄遗弃的时间关联。从这个角度来看，拟议项目同时解决了天使土丘的景观和建筑环境。REU学生参与项目的每个阶段，从研究设计和数据收集到实验室分析，档案研究和解释。更广泛的影响：考古学研究已经从典型的多年现场检查发展到更有针对性的研究项目，其中包括精炼的问题和建立在积累的知识基础上的多学科研究团队。天使土丘REU创造了这样一个研究环境。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申请该计划。鉴于美洲原住民在考古学中的代表性不足，通过现存的基于IUPUI的关系，积极招募后代社区的学生。通过旋转现场项目，旨在回答特定问题和对现存藏品的重新分析，Angel土丘REU为学生准备了同时依靠传统和最先进的领域和实验室方法的目标项目。预计项目参与者将在会议上介绍他们的研究项目的结果，如中西部考古会议（MAC）。学生还将在调查报告（GBL-ROI）系列中发表他们的研究报告。

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.