Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: MISSISSIPPIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH

博士论文改进补助金：密西西比考古学研究

• 批准号: 1339216
• 负责人: Robin Beck
• 金额: $ 1.45万
• 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: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-06-15 至 2014-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1339216&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; MISSISSIPPIAN

When the first Europeans explored deep into the interior of the present-day American South, they traveled among and interacted with several groups of Native Americans who shared a culture that archaeologists refer to as "Mississippian." It was roughly 500 years earlier in the American Bottom region of southwestern Illinois, a rich stretch of floodplain of the Mississippi River near the city of Saint Louis, where Mississippian culture first developed. The American Bottom is home to the famous archaeological site of Cahokia, a U.S. National Historic Landmark and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Between the 11th- and 12th-centuries AD Cahokia grew into the largest and most complex pre-Columbian town in what is now the United States. Supported in large part by an increasing economic focus on maize agriculture, the actions of Cahokians and their neighbors ushered in new forms of social, political, and economic complexity that would help shape the histories of Native groups in the U.S. Midwest and South for centuries to come. Under the direction Dr. Robin Beck, PhD candidate Casey Barrier will continue research that provides new information about early Mississippian developments in the American Bottom. Barrier's work at the archaeological site of Washausen in Monroe County, Illinois, has demonstrated that the inhabitants of this site constructed one of the earliest Mississippian towns in the region. Located approximately 24 miles south of Cahokia, the town of Washausen was constructed during the 10th- and 11th-centuries AD. Unlike Cahokia, Washausen was occupied for only a handful of generations. Because of this, the archaeological remains preserved at the site provide a unique historical "snapshot" in time that portrays local ways of life during the critical period of initial Mississippian cultural developments. Barrier's research at Washausen has integrated high-tech, geophysical survey methodologies and archaeological excavations that has produced data showing the locations of distinct residential neighborhoods, public courtyards, and a central public plaza and monumental earthen mounds. During these excavations, both undergraduate and graduate students were able to be trained in current archaeological field methodologies. This research will allow Barrier to continue collaborations with scientific specialists to provide new information about the earliest Mississippian societies. Excavations at Washausen produced well-preserved archaeological remains that will be analyzed to address research questions about new forms of social and political-economic relations, the composition of residential neighborhoods, the reliance on maize agriculture and locally available animal and plant foods, the historical importance of large-scale public festivals, and Washausen's interactions with their Cahokian neighbors. Specifically, paleobotanical, zooarchaeological, and soil mircomorphological analyses will produce rich, comparative datasets for this site and region. Coupled with better chronological controls afforded by radiocarbon dating of recovered organic remains from secure archaeological deposits, these analyses will provide significant new insights about the historical transformations that took place at one of the earliest Mississippian towns in the Americas. The results of this dissertation research will be presented in subsequent publications, and will be of significance to other Mississippian researchers, as well as scholars working on similar research questions about complex societies in other world regions. These results will also be presented publicly to audiences at academic conferences, but also at lectures for the public. Barrier will continue training undergraduate students in the laboratory, and provide them opportunities to collaborate with other scientific specialists.

当第一批欧洲人深入探索当今美国南部的内陆地区时，他们在几个美洲原住民群体中旅行并与之互动，这些群体拥有考古学家称之为“密西西比文化”的文化。 大约 500 年前，发生在伊利诺伊州西南部的美国博特姆地区，这里是圣路易斯市附近密西西比河上一片富饶的漫滩，也是密西西比文化最初发展的地方。 美国底部是著名的卡霍基亚考古遗址的所在地，卡霍基亚考古遗址是美国国家历史地标和联合国教科文组织世界遗产。 公元 11 世纪和 12 世纪之间，卡霍基亚发展成为现今美国最大、最复杂的前哥伦布时期城镇。 在很大程度上受到经济对玉米农业日益关注的支持，卡霍基人和他们的邻居的行动带来了新形式的社会、政治和经济复杂性，这将有助于塑造美国中西部和南部土著群体未来几个世纪的历史。 在罗宾·贝克博士的指导下，博士候选人凯西·巴里尔将继续进行研究，提供有关美国底层密西西比早期发展的新信息。 巴里尔在伊利诺伊州门罗县瓦豪森考古遗址的工作表明，该遗址的居民建造了该地区最早的密西西比城镇之一。 瓦豪森镇位于卡霍基亚以南约 24 英里处，建于公元 10 世纪和 11 世纪。 与卡霍基亚不同的是，瓦豪森仅被占领了几代人。 正因为如此，该遗址保存的考古遗迹提供了一幅独特的历史“快照”，描绘了密西西比文化最初发展的关键时期当地的生活方式。 巴里尔在瓦豪森的研究整合了高科技、地球物理调查方法和考古发掘，产生的数据显示了不同住宅区、公共庭院、中央公共广场和纪念性土丘的位置。 在这些发掘过程中，本科生和研究生都能够接受当前考古现场方法的培训。 这项研究将使巴里尔能够继续与科学专家合作，提供有关最早的密西西比社会的新信息。 瓦豪森的发掘工作产生了保存完好的考古遗迹，将对其进行分析，以解决有关新形式的社会和政治经济关系、居民区的组成、对玉米农业和当地动植物食品的依赖、大型公共节日的历史重要性以及瓦豪森与卡霍基邻居的互动等研究问题。 具体来说，古植物学、动物考古学和土壤微观形态分析将为该地点和地区提供丰富的比较数据集。 再加上对从安全考古矿藏中回收的有机遗骸进行放射性碳测年所提供的更好的年代控制，这些分析将为美洲最早的密西西比城镇之一所发生的历史转变提供重要的新见解。 本论文的研究结果将在后续出版物中发表，对于密西西比州的其他研究人员以及世界其他地区复杂社会的类似研究问题的学者具有重要意义。 这些结果还将在学术会议上向公众公开展示，也会在公众讲座中公开展示。 Barrier将继续在实验室培训本科生，并为他们提供与其他科学专家合作的机会。