Social Network Analysis And The Reconstruction Of Past Events

社会科学家需要更好地了解在多个尺度上的社会互动导致社区和社会等更大社会群体的出现和融合的过程。这些过程并不局限于现代社会，在史前背景下研究它们可以加深对这些过程的理解。马克·A·希尔博士、凯文·C·诺兰博士和马克·F·西曼博士试图了解史前群体的社会世界，这些群体通常被称为“俄亥俄霍普韦尔”。霍普韦尔(约公元50年-公元350年)一个多世纪以来一直吸引着学者和公众。这项研究应用社会网络分析(SNA)来发现互动的不同规模和性质，这将允许重建俄亥俄州霍普韦尔可变群体成员的结构。这不仅有助于了解史前的广泛情况和塑造过去的特定社会现实，而且还将更好地了解人类社会群体的总体融合。没有一个人是“霍普韦尔”的；许多与霍普韦尔有联系的群体的特点是不同程度地参与各种信息和商品交换网络。除非应用明确且可靠的分类和分析方法来理解社交互动和整合，否则研究人员将无法掌握每个覆盖网络的复杂性、细节和意义。SNA已成功地用于世界各地的人种学和考古学研究，现在是开始解开形成俄亥俄州霍普韦尔的复杂网络的最合适的工具。SNA为重建群体之间的联系提供了一套强有力和客观的量化方法，它在这里的应用将是该区域的第一个，也是北美东部的第一个。这项研究假设，属于“俄亥俄霍普韦尔”原则的是一系列分散的家庭集群，它们选择在一些相关但不同的规模上可变地参与网络。俄亥俄州霍普韦尔的许多分类已经被提出，然而，还没有一致的或可复制的网络分类方法或结论。作为第一步，研究重点是俄亥俄州中南部肖托河分水岭内的俄亥俄州霍普韦尔社区。该项目通过微观和宏观风格属性的结合以及原材料来源分析，分析了相互作用的三个明确的空间尺度。(1)地方/社区一级以一系列陶瓷生产特征为目标，这些特征将通过文化和学徒制度学习，但不容易为外人所见(微型式)。(2)通过分析外部可观察(宏观风格)、可在社区间传播的石材原料比例和陶瓷器皿元素的分布，以区域/社区间层面为目标。(3)区域外相互作用的目标是通过激光烧蚀电感耦合等离子体质谱获取稀有的外来物质(铜、银)。在每个尺度上都会有模式(并且可能有很多模式)。通过这种多标量的方法，该项目将构建一个详细的图景，说明更大的俄亥俄州霍普韦尔网络是如何由家庭和社区自下而上地构建的。

Social scientists need to better understand the processes through which social interactions at multiple scales lead to the emergence and integration of larger social groups such as communities and societies. These processes are not limited to modern societies, and studying them in prehistoric contexts adds a deeper understanding of these processes. Drs. Mark A. Hill, Kevin C. Nolan, and Mark F. Seeman seek to understand the social world of prehistoric groups commonly referred to as "Ohio Hopewell." Hopewell (ca. 50 AD-350 AD) has captivated scholars and the public alike for over a century. This study applies Social Network Analysis (SNA) to discover the differing scales and nature of interaction that will allow a reconstruction of the texture of variable group membership in Ohio Hopewell. This will not only help to understand the broad sweep of prehistory and the specific social realities that molded the past, but will also provide a better understanding of the integration of human social groups in general.There is no one "Hopewell"; the many Hopewell-linked groups are characterized by variable participation in a variety of information and goods exchange networks. Until explicit and robust methods of classification and analysis are applied to understanding social interaction and integration, researchers will be unable to grasp the complexity, detail, and meaning of each overlying network. SNA has been successfully used in ethnographic and archaeological research around the world, and is now the most appropriate tool for beginning to disentangle the complex web that forms Ohio Hopewell. SNA offers a robust and objective set of quantitative methods for reconstructing connections among groups and its application here will be the first in the region, and among the first in eastern North America. This study, assumes that what falls under the "Ohio Hopewell" rubric is a series of dispersed family clusters choosing to participate variably in networks at a number of related, but distinct scales. Many divisions of Ohio Hopewell have been proposed; however, there has been no consistent or replicated method or conclusion of network classification. As a first step, the research focuses on Ohio Hopewell communities within the Scioto River watershed of southcentral Ohio. The project analyzes three explicit spatial scales of interaction through a combination of micro- and macro-stylistic attributes, and raw material source analysis. (1) The local/community level is targeted by a series of ceramic production traits which would be learned through enculturation and apprenticeships but not readily visible to outsiders (micro-style). (2) The regional/intercommunity level is targeted by analyzing the distribution of lithic raw material proportions and ceramic vessel elements that are externally observable (macro-style) and can be transmitted among communities. (3) The extra-regional scale of interaction is targeted by the sourcing of rare exotic materials (copper, silver) via Laser Ablation Inductively Couple Plasma Mass Spectrometry.There will be patterns (and potentially many) at each scale. With this multi-scalar approach, the project will build a detailed picture of how the larger Ohio Hopewell networks are constructed from the bottom up, by families and communities.