Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Cultural Ecology of Muskogee Mound Landscapes

博士论文研究：马斯科吉土丘景观的文化生态

• 批准号: 1528653
• 负责人: Jeffrey Hantman
• 金额: $ 1.51万
• 依托单位: University of Virginia Main Campus
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-07-01 至 2016-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1528653&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Cultural; Ecology

Around the globe, ancient monuments represent collective (local, ethnic, religious, and national) histories and identities. Under the best circumstances, international, national, and local efforts come together to preserve historical architecture, landscapes, and artifacts. However, recent events, ranging from the destruction of antiquities in the Middle East, to UNESCO's offer to moderate conflicts over the ownership of the Parthenon Marbles, to federal legislation regulating the treatment and repatriation of ancestral Native American human remains and artifacts, demonstrate that material heritage can also be the subject of conflict. Monuments and antiquities, the source and representation of memory and history, take many forms and convey different meanings to different audiences: they may analyzed by scientists, visited by tourists, or revered as sacred places by descendant communities. There are also many ways to write the history and significance of such monuments. However, Indigenous oral histories and cultural perspectives on constructions built by their ancestor have been given little priority or attention in either analysis or interpretation. The research supported by this award addresses the question of what might be gained when descendent communities are included in interpreting ancient places and their meanings. Would it enrich their value for researchers and for the public -- and if so, how does this come about?To address these questions, University of Virginia doctoral student, Lee Bloch, supervised by Dr. Jeffrey L. Hantman, will undertake field research in the eastern United States. The southern part of this region is notable for the continuing presence of very visible but also quite ancient earthen temple mounds, effigy mounds, and burial mounds constructed largely between c. 3500 BCE and 1600 CE by the ancestors of contemporary Native Americans. Although many mound sites were destroyed over the past few centuries, a large number are now protected by federal and state preservation law. The researcher will focus on the mounds in one Muskogee (Creek) tribal town in northern Florida. Using an ethnographic methodology, he will collect data on how community members maintain and interpret histories related to mound sites in five ongoing contexts: pilgrimages to mound sites, recitations of oral traditions, performances of ceremonial practices and dances, apprenticeships with ceremonial leaders and specialists, and community discussions about cosmological knowledge. The investigator hypothesizes that these expressive performances, which could be missed by outsider analysis, may in fact be key elements of what the mounds are and that paying attention to aesthetic principles of these performances may enhance understanding of mound landscapes and artifacts. Findings from this research may further scientific and cultural understanding of Native American history and cultures, as well as how all communities are both affected by and affect the materiality of their landscapes.

在全球范围内，古代纪念碑代表着集体(地方、种族、宗教和国家)的历史和身份。在最好的情况下，国际、国家和地方共同努力保护历史建筑、风景和文物。然而，最近发生的事件，从破坏中东的古迹，到教科文组织提出缓和帕台农神庙大理石的所有权冲突，再到管理对待和送回美洲土著祖先遗骸和文物的联邦立法，都表明物质遗产也可能成为冲突的主题。古迹和古物是记忆和历史的来源和代表，有多种形式，并向不同的受众传达不同的含义：它们可能被科学家分析，可能被游客参观，或者被后代社区尊崇为圣地。写这些纪念碑的历史和意义的方法也有很多种。然而，土著口述历史和关于其祖先建造的建筑的文化视角在分析或解释中几乎没有得到优先考虑或关注。该奖项支持的研究解决了这样一个问题，即当后代社区被包括在解释古代地方及其意义时，可能会获得什么。它会增加研究人员和公众的价值吗？如果是这样的话，这是如何实现的？为了解决这些问题，弗吉尼亚大学的博士生李·布洛赫将在杰弗里·L·汉特曼博士的指导下，在美国东部进行实地研究。这一地区的南部以持续存在非常明显但也相当古老的土制寺庙土丘、雕像土丘和墓葬土丘而闻名，主要是由当代美洲原住民的祖先在公元前3500年至1600年之间建造的。尽管许多丘陵遗址在过去的几个世纪里被摧毁了，但现在有大量的遗址受到联邦和州保护法的保护。研究人员将重点研究佛罗里达州北部一个马斯科吉(克里克)部落城镇的土堆。使用人种学方法，他将收集关于社区成员如何在五个持续的背景下保持和解释与丘陵遗址有关的历史的数据：前往丘陵遗址朝圣、口述传统的朗诵、仪式实践和舞蹈的表演、与仪式领导人和专家的学徒活动以及关于宇宙知识的社区讨论。调查人员假设，这些外人分析可能会遗漏的富有表现力的表演，实际上可能是土丘是什么的关键要素，关注这些表演的美学原理可能会增进对土丘景观和文物的理解。这项研究的发现可能会进一步加深对美洲原住民历史和文化的科学和文化理解，以及所有社区如何受到其景观物质的影响和影响。