Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Long Term Interactions Between Social Organization And Land Use Practices

博士论文学生艾琳·麦克唐纳，在共同pi博士蒂莫西·切夫拉尔的监督下，将确定在生存实践的转变，并检查生存和社会政治组织之间的关系，从青铜时代晚期到中世纪早期在爱尔兰。近年来，世界各地的考古学家重新开启了关于过去社会组织方式的辩论，质疑所有史前统治者在高度等级社会中拥有强大的自上而下权力的假设的有效性。麦克唐纳将使用史前和早期历史爱尔兰作为案例研究，通过分析相关时期考古遗址附近沼泽的花粉来评估这些关系：青铜时代晚期（公元前11世纪至公元前9世纪）、铁器时代（公元前9世纪至公元前5世纪）和中世纪早期（公元前5世纪后）。今天在发展中世界的许多地区，集中的政治权力是有限的，社会秩序是通过跨越等级权力结构的谈判来维持的。这项研究有可能让我们深入了解这一过程是如何随着时间的推移而发挥作用的。与早期和后期相比，铁器时代在精英公民仪式场所的仪式活动达到了不同寻常的高峰，金属生产、获取和贸易的证据也越来越多，所有这些都表明了重大的社会政治重组。铁器时代的复杂政治是许多早期中世纪爱尔兰传奇故事的焦点，但由于除了政治和仪式中心之外缺乏考古遗址，人们对铁器时代的现实知之甚少。在20世纪末爱尔兰经济繁荣时期，已知的铁器时代定居点的数量有所增加，但人们对当时社会的运作方式知之甚少。政治中心活动的高峰和间歇是否与农牧社区工作量和努力的增加并行？如果是这样，农民可能会被要求生产更多的贡品或税收来支持精英。如果不是这样，政府的影响力就没有人们通常认为的那么大。如果有相似之处，那么改变的方向和时机就很重要。人们通常认为统治者要求增加产量，但也有可能是农民原有的生产力使精英阶层得以崛起。为了弥补考古学知识上的空白，这些研究问题是通过分析古代花粉来解决的，这些花粉来自考古遗址附近的分层、可测定数据的岩心。花粉粒，抗腐烂，不断积累在爱尔兰中部泥炭沼泽，保存了很长的时间顺序。麦克唐纳是一位训练有素的孢粉学家，他将通过高倍显微镜确定花粉的类型和频率，并通过植物大化石的年代学和AMS 14C定年法确定样品的年代。由此产生的数据可以重建气候、环境条件，以及与每个定居点的作物种植和牧场相关的植物的增减。除了政府和纳税人之间的关系信息外，该项目还将针对中小学生制作一系列课堂教学计划和YouTube视频，介绍考古方法和过去的文化，提高科学、社会、数学、语言艺术的能力。

Doctoral dissertation student Erin McDonald, under the supervision of co-PI Dr. Timothy Chevral, will identify shifts in subsistence practices and examine the relationship between subsistence and socio-political organization from the Late Bronze Age to the Early Medieval Period in Ireland. In recent years, archaeologists world-wide have re-opened the debate on how past societies were organized, questioning the validity of assuming that all prehistoric rulers had robust top-down powers within highly hierarchic societies. McDonald, using prehistoric and early historic Ireland as a case study, will assess these relationships through analysis of pollen from bogs near archaeological sites from relevant periods: the Late Bronze Age (11th to 9th centuries BCE), Iron Age (9th cent. BCE to 5th cent. CE), and Early Medieval Period (post 5th cent. CE). In many regions of the developing world today centralized political power is limited and social order is maintained through negotiation across a hierarchical power structure. This research has the potential to provide insight into how such a process functioned across time.In comparison with earlier and later periods, the Iron Age saw unusual peaks in ritual activity at elite civic-ceremonial sites, and increased evidence for metal production, acquisition and trade, all suggesting major socio-political reorganization. The complex politics of the Iron Age are the focus of many Early Medieval Irish sagas, yet the reality of the Iron Age is poorly understood due to a lack of archaeological sites other than political and ceremonial hubs. The number of known Iron Age settlements expanded during the late 20th century Irish economic boom, yet little is understood about how the society worked. Were peaks and lulls in activity at political centers paralleled by increases in workload and effort in farming and herding communities? If so, farmers might have been called to produce more for tribute or taxes to support an elite. If not, the reach of government was less than is often assumed. If there are parallels, the directionality and timing of change is important. It is commonly assumed that rulers command increased production, but it can also be the case that pre-existing productivity among farmers enables the rise of elites.To compensate for gaps in archaeological knowledge, these research questions are approached through analysis of ancient pollen, drawn from stratified, datable cores close to archaeological sites. Pollen grains, resistant to decay, continuously accumulate in the Irish Midlands peat bogs, preserving long chronological sequences. McDonald, a trained palynologist, will identify pollen types and frequency through high-powered microscopy, and samples will be dated through tephrochronology and AMS 14C dating of plant macrofossils. Resulting data enables reconstruction of climate, environmental conditions, and increases and decreases in plants associated with crop cultivation and pasturage at each settlement locale. In addition to information on the relationship between governments and taxpayers, the project will create a series of classroom lesson plans and YouTube videos aimed at elementary and middle school children, introducing archaeological methods and past cultures, enhancing competencies in science, social studies, math, and language arts.