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，共同PI博士的监督下蒂莫西·谢弗拉尔，将确定在生存实践的转变，并研究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是如何组织的辩论，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。麦克唐纳以史前和早期历史上的爱尔兰为案例研究，将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5世纪后）。在当今发展中世界的许多地区，中央集权的政治权力受到限制，社会秩序是通过等级权力结构之间的谈判来维持的。这项研究有可能提供深入了解这一过程如何在时间上发挥作用。与早期和晚期相比，铁器时代在精英公民仪式场所的仪式活动中出现了不寻常的高峰，并有更多的金属生产，收购和贸易的证据，所有这些都表明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的焦点，但由于缺乏政治和仪式中心以外的考古遗址，人们对铁器时代的现实知之甚少。在世纪后期爱尔兰经济繁荣期间，已知的铁器时代定居点的数量有所增加，但人们对社会如何运作知之甚少。政治中心活动的高峰和低谷是否被农牧社区工作量和努力的增加所掩盖？如果是这样的话，农民可能会被要求生产更多的贡品或税收来支持精英。如果没有，政府的影响力就比人们通常想象的要小。如果有相似之处，变化的方向和时间是重要的。人们通常认为统治者命令增加生产，但也可能是农民中预先存在的生产力使精英阶层得以崛起。为了弥补考古学知识的空白，这些研究问题通过分析古代花粉来解决，这些花粉来自考古遗址附近的分层，可测年的核心。花粉粒，耐腐，不断积累在爱尔兰中部泥炭沼泽，保存长期的时间序列。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识别花粉类型和频率，并将通过灰岩年代学和AMS 14C测定植物宏体化石的年代来确定样本的年代。由此产生的数据可以重建气候，环境条件，以及在每个定居点与作物种植和畜牧业相关的植物的增加和减少。除了关于政府和纳税人之间关系的信息外，该项目还将创建一系列针对中小学儿童的课堂教案和YouTube视频，介绍考古方法和过去的文化，提高科学，社会研究，数学和语言艺术的能力。

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.