Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Household Response To Changing Environmental, Demographic And Social Conditions

研究人员希望了解社会变得“复杂”的过程；也就是说，在什么样的条件下，一个群体开始分化和/或分层。然而，许多研究早期社会复杂性的现有模型忽视了社会的关键变化，这些社会的社会政治秩序的变化不能轻易地以或多或少的等级来表征（例如，当社区的组成似乎在变化，但没有证据表明不平等在增加时）。此外，气候不稳定和资源基础的变化经常被认为是促进社会动荡和重组的因素。这些问题与我们自己的社会相关，研究可以有助于理解社会中的个人如何应对和应对剧烈的生态和环境变化。资源稀缺或不可预测性如何影响社区组织？为什么社会不平等，在这个特殊的案例研究中，没有出现在我们预期的地方？总的来说，考古学，特别是这个项目，在解决这些问题方面处于独特的地位。这个项目的挖掘工作将在一个曾经遭到抢劫的地点进行；这个项目将说明，被掠夺的遗址仍然可以为研究人员提供资料，应该继续受到保护。以讲座和演讲的形式向社区外展，强调尊重和保护当地考古资源的重要性，这是该项目的关键部分。加州大学圣巴巴拉分校（UCSB）的格雷戈里·威尔逊（Gregory D. Wilson）博士和詹娜·k·桑提（Jenna K. Santy）博士将调查加州东部欧文斯谷（Owens Valley）被哥伦布占领前两个时期的社会组织变化。在一段已知的变化发生的时期（如弓箭的引入，陶器的引入和传播，食物资源的急剧变化，气候的不稳定性增加），小规模的村级社会组织是如何变化的？该项目利用由美国国家科学基金会（NSF）支持的挖掘工作获得的家庭层面的数据，以及来自现有的、未分析的收集数据，将调查个体家庭与邻近家庭相比的生存策略，并评估空间的使用和组织方式。空间分析包括一种方法，使用土壤中的化学同位素水平作为活动区域的代表，因为某些活动（如进食和食品加工）在活动发生后很长时间内都会在土壤中留下可见的痕迹。该项目还将评估乡村生活的某些特征：烹饪和储存活动发生在哪里？在房子里，远离村里其他人的视线？或者在开放空间，暗示一个公共方向？挖掘工作将由本科生和研究生志愿者进行，他们将接受实地方法方面的培训，作为该项目的一部分。

Researchers wish to understand the processes by which societies become "complex"; that is, under what kind of conditions a group came to be differentiated and/or stratified. However, many existing models for studying incipient social complexity overlook crucial variation in societies whose changing social-political order cannot readily be characterized as more or less hierarchical (e.g., when communities seem to be changing in composition, but not with evidence of increasing inequality.) Additionally, climatic instability and a changing resource base are frequently identified as factors contributing to social upheaval and reorganization. These issues have relevance to our own society, and examination can contribute to an understanding of the ways in which individuals in a society can react to and gird against dramatic ecological and environmental changes. How does resource scarcity or unpredictability affect community organization? And why does social inequality, as in this particular case study, not arise where we might expect it to? Archaeology in general, and this project specifically, is uniquely positioned to address these questions. Excavations for this project will be conducted at a site that has been subject to looting; this project will illustrate that looted sites can still be informative to researchers and should remain subject to protection. Community outreach in the form of talks and presentations to emphasize the importance of respecting and protecting local archaeological resources are a key part of this project. Dr. Gregory D. Wilson and Jenna K. Santy, of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), will investigate changes in social organization during two periods of pre-Columbian occupation in Owens Valley, in eastern California. During a time period when known changes occurred (such as the introduction of the bow and arrow, the introduction and spread of pottery, dramatic shifts in food resources, and increasing climatic instability), how was small-scale, village-level social organization changing as well? Using household-level data, obtained by excavation supported by NSF but also from existing, un-analyzed collections, this project will investigate how individual household subsistence strategies compared to neighboring households, and will assess how space was used and organized differently. Spatial analyses include a method using chemical-isotopic levels in soil as a proxy for activity areas, as certain activities (such as eating and food processing) leave traces in soil visible long after the activities occurred. This project will also assess where certain features of village life were located: where were cooking and storage activities taking place? Inside the house, away from the eyes of others in the village? Or in open space, suggesting a communal orientation? Excavation will be carried out by undergraduate and graduate student volunteers, who will be trained in field methods as part of this project.