Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Approaches To The Analysis Of Ethnic Interaction

这项研究将探讨帝国殖民者和土著群体在古代边境和殖民地内协商其身份的过程。 考古学特别适合解决殖民主义问题，因为文物通常可以为历史文献中不易识别的社会成员（例如地位低下或被征服的民族）提供可见性。 虽然以前的学术研究将殖民主义视为土著群体接受殖民者文化的背景，但最近它们被视为独特的有争议的地点，殖民者和土著群体通过复杂的思想、传统和物质文化交流在文化上相互影响。 该项目通过关注帝国内部的多重社会经济以及过去殖民者与当地群体之间复杂的社会互动如何表现，填补了一个重要的研究空白。 这项研究对于当今地区的文化差异谈判具有特别的意义，在这些地区，由于冲突、政治或经济机会，不同族裔群体由于人口流动而发生接触。为研究文化接触提供绝佳媒介的考古材料之一是美食。 对殖民背景下古代饮食习惯的研究将揭示帝国殖民者和土著群体如何改变或重申他们在边境地区的食物偏好和身份。 这项研究将在秘鲁中部高地进行，重点关注古代瓦里帝国的两处遗址和位于瓦里殖民地之一附近的土著遗址。 瓦里帝国的扩张范围覆盖了当今秘鲁的大部分地区，并将许多民族纳入其管辖范围，但没有任何书面记录可以了解这些人是谁。 因此，将对这些地点的碳化植物数据进行比较，以确定瓦里殖民者和土著群体的美食，并检查瓦里殖民者和土著人民之间的食物偏好、生产和加工策略的交流，以确定这些不同群体如何相互作用和经历殖民化。 通过建筑空间、物质文化和古代植物遗骸之间的关联，重建和比较殖民群体和原住民群体的食物偏好，利用植物遗骸来突出这些群体分享美食的方式，从而对过去的殖民主义有更动态的认识。 该项目将为研究古代美食和文化接触产生新方法，并为学生提供实践培训和教育机会。

This research will examine the processes through which imperial colonists and indigenous groups negotiated their identities within ancient borderlands and colonies. Archaeology is particularly well suited for addressing issues of colonialism because artifacts can often provide visibility to members of society who may not be easily recognized in historical documents, such as low-status or subjugated peoples. While previous scholarship viewed colonialism in the context of indigenous groups adopting the culture of the colonizers, more recently they are viewed as unique contested locations where both colonizing and indigenous groups influence each other culturally through a complex exchange of ideas, traditions, and material culture. This project fills an important research gap by focusing on multiple socioeconomic within empires and how complex social interactions between colonists and local groups were manifested in the past. This research has particular relevance for the negotiation of cultural differences in regions today where dissimilar ethnic groups come into contact as a result of population movement due to conflict, politics, or economic opportunity.One form of archaeological material that provides an excellent medium for examining culture contact is cuisine. The study of ancient food practices within colonial contexts will shed light on how imperial colonists and indigenous groups modified or reaffirmed their food preferences and identities within borderlands. The research will be conducted in the central highlands of the Peru focusing on two sites from ancient Wari Empire and an indigenous site located near one of the Wari colonies. The Wari Empire expanded to cover much of modern-day Peru and incorporated a number of ethnic groups into its administration, yet there are no written records to understand who these people were. As a result, the carbonized plant data from these sites will be compared to determine the cuisine of Wari colonists and indigenous groups and examine the exchange of food preferences, production, and processing strategies between Wari colonists and indigenous peoples to identify how these different groups interacted and experienced colonization. The food preferences of colonial and indigenous groups will be reconstructed and compared through correlations between architectural space, material culture, and ancient plant remains using plant remains to highlight the ways in which these groups shared their cuisine, which will allow for a more dynamic view of colonialism in the past. This project will generate new methods for the study of ancient cuisine and culture contact and provide hands-on training and education opportunities for students.