Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: The Emergence of Social Complexity

考古学对社会长期变化的关注为理解政治和经济力量的兴起和发展及其对社会不同群体的影响提供了一个独特的视角。对复杂社会的比较考古分析表明，在这种复杂性的表达以及导致其在世界各地出现的过程中，存在着高度的可变性。在这一更广泛的背景下，本研究将重点放在家庭经济上，以便深入了解政治和经济权力的来源，并揭示可能不同于自上而下规范的其他组织形式。结果将告知社会和政治复杂性，国内和社区经济，以及职业分化。该项目代表了与哥斯达黎加遗产当局和国家公园系统合作的机会，以促进公众宣传、教育和文化遗产保护。学生参与者将接受指导，培训和考古理论，现场和实验室方法的经验。该项目将使拉丁裔妇女成为实地监督员和工作人员，以便扩大她们作为一个代表性不足的群体在科学领域的参与。该项目的成果将通过研讨会、讲座和实地考察与全球以及当地社区和国家公园官员分享。奥尔巴尼-纽约州立大学的博士生，Yajaira Núñez-Cortés，在Robert rossenwig博士的指导下，将研究经济和政治权力的发展如何从社会等级的各个部分对家庭经济产生影响。公元800-1500年间，哥斯达黎加出现了纪念中心，这表明社会、政治和经济关系的重组。这些变化与区域间交流的扩大以及主要是哥斯达黎加中部政治的相互作用同时发生。衡量这些大规模发展的最佳标准是它们对社会各阶层的影响，尤其是它们对最小和偏远住宅单元的影响。本研究将通过研究Lomas Entierros遗址的家庭经济分化、活动组织和交换网络的接入，来评估先前关于精英权力与资源和有价值物品控制之间关系的假设。研究人员将结合房屋建筑分析家庭组合，以表征财富，权力和物质文化使用的表现形式。位于基地主要核心的房屋结构和外围的低矮建筑的数据将提供来自较高和较低社会地位背景的对比例子。该项目还结合了LiDAR（光探测和测距）数据来了解场地的沉降系统和空间组织。研究结果将有助于关于政治和经济权力来源的辩论，并将为古代政治和家庭组织的人类学模型提供信息。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Archaeology's focus on long-term transformations in society provides a unique perspective to understand the rise and development of political and economic power and its effects on different groups of society. Comparative archaeological analyses of complex societies have demonstrated that there is a high degree of variability in the expression of such complexity, as well as in the processes that led to its emergence around the world. Within this broader context, this study focuses on household economy in order to gain insight about the sources of political and economic power, and reveal other forms of organization that may differ from top-down norms. The results will inform about social and political complexity, domestic and community economy, and occupational differentiation. This project represents an opportunity to collaborate with Costa Rican heritage authorities and the National Parks system to promote public outreach, education, and conservation of cultural heritage. Student participants will receive mentorship, training, and experience in archaeological theories and field and laboratory methods. The project will integrate Latina women as field supervisors and crew in order to broaden their participation as an underrepresented group in science. The results of the project will be shared globally as well as with local communities and National Parks officials through workshops, talks and field visits. University at Albany-SUNY doctoral student, Yajaira Núñez-Cortés, supervised by Dr. Robert Rosenswig, will investigate how the development of economic and political power had an effect on household economies from all segments of the social hierarchy. During AD 800-1500, the appearance of monumental centers in Costa Rica indicates a reorganization of social, political and economic relationships. Such changes coincide with an amplification of interregional exchange and chiefly interaction for Central Costa Rican polities. These large-scale developments are best measured by their impacts in all levels of society, but especially by their impact on the smallest and remote residential units. This study will evaluate previously held assumptions about the relationship between elite power and control of resources and valuable objects by studying household economic differentiation, activity organization, and access to exchange networks at Lomas Entierros site. The researchers will analyze domestic assemblages in combination with house architecture in order to characterize manifestations of wealth, power, and material culture usage. Data from house structures located in the main core of the site and humbler edifices on its periphery will provide contrastive examples from higher and lower social status contexts. This project also incorporates LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data to understand the settlement system and spatial organization of the site. The results will contribute to the debate about sources of political and economic power and will inform anthropological models on political and household organization in the ancient past.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.