Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Dating Widespread Social Networks

从公元9世纪到12世纪，新墨西哥州查科峡谷（Chaco Canyon）和周边广大地区的人们建造了带有纪念性建筑的社区，这表明古代普韦布洛人精英的发展。长期以来，考古学家一直试图了解查科峡谷的社会政治关系的本质，以及查科与其他社区之间的关系。查科的社会政治等级制度本身的证据是模糊的，几乎没有在世界其他权力中心看到的个人权力的印记，考古学家对查科100多个异常社区的了解就更少了，其中只有少数得到了重要的挖掘。宾厄姆顿大学的米歇尔·特纳（Michelle Turner）将在露丝·范·戴克（Ruth Van Dyke）博士的指导下，通过建立阿兹特克北部大宅建造的年表，研究查科峡谷与阿兹特克遗址之间的关系。阿兹特克遗址是查科最大的异类社区之一。这项研究将成为特纳博士论文的基础，因此这项资助支持一名学生的工作。研究人员的项目是在与部落代表协商后，与阿兹特克遗址国家纪念碑的考古学家合作开发的，它将为公园的工作人员提供有价值的新信息，与游客分享。研究人员将与部落代表和后代社区的其他成员分享他们的发现，研究结果也将在该地区的公开演讲以及学术期刊和专业会议上传播。特纳和范戴克在2016年对之前未被挖掘的阿兹特克北大房子进行了有限的考古测试，这是阿兹特克遗址国家纪念碑的三个大房子之一。阿兹特克北部的起源备受争议。它的邻居阿兹特克西大宅显然是从公元1110年左右开始由查科人建造的，而阿兹特克北的建筑则包含了查科人和非查科人建筑特征的不同寻常的结合。例如，虽然结构的墙壁有砂岩贴面，看起来非常像查科砌体，但贴面隐藏了土坯填充核心，看起来更像当地。这座建筑是由新来的查科人建造的，他们还没有足够的劳动力来建造完整的砖石结构，还是由当地人模仿查科人的方式建造的？或者这可能是后来的土坯建筑实验？特纳将通过对阿兹特克北部的有机材料进行放射性碳测年来测试这些可能性，以确定该遗址的占领日期。如果阿兹特克北部是在阿兹特克西部建成后不久建造的，那么查科人很可能已经存在了，而更早的日期表明，它很可能是当地人模仿查科人建造的。11世纪中期之后的日期表明它起源于后查科时代。放射性碳测年，结合研究人员对挖掘中建筑、陶瓷和其他文物的分析，将为寻求了解阿兹特克遗址和更广泛的查科地区历史的考古学家提供有价值的数据。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。

From the 9th to 12th centuries CE, people at Chaco Canyon New Mexico and throughout a vast surrounding region built communities with monumental architecture suggesting the development of an ancient Puebloan elite. Archaeologists have long sought to understand the nature of sociopolitical relations at Chaco Canyon, and between Chaco and its outlier communities. The evidence of sociopolitical hierarchy at Chaco itself is ambiguous, with few of the stamps of individual power seen at other power centers around the world, and archaeologists know even less about Chaco's 100+ outlier communities, of which only a handful have seen significant excavation. Michelle Turner of Binghamton University, under the guidance of Dr. Ruth Van Dyke, will examine the relationship between Chaco Canyon and Aztec Ruins, one of the largest Chacoan outlier communities, by establishing a chronology for the construction of the Aztec North great house. This research will be a basis for Turner's PhD dissertation, so this grant supports the work of a student. The researchers' project was developed in cooperation with archaeologists at Aztec Ruins National Monument, following consultation with tribal representatives, and it will provide valuable new information for the park's staff to share with visitors. The researchers will share their findings with tribal representatives and other members of descendant communities, and the results will also be disseminated at public talks in the region as well as in academic journals and at professional conferences. Turner and Van Dyke conducted limited archaeological testing in 2016 at the previously unexcavated Aztec North great house, one of three great houses at Aztec Ruins National Monument. Aztec North's origins are hotly debated. While its neighbor great house Aztec West was clearly constructed with the involvement of Chacoan builders starting around 1110 CE, Aztec North's architecture includes an unusual combination of Chacoan and non-Chacoan construction features. For example, while the walls of the structure have a sandstone veneer that looks very much like Chacoan masonry, that veneer conceals an adobe fill core that looks more local. Was this structure built by newly arrived Chacoan builders who had not yet developed the work force to build a full masonry structure, or was it built by local people imitating Chacoan ways? Or was it perhaps a much later experiment in adobe construction? Turner will test these possibilities by running radiocarbon dating on organic materials from Aztec North to pinpoint the site's occupation dates. If Aztec North was built in the years just after construction of Aztec West, then it is probable that Chacoan builders were already present, while earlier dates would indicate it was most likely built by local people emulating Chaco. Dates after the mid-1100s would suggest a post-Chacoan origin. The radiocarbon dates, interpreted in combination with the researchers' analysis of the architecture, ceramics and other artifacts from the excavation, will provide valuable data for archaeologists seeking to understand the history of both Aztec Ruins and the wider Chacoan region.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.