REU Site: Bioarchaeology of Bronze Age Social Systems

REU 网站：青铜时代社会系统的生物考古学

• 批准号: 1852426
• 负责人: Lesley Gregoricka
• 金额: $ 29.39万
• 依托单位: University of South Alabama
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-03-15 至 2024-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1852426&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: REU; Site; Bioarchaeology; Bronze; Age

This project is funded from the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Sites program in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE). It has both scientific and societal benefits, and it integrates research and education. The Bioarchaeology of Bronze Age Social Systems REU program supports a diverse pool of nationally recruited undergraduates engaged in the entire research process from hypothesis formation to data collection, analysis, public outreach, and publication. Teams of students collaborate with an interdisciplinary group of dynamic scientists and professionals while conducting original research on two Bronze Age skeletal collections, examining how alternative pathways to social complexity during an increasingly globalized Bronze Age were embodied in the human skeleton and reflected in mortuary practices. Many of these bioarchaeological methods have applications to forensic anthropology as well, and by illustrating their utility and accuracy, students may contribute to advancing the use of more accurate demographic techniques in contemporary criminal cases involving commingled remains. Students also receive training on how to effectively disseminate their research results to both academics and the broader public all while engaging in discussions surrounding the ethics of working with human remains. Participants similarly receive mentorship in professional development via guest scientists and with established summer undergraduate research workshops at the University of South Alabama. Prior to conference presentations, students engage with members of the local community to share their project findings using weekly blogs, social media posts, posters, and digital stories. This project focuses on two large skeletal collections dating to 2700-2000 BCE. These Bronze Age communities did not develop highly stratified social systems, but instead maintained tribal, kin-based systems of social organization. Subsequently, an analysis of these skeletons presents a unique opportunity for an in-depth examination of the socioeconomic, political, and environmental circumstances in which so-called peripheral populations resisted stratification, adapted to environmental change, and negotiated their own identities. Students collaborate with top scholars and use innovative techniques well-suited to the challenges of working with commingled collections to answer questions about changing mortuary practices and human lifeways in this region, but also to more broadly compare these social trajectories to paths of complexity taken elsewhere.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.

该项目由社会，行为和经济科学局（SBE）的本科生研究经验（REU）网站计划资助。它具有科学和社会效益，并整合了研究和教育。青铜时代社会系统的生物考古学REU计划支持全国招募的本科生参与从假设形成到数据收集，分析，公共宣传和出版的整个研究过程的多样化池。学生团队与动态科学家和专业人士的跨学科小组合作，同时对两个青铜时代的骨骼收藏进行原始研究，研究在日益全球化的青铜时代，社会复杂性的替代途径如何体现在人类骨骼中，并反映在太平间的做法。许多这些生物考古学方法也应用于法医人类学，并通过说明其实用性和准确性，学生可能有助于推进使用更准确的人口统计学技术在当代刑事案件涉及混合遗骸。学生还接受培训，了解如何有效地将他们的研究成果传播给学者和更广泛的公众，同时参与围绕人类遗骸工作道德的讨论。参与者同样通过客座科学家获得专业发展方面的指导，并在南亚拉巴马大学举办夏季本科生研究讲习班。在会议演讲之前，学生们与当地社区的成员一起使用每周博客，社交媒体帖子，海报和数字故事分享他们的项目发现。该项目的重点是两个大型骨骼收藏可追溯到公元前2700-2000年。这些青铜器时代的社区并没有发展出高度分层的社会制度，而是维持着部落的、以亲属为基础的社会组织体系。随后，对这些骨架的分析提供了一个独特的机会，可以深入研究社会经济，政治和环境情况，在这些情况下，所谓的外围人口抵制分层，适应环境变化，并谈判自己的身份。学生与顶尖学者合作，并使用创新技术，非常适合与混合收藏工作的挑战，以回答有关改变太平间的做法和人类生活方式在这个地区的问题，该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值进行评估来支持的，更广泛的影响审查标准。