An Investigation into the Governance of Village Life

乡村生活治理调查

• 批准号: 1951147
• 负责人: Kathryn Grossman
• 金额: $ 20.09万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-07-15 至 2025-06-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1951147&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Investigation; into; Governance; Village; Life

A team of researchers will undertake research to study the organization of small-scale, village-based societies and, especially, resistance to the process of state formation. Archaeologists have long been interested in documenting and explaining the origins of the state, but attention has recently shifted toward societies that explicitly sought to prevent state formation, that is, to prevent the accumulation of wealth, power, and authority in the hands of any particular individual or group. Understanding how these intentionally small-scale, decentralized, and egalitarian societies operated can yield new insight into the diverse forms of governance organization that have developed, persisted, and thrived alongside states. Archaeology offers the only scientific means of glimpsing the operation of such organization in prehistory. Given its focus on the physical remains left behind by past societies, archaeology also draws attention to the spaces, places, and objects that helped people construct and maintain specific governance systems. The research team will use archaeological evidence for food production, craft production, community organization, burial practices, symbolic representations, and trade to study governance organization in a village-based, egalitarian society contemporary with and in close proximity to the classic centers of state formation. Excavations are designed to collect evidence for the governance of village life in one small settlement and thereby provide a glimpse into the operation of such a small-scale, locally organized, and deliberately maintained alternative to the state. The research will consist of a three-year program of archaeological data collection and analysis that includes study of ceramic, lithic, metallurgical, architectural, zooarchaeological, palaeobotanical, osteological, and geoarchaeological remains. Drawing on these diverse data sets, the project will provide a new perspective on the deep history of efforts to build and maintain more equitable social systems. It will also contribute to international education, training, cultural heritage preservation, and human resource development.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.

一个研究小组将进行研究，以研究小规模、以村庄为基础的社会的组织，特别是对国家形成进程的抵制。考古学家长期以来一直对记录和解释国家的起源感兴趣，但最近注意力已经转移到明确试图阻止国家形成的社会，也就是说，防止财富，权力和权威积聚在任何特定的个人或团体手中。了解这些有意小规模、去中心化和平等主义的社会是如何运作的，可以让我们对与国家一起发展、持续和繁荣的各种治理组织形式有新的认识。考古学提供了唯一的科学手段来了解史前时期这种组织的运作。由于考古学关注的是过去社会留下的物质遗迹，因此它也引起了人们对帮助人们构建和维护特定治理体系的空间、地点和物体的关注。该研究小组将利用考古证据的粮食生产，工艺生产，社区组织，埋葬的做法，象征性的表示，和贸易研究治理组织在一个以村庄为基础的，平等的社会当代和接近国家形成的经典中心。调查旨在收集一个小定居点的村庄生活治理的证据，从而让人们对这样一个小规模的、地方组织的、刻意维护的国家替代品的运作有一个一瞥。该研究将包括一个为期三年的考古数据收集和分析计划，其中包括陶瓷，石器，冶金，建筑，动物考古，古植物学，骨学和地质考古遗迹的研究。利用这些不同的数据集，该项目将提供一个新的视角，了解建立和维护更公平的社会制度的努力的深刻历史。该奖项反映了NSF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。