The Maintenance of Cultural Continuity in the Context of Social Change

理解治理、宗教和文化认同之间的关系是社会科学的核心。这种潜在的紧张关系在现代全球化世界中很明显，但在许多早期社会中也很常见。考古学通过揭示长期的社会进程和探索权力与宗教之间的动态相互作用是如何通过日常生活的实践和对象来调解的，为这个主题提供了一个有价值的视角。本项目将研究在统治者较少依赖社会经济一体化而更多依赖道德和宗教权威的背景下，统治权力与文化变革之间的关系。这项研究将确定领导者在不损害基础系统弹性的情况下引入新信念和价值观的程度。除了为更广泛地讨论执政当局的性质提供信息外，该项目还将有助于文化遗产的保护。它将为本科生和研究生提供研究和培训的机会。对发掘和发现的大规模三维数字化的方法论强调将导致大量的数据在网上可用。它将通过为低收入和少数民族学生提供远程访问来促进教与学。某些政体的矛盾之处在于，它们相对稳定，没有证据表明存在庞大的军队和官僚机构。如果主权国家可以利用群体身份来确保社会凝聚力，那么这些身份与他们的野心就应该存在冲突。本研究将集中在一个这样的搬迁案例，该案例以外国宗教习俗和文化价值为标志，通过建筑、石头和陶瓷文物进行交流。研究小组将在搬迁之前，期间和之后研究住宅，并将检查空间布局，建筑，石器和用于仪式供品和宴会的陶瓷器皿。研究人员将依靠地面调查、挖掘和对检索到的材料记录的后续调查，重点是建筑风格、陶瓷分析、岩屑分析、铭文和某些建筑材料的化学特性。跨学科数据集将揭示统治者采用的不同合法化策略对其人民的影响是积极的还是消极的。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。

Understanding the relationship between governance, religion, and cultural identity is central to the social sciences. The underlying tension is evident in the modern globalized world, but it was also common in many earlier societies. Archaeology offers a valuable perspective on the topic by revealing long-term social processes and by exploring how the dynamic interplay between power and religion was mediated by practices and objects of everyday life. This project will examine the relationship between ruling power and cultural change in the context in which rulers relied less on socio-economic integration and more on moral and religious authority. The study will determine the extent to which leaders could introduce new beliefs and values without compromising the resilience of the underlying system. In addition to informing the broader discussion on the nature of governing authority, this project will assist in the preservation of cultural heritage. It will provide research and training opportunities to undergraduates and graduate students. The methodological emphasis on large-scale three-dimensional digitization of excavations and finds will result in a large body of data available online. It will promote teaching and learning by offering remote access for low-income and minority students. The paradox of certain polities is their relative stability with no evidence of extensive armies and bureaucracies. If sovereigns could tap into group identities to ensure social cohesion, there should be cases when those identities clashed with their ambitions. This research will center on one such case of relocation that was marked by foreign religious practices and cultural values communicated through architecture, stone and ceramic artifacts. The research team will study residences before, during, and after the relocation and will examine spatial layout, architecture, stone tools, and ceramic vessels used in ritual offerings and feasting. Researchers will rely on ground survey, excavations, and subsequent investigation of the retrieved material record with an emphasis on architectural styles, ceramic analysis, lithic analysis, epigraphy, and chemical characterization of certain construction materials. The interdisciplinary dataset will reveal whether different legitimization strategies employed by rulers had a positive or negative impact on their people.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.