Doctoral Dissertation Research: Material Culture Networks and Social Interactions

本研究旨在厘清考古物质文化网络与过去社会网络之间的复杂关系。社会网络分析是用来研究不同尺度上社会行为者之间相互作用的结构和动态。网络方法为研究实体之间的关系以及这些关系如何影响结果提供了一种手段。这种方法在考古学中的用处通过它的迅速采用得到了证明，但对于作为社会网络代理的物质文化网络的根本性质，仍然存在实质性的问题。考古学家通常使用不同类型的文物之间的相似性来代替过去社会群体相互作用的可能性。但陶罐的相似之处代表了什么类型的互动？它是否与箭头中的相似处所表示的交互类型相同？本论文的研究就是为了用多层网络分析来回答这些问题。这种分析形式同时处理多个网络，这将使研究人员能够使用公元1150年至公元1500年间美国西南部普韦布洛地区的数据，对多种类型的物质文化进行比较研究。该地区拥有极好的年代记录和考古覆盖面，这使其成为测试使用物质文化网络作为社会网络替代品的效果的理想地区。通过确定不同的物质文化网络如何相互关联，这项研究将向更广泛的考古界通报不同类型的物质文化可能或可能不会揭示过去社会网络的不同方面。此外，这项研究将首次正式探讨西部普韦布洛地区快速社会组织变革时期社区的网络轨迹。这项研究还涉及与西部普韦布洛地区古代居民的在世后代进行重大合作，他们将对这项研究的结果提供当地人的解释。这项研究的第一部分涉及记录西部普韦布洛地区数千个抛射点的档案研究。将获得每个投射点的图像，用于几何形态分析，该分析使用每个投射点上的相应地标来从数学上比较轮廓上的相似性。还将对较小的投射点样本进行3D扫描，以比较该点的整个表面，以进行更详细的比较。研究的第二部分将投射点分析与现有的关于陶瓷、建筑特征和地球化学来源的黑铁矿和陶瓷的数据库相结合。这些数据将被转换为物质文化网络，用于代表古代社会网络。然后，将使用标准的多层和单个网络分析方法对这些网络进行分析，以比较它们之间的差异，并检查整个西部普韦布洛地区的变化轨迹。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The goal of this research is to clarify the complicated relationships between archaeological material culture networks and past social networks. Social network analysis is used to study the structure and dynamics of interactions among social actors at a variety of scales. Network methods provide a means to study the relations between entities and how those relations affect outcomes. The usefulness of this approach in archaeology is attested by its rapid adoption, yet there remain substantial questions regarding the fundamental nature of the material culture networks used as proxies for social networks. Archaeologists typically use similarities between types of artifacts as a proxy for the probability that social groups interacted in the past. But what type of interaction is represented by similarities in ceramic pots? Is it the same type of interaction as that represented by similarities in arrowheads? This dissertation research is designed to answer these questions using multilayer network analysis. This form of analysis handles multiple networks in at once, which will allow the researcher to conduct a study comparing many types of material culture using data from the Western Pueblo Region of the Southwest United States between AD 1150 and AD 1500. This region has an excellent chronological record and archaeological coverage, which makes it an ideal area to test the efficacy of using material culture networks as proxies for social networks. By determining how different material culture networks correlate with each other, this research will inform the broader archaeological community regarding the ways different types of material culture may or may not reveal different aspects of past social networks. Furthermore, this study will be the first to formally explore the network trajectories of communities across a period of rapid social-organizational change in the Western Pueblo region. The research also involves significant collaboration with the living descendants of the ancient inhabitants of the Western Pueblo region who will provide native interpretations of the results of this study. The first portion of the study involves archival research documenting thousands of projectile points across the Western Pueblo region. Images will be obtained of each projectile point for use in a geometric morphometric analysis that uses homologous landmarks on each projectile point to mathematically compare similarities in outlines. A smaller sample of projectile points will also be scanned in 3D to compare the entire surface of the point to make a more detailed comparison. The second portion of the study combines the projectile point analysis with existing databases on ceramics, architectural features, and geochemically sourced obsidian and ceramics. These data will be converted into material culture networks used to represent ancient social networks. The networks will then be analyzed using standard multilayer and individual network analysis methods to compare the differences between them and to examine the trajectory of change throughout the Western Pueblo 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.