Doctoral Dissertation Research: Material Culture Networks and Social Interactions

本研究的目的在于厘清考古学物质文化网络与过去社交网络之间的复杂关系。社会网络分析用于研究各种规模的社会参与者之间的互动结构和动态。网络方法提供了一种研究实体之间关系以及这些关系如何影响结果的手段。这种方法在考古学中的实用性得到了迅速采用的证明，但关于用作社交网络代理的物质文化网络的基本性质，仍然存在实质性的问题。考古学家通常使用文物类型之间的相似性作为社会群体在过去互动的可能性的代理。但是陶瓷壶中的相似性代表了什么样的相互作用呢？它是否与箭头中的相似性所代表的相互作用类型相同？本论文的研究就是为了回答这些问题，使用多层网络分析。这种形式的分析同时处理多个网络，这将使研究人员能够使用公元1150年至公元1500年美国西南部西部普韦布洛地区的数据进行研究，比较多种类型的物质文化。这一地区有着极好的年代记录和考古覆盖面，这使得它成为测试将物质文化网络作为社交网络的代理的有效性的理想地区。通过确定不同的物质文化网络如何相互关联，这项研究将告知更广泛的考古界关于不同类型的物质文化可能会或可能不会揭示过去社交网络的不同方面。此外，这项研究将是第一个正式探讨在西部普韦布洛地区的快速社会组织变革的时期，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后代的重要合作，他们将对这项研究的结果进行本土解释。研究的第一部分涉及档案研究，记录了西部普韦布洛地区数千个投射点。将获得每个投射点的图像，用于几何形态测定分析，该分析使用每个投射点上的同源标志以数学方式比较轮廓的相似性。还将以3D方式扫描较小的射弹点样本，以比较射弹点的整个表面，从而进行更详细的比较。研究的第二部分将抛射点分析与现有的陶瓷、建筑特征和地球化学来源的黑曜石和陶瓷数据库相结合。这些数据将被转换成物质文化网络，用来代表古代的社交网络。然后，将使用标准的多层和单个网络分析方法对网络进行分析，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。

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.