Dissertation Research: Cypress Bayou Archaeological Survey

基德尔 在Tristram Kidder博士的指导下，道格拉斯威尔斯先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将在位于密西西比和路易斯安那州边界的坦萨斯盆地地区进行考古调查和挖掘。他将重点关注名为“科尔斯溪”的史前文化时期，该时期跨越公元650年至1200年之间。在这一时期，农业开始取代狩猎和采集，成为主要的生活来源，以隆起的土墩结构为特征的居住中心变得普遍。威尔斯先生会专注于一个案件。7.2一英里长的几乎未被填满的河口段和伴随的天然堤坝被称为“柏树河口”。他说：“他会进行一项地面调查，并划出四条横贯整个调查区的横断面。将收集代表性表面材料。在此基础上，将在2-4个地点进行挖掘。将使用道路平路机剥离整个场地的覆盖层，然后通过标准考古技术进行现场材料的挖掘。这项工作将使人们深入了解该地区较小的典型地点。在实地考察的最后阶段，威尔斯先生将在沙克尔福德湖遗址进行挖掘，沙克尔福德湖遗址是一个位于柏树河口项目区的中型土堆中心。该遗址展示了邻近地区保存最完好的文化特征，因此最有可能产生关于遗址内部结构、活动、生存和年代学的最佳信息。该网站将绘制地图，表面收集和铲子测试。根据这些资料，将对选定的地区进行挖掘。 近世纪来，美国南部地区一直是考古学研究的焦点。标志着该地区史前史最后阶段的大型土丘遗址表明了具有高度中央集权的复杂社会组织水平。大片地区被纳入单一的社会单位，大型填土土丘的建造证明了大量个人的协调。 考古学家希望了解导致这一发展的过程，科尔斯克里克文化很重要，因为它是这一高潮的直接前身。威尔斯先生对这种发展顺序提出了几种假设，并认为精英对高度复杂的丧葬仪式的控制可能使权力集中在相对少数的人手中。这项研究应该可以让他验证这个结论。 这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据，并为美国的史前史提供新的线索。它将增加对社会复杂性如何发展的理解，并有助于培养有前途的年轻科学家。

Kidder Under the direction of Dr. Tristram Kidder, Mr. Douglas Wells will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct archaeological survey and excavation in the Tensas basin region located on the border between Mississippi and Louisiana. He will focus on a prehistoric cultural period termed "Coles Creek" which spans the period between ca 650 and 1200 AD. During this period agriculture began to replace hunting and gathering as a primary source of subsistence and habitation centers characterized by raised mounded structures became widespread. Mr. Wells will focus on a ca. 7.2 mile segment of nearly unfilled bayou and accompanying natural levees known as "Cypress Bayou." He will conduct a surface survey and set out four transects which will run the entire length of the survey area. Representative surface materials will be collected. On this basis, excavations will be conducted at 2-4 sites. A road grader will be used to strip overburden from entire sites and then excavation of in situ material will proceed by standard archaeological techniques. This work will provide insight into the smaller typical sites in the region. In the final stage of the fieldwork, Mr. Wells will conduct excavations at the Shackleford Lake site, a medium-sized mound center located within the Cypress Bayou project area. This site exhibits the best preserved cultural features in the immediate area and thus is most likely to yield the best information on intrasite structure, activities, subsistence and chronology. The site will be mapped, surface collected and shovel tested. On the basis of this information, selected areas will be excavated. The Southern region of the United States has provided a focus for archaeological research for almost a century. The large mounded sites which mark the final phase of the areas prehistory indicate a complex level of social organization with a high degree of centralized authority. Large areas were incorporated into single social units and the construction of large earth filled mounds attests to coordination of large numbers of individuals. Archaeologists wish to understand the process which led to this development and the Coles Creek culture is important because it stands as a direct predecessor to this climax "Mississippian" achievement. Mr. Wells has proposed several hypotheses about this developmental sequence and believes that elite control of a highly complex mortuary ritual may have allowed the concentration of power into relatively few hands. This research should allow him to test this conclusion. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and shed new light on the prehistory of the United States. It will increase understanding of how social complexity develops and contribute to the training of a promising young scientist.