Dissertation Improvement Grant: Colorado River Archaeology

在Keith Kintigh博士的指导下，Andrew Duff先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将研究亚利桑那州中东部小科罗拉多河上游(ULCR)地区史前晚期遗址的考古陶瓷样本，以及邻近地区相关遗址的其他陶瓷样本。为了做到这一点，样品将在密苏里大学反应堆通过中子活化进行分析。由此产生的基本确定将使达夫能够确定哪些陶瓷来自相同的来源，并在此基础上重建贸易和社会互动的模式。达夫先生希望研究位于该地区的不同村落之间的联系，以及它们与更大的史前世界的不同联系。根据对陶瓷设计的分析，初步工作表明，尽管ULCR社区在空间上很接近，但它们的贸易网络差异很大。在史前的西南地区达到了相当程度的社会复杂性，由于除了徒步旅行之外没有其他形式的交通工具，考古学家们希望了解个别社区是如何实现并保持与其他群体的联系的。第二个有趣的问题涉及允许在高度多变和不可预测的沙漠环境中生存的社会战略。研究人员假设，系统的设计允许货物的移动，以补偿沙漠特有的降雨量和生产力的空间差异。为了研究这个问题，科学家必须重建相互作用网络，他们使用考古发现的材料遗骸来实现这一目标。由于来自不同矿藏的粘土的化学成分往往不同，它们经常可以用来追踪货物的移动，达夫的研究利用了这一事实。他的工作之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为人类适应不可预测的环境提供新的线索。它将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的数据，并将有助于培训一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Keith Kintigh, Mr. Andrew Duff will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will examine a sample of archaeological ceramics from late prehistoric sites in the Upper Little Colorado River (ULCR) region of East-Central Arizona as well as others from related sites in adjacent areas. To accomplish this, samples will be analyzed by neutron activation at the University of Missouri reactor. The elemental determinations which result will allow Mr. Duff to determine which ceramics came from the same sources and on this basis to reconstruct patterns of trade and social interaction. Mr. Duff wishes to examine links among the different pueblos located in the and their differential ties with the larger prehistoric world. Preliminary work, based on analysis of ceramic design, suggests that although ULCR communities were spatially close, their trade networks varied significantly. A considerable degree of social complexity was reached in the prehistoric Southwest and given no other form of transportation than foot travel, archaeologists wish to understand how individual communities achieved and maintained links with other groups. A second interesting question concerns social strategies which permitted survival in a highly variable and unpredictable desert environment. Researchers hypothesize that systems were designed to allow the movement of goods to compensate for the spatial variation in rainfall and productivity which characterize deserts. To examine this question scientists must reconstruct interaction networks and they use archaeologically recovered material remains to accomplish this goal. Because clays from different deposits often vary in chemical composition they can often be used to trace movements of goods and Mr. Duff's research takes advantage of this fact. His work is important for several reasons. It will shed new light on human adaptation to unpredictable environments. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and will also assist in the training of a promising young scientist.