Chronological Control for Chiefdom Development in the Upper Tennessee Valley

在国家科学基金会的支持下，林恩·沙利文博士和一名研究生助理将为田纳西州东部地区大约1,200-1,600年的时间开发一份陶瓷年表。这一地区的考古材料有可能解决重大的人类学问题，但目前无法对遗址进行准确的相对或绝对排序，因为缺乏时间控制。由于陶器设计会随着时间的推移发生系统的变化，考古学家已经开发出详细的分析方法来分离和描述时间敏感的属性，从而可以建立主序列。然后，可以将各个地点的材料与主年表进行比较，并将其放置在相对时间内。随着放射性碳测年的增加，这样的系统可以固定到绝对年份。沙利文博士和研究生助理将对从田纳西州东部墓地挖掘出来的完整或可重建的陶器进行系列化。这些作品是田纳西大学麦克隆博物馆的策展人。该序列将与地层层序中的碎片进行交叉参照，并与放射性碳分析的日期相联系。在哥伦布到来之前的一千年里，北美大部分地区的美洲原住民社会从高度流动的平等主义群体转变为定居的农业社区。这一过程伴随着社会和政治复杂性的增长以及等级组织的酋长的崛起。整个中西部普遍存在一种制度，其特点是带有凸起的土丘的大遗址，充当政治和宗教权威的中心。田纳西州东部之所以引起考古学的特别兴趣，是因为出现了农业遗址，但缺乏中央丘陵组织。考古学家希望了解这些酋长是如何组织的，以及为什么这一地区的过程明显不同。虽然许多遗址是已知的，但为了实现最大的有用性，它们必须放在一个安全的年代背景下，沙利文博士的研究就是朝着这个目标进行的。这项工作很重要，因为它将提供一个编年法工具，增加大量已经出土的考古遗址的科学价值。它将使科学家能够解决文化变化和发展的重大问题。

With National Science Foundation support Dr. Lynne Sullivan and a graduate assistant will develop a ceramic chronology for the time period from ca. 1,200 - 1,600 AD for the Eastern Tennessee region. This area has yielded archaeological materials with the potential to address significant anthropological questions, but presently sites can not be placed in an accurate relative or absolute sequence because chronological control is lacking. Because pottery designs change in systematic ways over time, archaeologists have developed detailed analytic methods to isolate and describe time sensitive attributes which permit the establishment of a master sequence. Materials from individual sites can then be compared to the master chronology and placed in relative time. With the addition of radiocarbon dating such systems can then be anchored to absolute years. Dr. Sullivan and graduate assistant will seriate whole or reconstructible ceramic vessels excavated from grave situations in Eastern Tennessee. These are curated at the McClung Museum of the University of Tennessee. The seriation will be cross-referenced with sherds from stratigraphic sequences and tied to dates from radiocarbon assays. In the thousand years before the arrival of Columbus Native American societies across much of North America were transformed from highly mobile egalitarian groups into settled agricultural communities. This process was accompanied by the growth of social and political complexity and the rise of hierarchically organized chiefdoms. Widespread across the Midwest was a system marked by large sites with raised earthen mounds which functioned as centers for political and religious authority. What makes Eastern Tennessee of particular archaeological interest is the appearance of agricultural sites but the lack of central mound organization. Archaeologists wish to understand both how such chiefdoms were organized and why the process is apparently different in this one region. Although many sites are known, to achieve maximum usefulness they must be placed in a secure chronological context and Dr. Sullivan's research is directed towards this goal. The work is important because it will provide a chronological tool which will increase the scientific value of a large number of already excavated archaeological sites. It will permit scientists to address significant questions of culture change and development.