Dissertation Research: Hunting, Feasting, and Communal Ritual: Social Differentiation in Ancient Zuni Communities

在凯瑟琳斯皮尔曼博士的指导下，詹姆斯波特先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将分析亚利桑那州祖尼地区一系列考古遗址的动物群和陶瓷遗迹。他将重点介绍大约公元1250-1350年的关键时期。许多考古学家认为，正是在这一时期，出现了不同地位和政治分化的第一个迹象。为了验证这一假设，波特先生将检查大量的动物遗骸，并绘制出它们在不同地点的差异分布图。他认为，个体之间的地位差异应该反映在聚集的骨头上，这些骨头来自相对有限的地区的肉类选择。非聚集性分布应该是一个平等社会的标志。考古学和人种学数据都表明，西南美洲原住民利用仪式知识来获得地位，这通常涉及使用用于仪式目的的鸟类物种。在他的研究中，波特先生还将研究这些遗址中鸟类骨骼的分布情况。 由于树木年轮测年法可以为美国西南部的许多遗址确定精确的年代，因此可以在世界上大多数其他地区无法实现的年代尺度上研究社会变迁。因此，考古学家将这一地区作为一个测试案例，研究复杂的社会分层社会是如何产生的。基于建筑的变化，所研究的时期似乎标志着一个关键的过渡阶段，波特先生的分析将为这项研究带来一类新的数据。 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。它将为美国的史前史提供新的线索，并将有助于培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Katherine Spielmann, Mr. James Potter will collect data for his doctoral thesis. He will analyze both faunal and ceramic remains from a series of archaeological sites from the Zuni region of Arizona. He will focus on the crucial interval from approximately 1250-1350 A.D. It was during this period, many archaeologists argue, that the first indications of differential status and political differentiation appear. To test this hypothesis Mr. Potter will examine large collections of faunal remains and plot their differential distribution across sites. He argues that status differentiation among individuals should be reflected in the clustering bones which derive from choice cuts of meat in relatively restricted areas. A non-clustered distribution should be indicative of an egalitarian society. Both archaeological and ethnographic data indicate that Southwestern Native Americans employed control of ritual knowledge to achieve status and this often involved the use of species of birds which were used for ceremonial purposes. In his research Mr. Potter will also examine the distribution of bird bones across the sites. Because tree ring dating has allowed precise chronological ages to be assigned to many Southwestern U.S. sites, it is possible to examine social transitions at a chronological scale impossible to achieve in most other parts of the world. Thus archaeologists have used this area as a test case to study how complex socially stratified societies arise. Based on architectural changes, the period under examination appears to mark a critical transition stage and Mr. Potter's analyses will bring a new class of data to bear in this study. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will shed new light on the prehistory of the United States and will assist in the training of a promising young scientist.