Dissertation Research: Ceramic Use in an Agrarian Society: Ethnoarchaeology among the Gamo of Southwestern Ethiopia

在Steven Brandt博士的指导下，John Arthur先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将对埃塞俄比亚西南部的加莫人进行广泛的民族志实地调查，并在亚的斯亚贝巴的图书馆进行研究。这项工作的目的是研究这些传统农人对陶瓷的使用，并提取具有考古价值的信息。鉴于西方市场的广泛渗透，今天世界上很少有地方仍然有群体在当地用传统技术生产陶器并依赖这些产品。加莫人很有趣，因为他们跨越了一个海拔梯度，他们种植的作物被分成几个综合体，这些综合体按海拔高度分开。因此，在单一“文化”的背景下，可以观察到行为上明显的模式变化。Arthur先生将专注于陶瓷的生产、使用和丢弃，为了实现他的目标，他将在三个村庄进行广泛的研究。他将收集基本的人口和社会数据，并在此背景下对船舶环境和使用变化进行详细观察。他将观察陶瓷的日常使用，如烹饪方法。他还将对使用过的陶瓷容器和磨具样本进行实验室分析，以深入了解这些材料的结构性质以及它们在重复使用中所经历的变化。由于陶器在世界上许多地方被史前人类广泛使用，而且在考古遗址中保存得很好，也为科学研究提供了一个重点。考古学家经常在挖掘中发现大量破碎的陶器碎片，他们试图通过分析来重建制造者和使用者生活方式的许多方面。为了有效地做到这一点，了解陶瓷如何反映人类行为以及哪些分析技术可以最有效地阐明这种关系是很重要的。在仍然用传统方法生产陶器的社会中，研究这些相互作用是非常有用的，亚瑟先生找到了一个理想的情况来做这件事。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将有助于开发在许多考古情况下可能使用的分析技术。它还将帮助培训一名有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Steven Brandt, Mr. John Arthur will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct extended ethnographic fieldwork among the Gamo people in Southwestern Ethiopia and supplement this with library research in Addis Ababa. The goal of this work is to study ceramic use among these traditional agriculturists and extract information which will be of archaeological value. Given the widespread penetration of western markets, there are very few places in the world today where groups still produce pottery on a local level by traditional techniques and rely on the products. The Gamo are interesting because they span an altitudinal gradient and the crops they grow are divided into several complexes which are segregated by height above sea level. Thus, within the context of a single `culture` significant clearly patterned variation in behavior can be observed. Mr. Arthur will focus on ceramic production, use and discard and to accomplish his goal he will conduct extensive research in three villages. He will collect basic demographic and social data and within this context carry out detailed observation on vessel context and use-alteration changes. He will observe daily ceramic use such as cooking practices. He will also conduct laboratory analyses on a sample of used ceramic vessels and abraders to gain insight into the structural nature of these materials and the alterations they undergo through repeated use. Because pottery was widely used by prehistoric people in many parts of the world and because it is well and abundantly preserved in archaeological sites, it has provided a focus for scientific investigation. Archaeologists often recover large numbers of broken potsherds in their excavations and they attempt, through analysis, to reconstruct numerous aspects of the makers' and users' lifestyles. To do this effectively, it is important to understand how ceramics reflect human behavior and what analytic techniques can most effectively elucidate this relationship. It is extremely useful to examine these interactions in societies which still produce pottery by traditional methods and Mr. Arthur has located an ideal situation to do this. This research is important for several reasons. It will help develop analytic techniques of potential use in many archaeological situations. It will also assist in training a promising young scientist.