Early Mississippian Social Negotiation and Cahokia's Richland Complex

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Timothy Pauketat博士和他的同事们将在密苏里州圣路易斯以东的Cahokia地区进行两个考古季节的实地研究。卡霍基亚是一个不朽的遗址，其中包括大土堆和“伐木场”，它可能是史前北美已知的最大和最有等级组织的社会的中心。对卡霍基亚遗址的挖掘本身揭示了一种空间组织，表明了一种持续一致的中央集权，很可能有数万人被纳入这个系统。与葬礼相关的异国商品表明，贸易网络遍及中西部。虽然大多数考古学家都假定了一种直截了当且相当僵化的政治组织形式，但波克塔特博士根据他之前在该地区的工作，认为存在着相当大的灵活性，卡霍基亚势力范围内的许多群体表现出不同程度的独立。在他最近支持的美国国家科学基金会的一项研究中，他注意到在大约35公里的区域突然出现了“里奇菲尔德群”。从卡霍基亚来的，大约公元1050年。就在那时，Cahokia经历了最强烈的荧光，Pauketat博士认为，里奇菲尔德人离开遗址中心，获得了更大程度的独立性。Pauketat博士和他的团队将对这一地区具有代表性的样本进行步行调查。他们将记录表面材料和特征，并绘制它们的分布。在此基础上，将有可能确定里奇菲尔德人的范围和人口密度。将选择三个遗址进行挖掘。其目的将是确定定居点的配置和住房结构，以便与当代的卡霍基亚相比较。还将对陶瓷和其他文物进行分析，以确定相似程度。在此基础上，可以确定与卡霍基亚的文化分离程度，并追踪这种距离随时间的变化。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。考古学家已经认识到，只有在更广泛的地区背景下才能理解像卡霍基亚这样的大首都。到目前为止收集的数据表明，简单的等级和统治模式不能自动应用于这种情况，中心和腹地之间可能存在不断的谈判和权力重新定义。Pauketat博士收集的数据将有助于证实或否认这一模型。这项研究将涉及布法罗大学的一所野外学校，从而为许多学生提供培训。

With National Science Foundation support Dr. Timothy Pauketat and his colleagues will conduct two field seasons of archaeological research in the Cahokia region, located East of St. Louis, Missouri. Cahokia is a monumental site which included large mounds and `woodhenges` and which served as center for perhaps the largest and most hierarchically organized society known in prehistoric North America. Excavation at the site of Cahokia itself revealed a spatial organization indicative of a sustained consistent centralized power and it is likely that tens of thousands of individuals were incorporated into this system. Exotic goods associated with burials indicate trade networks which extended across the midwest. While most archaeologists have assumed a straightforward and fairly rigid form of political organization, Dr. Pauketat, based on his prior work in the area, believes that a significant amount of flexibility existed and that many groups within the Cahokia sphere of influence exhibited varying degrees of independence. In his recently supported NSF study, he noted the sudden appearance of `Richfield groups` in an area about 35 km. from Cahokia at ca. 1,050 AD. It was just then that Cahokia underwent its greatest fluorescence and Dr. Pauketat believes that Richfield peoples moved away from the site center to obtain a greater degree of independence. Dr. Pauketat and his team will conduct a pedestrian survey over a representative sample of this area. They will note surface material and features and plot their distribution. On this basis it will be possible to determine the extent and population density of Richfield peoples. Three sites will be chosen for excavation. The purpose will be to determine settlement configuration and house organization for comparison with contemporary Cahokia counterparts. Ceramics and other cultural objects will be analyzed also to determine degree of similarity. On this basis degree of cultural separation from Cahokia can be determined and the changes in such distance traced over time. This research is important for several reasons. Archaeologists have come to realize that large `capitals` such as Cahokia can only be understood in a broader regional context. Data collected to date suggest that simple models of hierarchy and dominance can not be automatically applied in such situations and that constant negotiation and re-definition of power between center and hinterlands likely existed. The data collected by Dr. Pauketat will help to confirm or deny this model. The research will involve a University of Buffalo field school and thus provide training for many students.