The Nature and Structure of a Frontier Mississippian Village: The Aztalan Site, Wisconsin

在国家科学基金会的支持下，林恩·戈尔茨坦博士和她的学生将继续在阿兹塔兰遗址进行考古研究。位于麦迪逊和威斯康星州密尔沃基之间的小龙虾河上，这个不同寻常的大遗址占地约21英亩。它被栅栏或栅栏包围，每根柱子都插在地上，用粘土灰泥覆盖。堡垒或瞭望塔是以固定的间隔建造的，除了这面外墙，还发现了几面内栅栏墙。场地内房屋的良好保存使个别活动区得以确定。大约公元800-1300年的阿兹塔兰语可以追溯到史前晚期，这是不寻常的，因为它与密西西比河流域南部的中密西西比文化有关。在这个遥远的北方，没有其他已知的事件发生，而且这个地点是一个异常的边远边远社区。戈尔茨坦博士希望了解密西西比亚海中部的变化范围，阿兹塔兰是如何组织起来的，以及它是如何与其他当地社区互动的。虽然很明显是密西西比州的中部，但初步数据表明，阿兹塔兰的空间组织与南方的对应物有很大不同。为了解决这些问题，将采用三种方法。首先，在遗址的四个区域进行选择性试掘将提供有关遗址结构的更多信息。其次，对丰富的动植物遗存进行分析。一项初步研究表明，这些数据将提供有关食品生产性质和用于仪式目的植物动物的重要信息。最后，一个地理信息系统将扩大到包括基本的遗址数据，如地形和现代特征，以及戈尔茨坦博士和以前的研究人员挖掘的个别特征和房屋的信息。这项研究将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的数据。它将阐明美国史前一个重要而鲜为人知的方面，并增加对酋长组织的科学理解。它还将帮助培训本科生和研究生。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Lynne Goldstein and her students will continue their archaeological research at the site of Aztalan. Situated on the Crawfish River between Madison and Milwaukee Wisconsin, this large and unusual site covers approximately 21 acres. It was surrounded by a stockade or palisade with individual posts set into the ground and covered with clay plaster. Bastions or watchtowers were constructed at regular intervals and in addition to this outer wall, several inner palisade walls have also been identified. Excellent preservation of houses within the site has permitted identification of individual activity areas. Dating from the late prehistoric period, ca. 800-1300 AD Aztalan is unusual because it is associated with the Middle Mississipean culture which has its geographical focus in the southern Mississippi Valley. No other occurrences are known this far North and the site is an anomalous outlying frontier community. Dr. Goldstein wishes to understand the range of variability within the Middle Mississipean, how Aztalan was organized and how it interacted with other local communities. While clearly Middle Mississippean, preliminary data demonstrate that Aztalan's spatial organization differs significantly from its Southern counterparts. To address these questions three approaches will be employed. First, selective test excavations in four areas of the site will provide additional information on site structure. Secondly, abundant botanical and faunal remains will be analyzed. A pilot study demonstrates that such data will provide important information on the nature of food production and plant an animal use for ritual purposes. Finally a geographic information system will be expanded to include basic site data such as topography and modern features as well an information on individual features and houses excavated by Dr. Goldstein as well as past researchers. This research will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will shed light on an important and poorly understood aspect of U.S. prehistory and increase scientific understanding of chiefdom organization. It will also assist in training both undergraduate and graduate students.