Doctoral Dissertation Research: An Archaeological Study of Sociopolitical Change in Siin (Senegal), AD 1000-1900

在克里斯托弗·德科尔斯博士的指导下，弗朗索瓦·理查德将在位于塞内加尔中西部的历史省份锡因进行博士研究。在2001年和2002年开始的前期工作的基础上，这项研究将收集考古材料，以考察锡因在过去千年中政治制度的形成和发展。公元1000年至1900年期间，塞内加尔发生了相当大的变化，该地区逐渐融入了横跨撒哈拉的经济、大西洋体系和法国殖民帝国。尽管规模不大，但在口头传统和后来的历史文献中，锡恩被描绘成一个充满活力的文化十字路口，移民人口的避风港，以及地区政治中的积极参与者。然而，这些来源几乎没有阐明长期的社会变化，关于人口流动的时机、政治组织的性质以及欧洲扩张对当地社会的影响仍有许多需要了解。考古学非常适合于解决这些问题，因为景观中物质遗迹的分布提供了过去人类社会经历的变革的非常具体的痕迹。在锡因，将对一些目标地区进行调查，以确定居住地点并绘制其地理位置。初步的陶器序列记录了陶器风格随时间的变化，将用于测定表面沉积物的年代，并将遗址置于年代学框架中。然后，就可以绘制地图，显示定居点模式和社会政治组织如何随着时间的推移而演变，并开始质疑造成这些发展的历史力量。有限的发掘将有助于微调年代，并加深对少数选定遗址的区域历史的了解。多年来，考古学家和人类学家一直将非洲描绘成一片死水，主要是因为它的社会不符合社会进化的“公认”准则。然而，将政治发展视为从简单到复杂的线性驱动，传统的进化模型不仅不准确，而且在很大程度上无法解释世界各地人类社会经历过的社会进程的多样性。最近的研究强调了非洲案例研究有助于发展新的社会复杂性理论的潜力，这些理论考虑到人类在适应不断变化的条件方面的创造性。这样的工作还有助于将非洲从其处于历史边缘的地位中拯救出来，记录塑造这块大陆的复杂的历史因素。锡恩为追求这些目标提供了一个极好的环境，因为它在过去的千年里培育了广泛的政治制度。这项研究可能会说明塞内加尔社会从来没有孤立地生活过，而是在早期参与了巨大的交换系统，涉及人、货物和思想。除了对社会进化的比较研究作出贡献外，理查德先生的项目还将加深我们对全球发展(撒哈拉贸易、资本主义世界体系的崛起、殖民征服)对塞内加尔社会的影响的理解。最后，该项目将与当地社区合作，确保对几名塞内加尔学生进行考古培训，同时帮助理查德先生本人的专业成长。

Under the supervision of Dr. Christopher DeCorse, Francois Richard will conduct his doctoral research in the Siin, a historic province located in west-central Senegal. Growing out of preliminary work begun in 2001 and 2002, the research will collect archaeological materials to examine the formation and development of political systems in the Siin during the past millennium. The AD 1000-1900 period was a time of considerable changes in Senegambia, as the region became gradually immersed into the trans-Saharan economy, the Atlantic system, and the French colonial empire. Despite its modest scale, Siin is depicted in oral traditions and later historical documents as a vibrant cultural crossroads, a haven for migrant populations, and an active player in regional politics. These sources, however, shed little light on long-term social changes, and much remains to be learned about the timing of population movements, the nature of political organization, and the consequences of European expansion for local societies. Archaeology is ideally suited to address these questions, because the distribution of material vestiges in the landscape provides very concrete traces of the transformations which past human societies have experienced. In Siin, a number of target areas will be surveyed to locate habitation sites and plot their geographic position. A preliminary ceramic sequence, which documents time-sensitive shifts in pottery styles, will be used to date surface deposits and place sites in a chronological framework. It is then possible to create maps showing how settlement patterns and sociopolitical organization evolved over time, and begin to question the historical forces responsible for these developments. Limited excavations will help to fine-tune the chronology and deepen understanding of regional history at a few selected sites. For many years, archaeologists and anthropologists have portrayed Africa as a backwater, mostly because its societies did not conform to 'accepted' canons of social evolution. In viewing political development as a linear drive from 'simple' to 'complex,' however, traditional evolutionary models were not only inaccurate, but largely failed to explain the diversity of social courses which human societies worldwide have traveled. Recent research has stressed the potential of African case studies to assist in the development of new theories of social complexity that are mindful of human creativity in adapting to changing conditions. Such work can also help rescue Africa from its position at the margins of history, to document the complex historical factors that have shaped the continent. The Siin provides an excellent environment to pursue these goals, because of the wide array of political systems it has nurtured over the past millennium. The research will likely illustrate how Senegambian societies never lived in isolation but partook at an early time in vast systems of exchange, involving people, goods, and ideas. In addition to making a contribution to the comparative study of social evolution, Mr. Richard's project will also further our understanding of the effects of global developments (Saharan trade, the rise of the capitalist world-system, colonial conquest) on Senegambian societies. Lastly, in collaboration with local communities, the project will ensure the archaeological training of several Senegalese students, while assisting in the professional growth of Mr. Richard himself.