Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Community and Demography in Bronze Age Southern Russia

在Bryan Hanks博士的指导下，博士候选人James A. Johnson将分析在俄罗斯南部车里雅宾斯克州Stepnoye和Chernorech'ye的青铜时代中期（MBA）（公元前2100年至1700年）强化定居点的系统行人调查期间收集的数据。该地区长期以来一直被认为是一个主要的流动畜牧业地区，由于22个强化定居点的发展，该地区引起了地区和国际学者越来越多的关注。这些工事聚落在空间组织上具有相似性，且家庭结构之间的规模没有差异。此外，学者们认为，如果不是全部，这些定居点中的一些充当了冶金生产中心，这不仅表明人口集中，而且表明经济和政治集中。然而，没有进行任何研究来积极地测试这些社区是否集中，如果是，集中到什么程度。研究中心和腹地之间的空间关系是重要的，因为它将为跨地理区域共享的社区社会组织和人口统计提供重要信息。如果不首先更好地了解所涉及的社区动态，就不能对人类学考古学中常见的更广泛的社会、经济和政治过程（如社会不平等、城市化和社会崩溃）进行经验建模。建立这种模型的一个合乎逻辑的出发点是对当地和区域人口统计的变化进行经验评估。对社区空间组织的人口变化（通过人口分布和密度）进行评价，可以表明与社会分层发展相一致的向心趋势的出现和强度，也可能揭示人与环境关系的变化。此外，系统的行人调查可以揭示集中式社区解体的程度和强度，并在崩溃后的背景下形成更小、更流动的牧区群体。长期以来，记录这种模式一直是人类学考古学和早期社会复杂性形式研究的方法论和理论关注，特别是早期城市化进程。该项目利用从地面收集的人口分布和密度变化数据，进一步评估中心与其腹地以及久坐不动和流动性更强的群体之间不断变化的关系。除了与人类学考古学有关的更具体的研究问题外，该项目还寻求进一步发展俄罗斯和美国学术界之间的国际联系。该项目与来自俄罗斯各学术机构的教师以及来自众多大学的俄罗斯和美国学生密切合作，旨在进一步将俄罗斯史前史纳入早期社会复杂性形式发展的科学研究的比较视野。通过吸收来自美国和俄罗斯联邦的研究生和本科生，并鼓励对这些学生进行新的实地方法培训，该项目将有助于克服两国考古传统之间的传统障碍。此外，准备在匹兹堡大学比较考古中心网站上发布的数据库将允许学生和其他学者开放访问，查看和利用从该研究项目中收集的数据。

Under the supervision of Dr. Bryan Hanks, doctoral candidate, James A. Johnson, will analyze data collected during systematic pedestrian survey of and between the Middle Bronze Age (MBA) (2100 - 1700 BC) fortified settlements of Stepnoye and Chernorech'ye in the Chelyabinsk Oblast in southern Russia. This region has drawn increased attention of regional and international scholars due to the development of twenty-two fortified settlements in what had long been considered a predominately mobile pastoralist region. The fortified settlements are notable due to the similarity in spatial organization and the lack of differentiation in sizes between household structures. In addition, scholars have posited that some, if not all, of these settlements acted as centers for metallurgical production, indicative of not only demographic, but also economic and political centralization. Yet, no studies have been undertaken to actively test if these communities were centralized and if they were, to what degree. Research focusing on the spatial relationships between centers and hinterlands is important as it will contribute vital information to a basic foundation of community social organization and demography shared across geographic regions. Broader social, economic and political processes common to anthropological archaeology such as social inequality, urbanization, and societal collapse cannot be empirically modeled without first developing a better understanding of the community dynamics involved. A logical starting place for such models is to empirically evaluate changes in local and regional demography. The evaluation of demographic changes in community spatial organization (through demographic distribution and density) can indicate the emergence and strength of centripetal trends that coincide with the development of social stratification, and might also reveal changes in human-environment relationships. Furthermore, systematic pedestrian survey can reveal the extent and the intensity to which centralized communities disintegrate and go on to form smaller, more mobile pastoral groups in post-collapse contexts. Documenting such patterns has long been a methodological and theoretical concern in anthropological archaeology and studies of early forms of social complexity, and in particular, early processes of urbanization. This project utilizes data gleaned from surface collections on changes in demographic distributions and densities to further evaluate the changing relationships between centers and their hinterlands as well as sedentary and more mobile groups. Beyond the more specific research questions pertaining to anthropological archaeology, this project seeks to further develop international ties between Russian and American scholarly communities. Working closely with faculty from various Russian academic institutions, as well as Russian and American students from numerous universities, the project seeks to further bring Russian prehistory within the comparative lens of scientific research on the development of early forms of social complexity. By incorporating graduate and undergraduate students from both the US and Russian Federation, and encouraging the training of these students in new field methods, the project will help to overcome traditional obstacles between the two national archaeological traditions. Furthermore, the preparation of databases for publication on the University of Pittsburgh Center for Comparative Archaeology website will allow students and other scholars open access to view and utilize data collected from this research project.