Prehistoric Native Copper Technology in Northwest North America: Innovation, Diffusion, and Heritage

北美西北部存在着三个不同的地区（北极中部、亚北极西部和西北海岸），这些地区有天然铜的来源和史前使用铜的证据，这为比较研究社会政治上不同的狩猎采集者群体中与单一材料创新相关的技术变革提供了机会。一个具有北方考古学、人种学、地质学和材料科学背景的跨学科合作团队将开展一项为期三年的研究计划，调查北美西北部狩猎采集者的本地铜创新及其与新兴社会复杂性（即世袭等级的发展）的关系。自然产生的纯铜被整个地区的土著群体用来制作工具、武器和个人装饰品。传统上，后一种用途被考古学家视为试图使用声望商品（声望技术）来展示财富，因此，与史前冶金术的讨论一般相似，这些地区使用天然铜与新兴的社会复杂性有关。对来源和文物进行区域内和区域间的空间分析，对博物馆藏品中的文物进行成分分析，对铜加工制造进行详细的实验研究，以及与Ahtna社区合作收集的口述历史，将为本地铜创新提供定量和定性数据。这些数据将使用设计理论框架进行整合，该框架将提供对不同社会和环境背景下狩猎采集者采用这项技术的好处和限制的整体多尺度理解。虽然该项目侧重于围绕狩猎采集者使用特定材料的创新，但它将有助于对创新进行更广泛的人类学讨论，并将产生数据，用于开发技术创新模型，以供未来测试。此外，该项目还包括跨学科研究生和本科生教育、培训和实践研究的重要机会，以及与Ahtna社区多代人接触的机会。

The existence of three distinct regions within northwest North America (central Arctic, western Subarctic, and Northwest Coast) with sources of native copper and evidence for its prehistoric use provides the opportunity for a comparative study of technological change related to the innovation of a single material among socio-politically diverse groups of hunter-gatherers. A collaborative interdisciplinary team with backgrounds in northern archaeology and ethnography, geology, and materials science will undertake a three-year program of research investigating native copper innovation, and its relationship to emergent social complexity (i.e., the development of hereditary rank), among northwest North American hunter-gatherers. Naturally occurring pure native copper was used by indigenous groups throughout the region for tools, weapons, and objects of personal adornment. This latter use has been traditionally viewed by archaeologists as attempts to display wealth using prestige goods (prestige technology) and as a result, and similar to discussions of prehistoric metallurgy in general, the use of native copper in these regions has been associated with emergent social complexity. Intra- and inter-regional spatial analysis of sources and artifacts, compositional analysis of artifacts in museum collections, detailed experimental studies of copper-working manufacturing, and oral history collected in collaboration with the Ahtna community, will provide quantitative and qualitative data on native copper innovation. These data will be integrated using a design theory framework that will provide a holistic multi-scalar understanding of the benefits and constraints associated with the adoption of this technology by hunter-gatherers in different social and environmental contexts. Though focused on innovation surrounding the use of a specific material among hunter-gatherers, this project will contribute to more general anthropological discussions of innovation and will generate data for use in developing models of technological innovation for future testing. Additionally, the project includes significant opportunities for interdisciplinary graduate and undergraduate education, training, and hands-on research, and opportunities for multi-generational engagement with the Ahtna community.