Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Archaeology of Angel Mounds

在K. Anne Pyburn博士的指导下，Dru McGill将分析从天使丘（Angel mound）的密西西比时代考古遗址中出土的陶瓷中收集到的数据。天使丘州立历史遗址位于印第安纳州西南部的俄亥俄河上，是公元1000年至1450年之间的公民仪式中心，其中包括大型平台丘和数百个被防御墙包围的结构。最近的研究表明，天使丘的“社区”是由亲属关系组织起来的。在美国公共事业振兴署（Works Progress administration）执政期间，以及随后的印第安纳大学（Indiana University）实地考察项目期间，考古学家从天使丘（Angel mound）移走了200多万件文物，其中许多都没有得到多少研究。麦吉尔将重点分析大约4000块陶瓷碎片，以帮助了解天使丘和其他密西西比考古遗址的居民群体的功能和工艺生产的组织。这项研究意义重大，因为它将为美国的过去提供新的视角。它还将帮助科学家了解导致复杂社会发展和维持的基本过程。对工艺生产和社会组织的研究提供了对文化特征的洞察，这些特征被认为影响了考古学中的许多其他理论和实践，包括：生存，种族，意识形态，身份，政治经济，社会政治复杂性，亲属和性别关系。先前对工艺生产的大部分研究都集中在高度装饰的“声望商品”上，这可能对密西西比精英的政治和经济战略很重要，但在密西西比遗址中发现的陶器中只占很小的比例（天使丘约占1%）。这项研究通过关注可能在家庭环境中制作的普通实用陶器来补充早期的工作。功利主义陶器将通过测量陶工加工粘土和塑造陶器容器所用的“配方”和成型技术的各个方面来分析，目的是确定不同制陶社区是否存在特征，或者陶器是否根据其他标准（例如技术效率）制作。通过研究天使丘不同社区或亲属群体之间陶器生产技术的差异，本研究有可能证明密西西比遗址的遗址内部多样性，并支持“平民”在创造密西西比不同身份的过程中发挥积极作用的观点。此外，这项研究可能有助于我们了解史前社会精英对工艺生产的控制程度，以及女性在家庭和亲属群体中的角色。该项目还将对公众产生更广泛的影响。麦吉尔将利用他在印第安纳州中小学、图书馆和州立公园的公共教育联系（发展了五年的考古拓展经验），提供公开讲座、课堂参观、信息丰富的小册子和海报。通过这些媒体，麦吉尔大学将增加公众对考古学、史前人类生活和科学的了解。项目数据和结论也将通过出版物和在专业会议上的介绍向科学界传播。最后，这个项目更广泛的影响包括对作者的研究生培训，以及对项目研究助理的本科生培训，他们将深入了解收藏管理实践、陶瓷分析和考古教育。

Under the supervision of Dr. K. Anne Pyburn, Dru McGill will analyze data collected from ceramic ceramics previously excavated from the Mississippian-era archaeological site of Angel Mounds. Angel Mounds State Historic Site, located on the Ohio River in southwest Indiana, is a civic-ceremonial center dating between A.D. 1000-1450, which includes large platform mounds and hundreds of structures surrounded by a fortification wall. Recent research has suggested the existence of "neighborhoods" at Angel Mounds, organized by kinship relationships. During Works Progress Administration-era, and subsequent Indiana University field-programs, archaeologists removed over two million artifacts from Angel Mounds, many of which have been minimally studied. McGill will focus his analysis on approximately 4,000 ceramic sherds to help understand the functions of residential groups and the organization of craft production at Angel Mounds and other Mississippian archaeological sites. The research is significant because it will shed new light on America's past. It will also help scientists to understand the basic processes which led to the development and maintenance of complex societies.Research on craft production and social organization provides insight into cultural features which are thought to influence a number of other theories and practices in archaeology, including: subsistence, ethnicity, ideology, identity, political economy, socio-political complexity, and kin and gender relations. A majority of previous research on craft production has focused on highly decorated "prestige-goods," which, while likely important to the political and economic strategies of Mississippian elites, constitute a small percentage of pottery found at Mississippian sites (approximately 1% at Angel Mounds). This study complements earlier work by focusing on plain utilitarian pottery likely made in domestic contexts. Utilitarian pottery will be analyzed by measuring various aspects of the "recipes" and formation techniques used by potters to process clay and shape pottery vessels, with the goal of determining if signatures exist for different pottery-making neighborhoods, or if pottery was made according to other standards (e.g. technological efficiency). By examining differences in pottery production techniques between neighborhoods or kin groups in Angel Mounds, this study has the potential to demonstrate intra-site diversity at Mississippian sites and support the idea that "commoners" were active agents in the creation of diverse Mississippian identities. Additionally, this research may contribute to our understanding of the extent of elite control over craft production, and the roles of women in households and kin groups in prehistoric societies.The project will also have broader impacts for public audiences. McGill will utilize his public education contacts at elementary and secondary schools, libraries, and state parks in Indiana (developed over five years of archaeology outreach experiences) to offer public lectures, classroom visits, and informative pamphlets and posters. Through these media, McGill will increase public knowledge about archaeology, the lives of prehistoric peoples, and science generally. Project data and conclusions will also be disseminated to the scientific community through publications and presentations at professional conferences. Finally, the broader impacts of this project include graduate student training for the author, and undergraduate student training for project research assistants, who will gain insight into collection management practices, ceramic analysis, and archaeology education.