Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Traders and Farmers: The Multi-Settlement Community Organization in the Rio Sonora Region, Mexico

在保罗·菲什博士的指导下，马修·佩尔斯先生将为他的博士论文进行研究。他将研究墨西哥索诺拉东北部的社区结构和家庭交换模式，该地区在公元900年至1600年之间发展起来。在这一区域，家庭维护生存自主权的利益，与出于安全和其他原因需要组成更大群体的冲突，导致了独特的组织模式。这项研究具有广泛的重要性，因为它提供了洞察传统小规模社会中群体和联盟是如何形成的，以及它们是如何在相当长的一段时间内保持或改变的。16世纪西班牙探险家的描述描述了索诺拉东北部有等级组织的领土社区。以前的研究人员认为，防御性需求和对长途交流的精英控制是社区组织的基础。在Moctezuma山谷进行的一项试点研究提供了与重建相反的数据。社区似乎很小，相对没有组织，通过当地的交流而融合在一起。这项初步研究的洞察力是两个研究问题的基础：1)社区实际上是由缺乏社区间或社区内政治分化的小定居群体组成的吗？如果是这样的话，2)小规模的社区是否鼓励家庭将当地定居联系最大化，作为一种缓解风险的手段？为了回答这些问题，佩尔斯将对三个聚落社区最大遗址的建筑样本进行密集测绘和挖掘。这将提供关于内部定居点组织的数据，并测试定居点在各自社区中是否在结构上具有同等作用。第二条线的研究将使用显微技术来调查陶瓷文物的来源。根据岩相学确定的出处数据将显示家庭与其他社区的经济联系的程度和变异性，并将作为推断社会关系的替代指标。该项目还将通过陶瓷系列化和陶片热释光测年来完善该地区糟糕的年代学。这个拟议的项目具有更广泛的影响，原因有几个。它将提供关于更知名的美国西南部和中美洲之间一个研究不足的地区的详细信息，并为重建泛地区政治轨迹做出重大贡献。简单地改进索诺拉东北部的年表就会产生重大影响。社区外展是计划工作的一个重点。为了培养与过去的连接感，挖掘过程中将雇用当地居民。该项目将邀请当地学生和居民参观挖掘。这些努力将使当地居民认识到考古遗迹的价值，并阻止它们不必要的破坏。一名墨西哥合作者将参与该项目，以鼓励国际合作和对共同研究问题的兴趣。该项目将为亚利桑那大学的本科生和研究生提供经验。数据将通过各种方式传播。将为西班牙语和英语观众制作传统的学术期刊文章和正式的会议演示文稿。M.Pailes将在美国做几次公开演讲，并将带领业余爱好者和其他感兴趣的团体实地参观该地区。论文的副本将提供给墨西哥政府办公室和机构。

Under the direction of Dr. Paul Fish, Mr. Matthew Pailes will conduct research for his doctoral dissertation. He will investigate community structure and household exchange patterns in northeastern Sonora, Mexico, which developed between AD 900 and 1600. In this region, the interests of households to maintain subsistence autonomy, in conflict with the need to form larger groups for security and other reasons, led to unique organizational patterns. This research is broadly important because it provides insight into how groups and alliances form in traditional small scale societies and how they are maintained or altered over substantial periods of time.Sixteenth century accounts of Spanish explorers describe hierarchically organized territorial communities in northeastern Sonora. Previous researchers argued defensive needs and elite control of long distance exchange were the foundation of community organization. A pilot study in the Moctezuma Valley provided data contrary to this reconstruction. Communities appear to be small, relatively unorganized, and integrated through local exchange. The insights from this pilot study are the basis for two research questions: 1) Were communities actually composed of small settlement groups lacking in inter- or intra-community political differentiation? and if so, 2) Did the small scale of communities encourage households to maximize local settlement ties as a means of risk mitigation? To answer these questions Mr Pailes will intensively map and excavate a sample of structures at the largest sites in three settlement communities. This will provide data on internal settlement organization and test whether the settlements held structurally equivalent roles in their respective communities. A second line of research will employ microscopic techniques to investigate the provenance of ceramic artifacts. Provenance data determined from petrography will indicate the extent and variability in household economic ties to other communities and will serve as a proxy for inferring social relationships. The project also will refine the poor chronology of this region through ceramic seriation and thermoluminescence dating of pot sherds. This proposed project has broader impacts for several reasons. It will provide detailed information on an understudied region between the better-known U.S. Southwest and Mesoamerica and contribute significantly to reconstructions of pan-regional political trajectories. Simply refining the chronology in northeastern Sonora will have significant impacts. Community outreach is a focus of the planned work. To foster a sense of connectivity to the past, local residents will be employed during excavation. The project will invite local students and residents to visit the excavations. These efforts will inform local residents of the value of archaeological remains and discourage their unneeded destruction. A Mexican collaborator will be involved with the project to encourage international cooperation and interest in shared research questions. The project will provide experience to undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Arizona.Data will be disseminated through a variety of means. Traditional scholarly journal articles and formal conference presentations will be produced for Spanish and English audiences. M. Pailes will give several public lectures in the United States and will lead site tours to the area for avocational and other interested groups. Copies of the dissertation will be provided to Mexican government offices and institutions.