Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Initiation and Maintenance of the Early Woodland Interaction Sphere: A Multiscalar Analysis of Northeastern Mortuary Sites

人类社会中社会和政治复杂性的出现是目前考古学研究的中心领域，部分原因是对这些过程的理解超出了人类学和其他社会科学的范围。社会群体对农业的采用和人口密度的增加长期以来一直被认为是复杂性产生的核心因素。然而，另一些人认为，在某些情况下，参与群体之间持续、远距离的货物和物资交换可能是社会和政治变革的一种更具形成性的催化剂。然而，这些转变的过程常常被追溯到过去，并以“复杂”的社会作为起点。在Hetty Jo Brumbach博士的指导下，奥尔巴尼-纽约州立大学的弗朗西斯罗宾逊将探索促进土著群体之间出现跨区域互动的条件和机制，这些土著群体被大多数人认为是狩猎-采集-捕鱼者或可能是有限的园艺家。 具体来说，他将专注于早期林地互动领域的一个节点，约。3，000 - 2，000 cal yr BP，在北美东北部。为了做到这一点，他将检查八个先前挖掘的早期林地墓地的结构和内容，这些墓地位于西部的哈德逊河和东部的康涅狄格河之间。通过分析和比较墓葬和墓地的结构，以及在多个尺度上埋葬的文物的起源和形式，他将测试一系列关于这些群体参与互动领域的原因的假设，以及这些群体参与的社会和政治含义。这项研究代表了一个重要的案例研究的过程中，启动的第一步走向社会的复杂性，这些初始步骤的脆弱性。事实上，在早期林地互动圈的参与群体中，只有少数最终形成了持久的复杂社会和政治结构，至少在一千多年后大规模农业出现之前是如此。拟议研究的一个更基本但更重要的方面是对上述地点进行彻底的核算和分析。它们可以说是北美东北部最重要的，但迄今为止记录很少的美洲原住民墓地。正确记录它们将使东北地区被视为更广泛的早期林地相互作用领域的积极参与者，这些分析的原始数据将在未来提供给研究人员。该项目的成果将在同行评审的出版物以及这些网站所在地区的学术和一般公众讲座中传播，包括纽约北部、康涅狄格州和佛蒙特州。此外，与西阿贝纳基的圣弗朗西斯/Sokoki乐队的四月圣弗朗西斯和莫希干人的斯托克布里奇/芒塞乐队的部落历史保护官员雪莉白色进行了与这项研究有关的讨论，这可能会导致他们各自社区的合作讲座，讨论，也许还有出版物。

The emergence of social and political complexity in human societies is currently a central area of research in archaeology, partly because an understanding of these processes has implications beyond the realms of anthropology and the other social sciences. The adoption of agriculture by social groups and an increase in population densities have long and often been cited as central factors in the initiation of complexity. Yet, others have suggested that the sustained, long-distance exchange of goods and materials between participating groups may in some cases represent an even more formative catalyst for social and political change. Often, however, these processes of transformation are examined working back through time and using 'complex' societies as a starting point. Under the guidance of Dr. Hetty Jo Brumbach, Francis Robinson of the University at Albany- SUNY will explore the conditions and mechanisms that fostered the emergence of an interregional sphere of interaction among Native groups that are considered by most to have been hunter-gatherer-fishers or perhaps limited horticulturalists. Specifically, he will focus on one node of the Early Woodland Interaction Sphere, ca. 3,000-2,000 cal yr BP, in Northeastern North America. To do this, he will examine the structure and content of eight previously excavated Early Woodland cemeteries located between the Hudson River on the west and the Connecticut River on the east. By analyzing and comparing the structure of burials and cemeteries and the origin and form of the artifacts interred within them at multiple scales he will test a series of hypotheses about the reasons for these groups' participation in the interaction sphere, and the social and political implications of these groups' participation. This research represents an important case study in the processes that initiate the first steps toward social complexity, and the tenuous nature of these initial steps. Indeed, among the participating groups in the Early Woodland Interaction Sphere, only a few ultimately ended up forming enduring complex social and political structures, at least until the emergence of large-scale agriculture over a millennium later. A more fundamental but nonetheless important aspect of the proposed research is a thorough accounting and analysis of the sites outlined above. They are arguably some of the most important, but heretofore poorly documented Native American mortuary sites in Northeastern North America. Properly documenting them will allow the Northeastern region to be seen as an active participant in the broader Early Woodland Interaction Sphere, and the raw data from these analyses will be available for researchers in the future. The results of this project will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications and both scholarly and general public lectures in the areas where these sites are located, including upstate New York, Connecticut, and Vermont. Moreover, discussions with April St. Francis of the St. Francis/Sokoki band of the Western Abenaki and Sherry White, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer (THPO) of Stockbridge/Munsee band of the Mohican, have taken place related to this research, which may result in collaborative lectures, discussions, and perhaps publications for their respective communities.