Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Effects of Social Change on Household Quality of Life and Social Cohesion

该项目将确定新出现的社会分化如何影响传统社会中的家庭生活质量和社区社会凝聚力。当地家庭如何协商期望的生活质量？社区互动是否会变得更加排外，并专注于社会精英成员？考古学家假设，政治权威和经济实践不仅仅是统治精英的强制性组成部分;相反，家庭生活质量和社会凝聚力是高地位群体和普通人的愿望和需求的平衡，这些愿望和需求基于道德期望和公共信任。最近的政治学研究表明，明显的社会不平等不仅破坏了社区一级的信任，还威胁到管理机构和公民参与。这个项目的目标是为这些当前的对话增加有意义的内容，因为它提供了关于人们如何成功和不成功地谈判权力动态的长期变化的丰富数据集。通过比较家庭和公共空间，巴里基德尔将研究如何家庭生活质量和社区建设的相互作用改变（或没有）在这一过渡时期在玛雅遗址的乌坎哈。初步研究表明，在前一个时期，生活质量高，社区繁荣，但在后一个时期，不平等程度更大。结合大规模的挖掘，结合空间统计的地球化学研究，以及对考古和古植物学遗迹的分析，Kidder及其同事将通过检查五个变量来重建过去的家庭生活质量：1）建筑投资，2）宴会实践，3）家庭用品的多样性，4）昂贵的缓存/埋葬仪式，以及5）空间的使用。特别是空间统计学和地球化学分析，将通过捕捉被忽视的过去活动的模式来提高考古学研究古代家庭的能力。此外，该项目还将通过对后代社区进行考古方法培训，提高当地家庭的生活质量，这将导致未来的就业，因为考古抢救项目正在该地区迅速扩大。通过在当地工作，而不是在坎昆的季节性工作，工资将再投资于当地家庭和整个社区。研究结果将作为演示文稿，总结现场报告和在当地学校的实践活动分发。这些组成部分将使当地居民有机会参与其文化遗产，并成为保护文化遗产的利益攸关方。

This project will identify how emerging social differentiation can affect household quality of life and community social cohesion in traditional societies. How do local households negotiate an expected quality of life? Do community interactions shift to become more exclusive and focused on elite members of society? Archaeologists have postulated that political authority and economic practices are not just a coercive component of the ruling elite; rather, household quality of life and social cohesion are a balance of wants and needs of both high status groups and everyday people that are grounded in moral expectations and communal trust. Recent political science studies show pronounced social inequality not only undermines trust at the community level, it also threatens governing bodies and civic engagement. The goal of this project is to add meaningfuly to these current conversations because it provides rich data sets of long-term change on how people negotiate, successfully and unsuccessfully, power dynamics. By comparing households and communal spaces, Barry Kidder will examine how household quality of life and community-building interactions changed (or did not) during this transitional period at the Mayan site of Ucanha. Preliminary research indicates a high quality of life and commnunal prosperity during a former period but greater inequality during a latter. Combining broad-scale excavations, geochemical studies in conjunction with spatial statistics, and the analysis of archaeological and paleobotanical remains, Kidder and colleagues will reconstruct past household quality of life by examining five variables: 1) architectural investment, 2) feasting practices, 3) diversity of household goods, 4) costliness of caching/burial rituals, and 5) the use of space. Spatial statistics with geochemical analysis, particularly, will improve archaeology's ability to study ancient households by capturing patterns of overlooked past activity. Furthermore, this project will contribute to local household quality of life by training descendant communities in archaeological methods that will lead to future employment since archaeological salvage projects are rapidly expanding in the area. By working locally, as opposed to seasonal work in Cancun, salaries will be reinvested in local households and the entire community. Research results will be circulated as presentations, summarized field reports, and hands-on activities at local schools. These components will give local populations the opportunity to engage with their cultural heritage and to be a stakeholder in its preservation.