Economic Integration of Rural Regions

这个项目调查居住在远离大型中心遗址的史前农村人的贸易和经济行为。关于潜在的更广泛的规模关系，存在多种理论。关注的焦点就是这样一个地区。该项目将研究出土的考古物品，如陶器、石器、贝壳文物和玉器，以确定精英贸易网络、商人或社区市场是否构建了当地经济。该项目的结果可以与世界其他地区远离城镇的其他农村地区进行比较，以研究类似的经济。项目成员将与当地居民合作，培训未来的研究人员，并在课堂和公开演讲中使用研究成果。不同背景的学生将参与这个项目，该项目将导致学士、硕士和博士学位。该项目考察的是史前晚期。这项研究将有助于理解外围国家多样而复杂的经济结构。这些地区可能不仅仅是文献中所描绘的资源开采区和非专门化农村地区。先前的研究表明，一些地区存在外来商品的市场交易，或者相反，精英管理着贸易商品的获取和分配。关于精英在贸易经济中的作用或社区管理的市场在外围经济中的作用的假设，将通过对几个不同社会经济地位的家庭的挖掘来检验。研究人员将确定不同的贸易商品，如黑铁矿、陶瓷贝壳和来自其他地区的玉石，是否仅限于基于联盟的贸易经济中的精英，通过信誉良好的交换，或者跨不同家庭发现的各种贸易项目是否表明了基于社区的市场体系。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project investigates trade and economic behavior of prehistoric rural people living far from large central sites. Multiple theories exist regarding potential broader scale relations. The focus is on one such region. The project will study excavated archaeological goods such as pottery, stone tools, shell artifacts, and jade to determine whether elite trade networks, merchants, or community markets structured the local economy. The project results can be compared to other rural areas to study similar economies far from towns, in other regions of the world. Project members will collaborate with local inhabitants, train future researchers, and use the research findings in classes and public presentations. Students of different backgrounds will participate in the project which will lead to BA, MA, and PhD degrees.The project examines the late prehistoric period. The research will help to understand the diverse and complex economic structures of peripheries. These areas were likely more than just resource extraction zones and unspecialized rural regions as portrayed in the literature. Prior research indicates that some regions had market exchange of exotics or, conversely, elites managed the acquisition and distribution of trade goods. Hypotheses regarding the roles of elites in the trade economy or community-managed markets in the peripheral economy will be examined by excavations in several households of different socioeconomic status. Researchers will determine if different trade goods, such as obsidian, ceramics shell, and jade from other regions, were restricted to elites in a trade economy based on alliance building through prestige good exchange, or if the various trade items found across different households indicate a community-based market system.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.