Collaborative Research: An archaeological examination of the cultural and ecological consequences of colonialism

对于考古学家来说，一个长期存在的问题是殖民地遭遇的性质，特别是美洲土著群体和欧洲定居者之间的小规模动态。这些问题尤其突出，主要的历史叙述将互动描绘为由欧洲人控制和主导，并强调对生活在接触岛屿上的土著群体的刻板印象。科学家们将进行研究，以考察早期殖民时期欧洲人与土著人的相互作用。2017年玛利亚飓风风暴潮曝光的一个地点，是殖民欧洲定居者建立的一个非正式的欧洲贸易综合体。它位于大西洋海岸线上一个受保护的海湾，是来自非洲和欧洲的船只首批避难锚地之一。它是少数几个在接触后持续很长时间由原居民控制的领土之一。为了确保这项工作在学术界以外产生更广泛的影响，该团队将与当代当地社区合作。社区成员和居民将参与挖掘，并经常召开会议解释发现的结果。为了建设当地的遗产保护能力，考古队将举办为期一周的考古“夏令营”，并聘请当地的研究助理学习考古方法。此外，在当地合作者的支持下，该项目将有助于开发一个关于当地殖民历史的博物馆和展品。该项目的目标是描述土著居民和欧洲定居者之间关系的性质，并研究殖民边境上非正式贸易营地的政治、经济和社会生态现实。项目组将对环境和地貌数据进行遥感、地球物理和地下勘测取心，并挖掘考古和地质特征。通过这些方法的应用，本项目调查了贸易综合体和周围飞地的发展。这项研究与欧洲定居者和土著群体如何被卷入更广泛的殖民主义和生态转型进程的问题联系在一起，探索土著在被征服时的复原力和代理能力的主题。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

An enduring question for archaeologists is the nature of colonial encounters, specifically the small-scale dynamics between Indigenous groups and European settlers in the Americas. These questions are of particular salience where the overarching historical narrative portrays the interactions as controlled and dominated by Europeans, and emphasizes stereotyped depictions of the Indigenous groups living on the islands at contact. Scientists will conduct research to examine early colonial European-Indigenous interactions. A site, exposed by storm surge from Hurricane Maria in 2017, was an informal European trading complex established by colonial European settlers. It is situated along a protected bay on the Atlantic coastline and was one of the first sheltered anchorages for vessels voyaging from Africa and Europe. It was was one of few territories which continued for a significant time after contact to be controlled by Indigenous inhabitants. To ensure this work has broader impact beyond academia, the team will work collaboratively with the contemporary local community. Community members and residents will participate in excavations, and engage in frequent meetings on the interpretation of findings. To build local capacity for heritage protection, the team will hold a one-week archaeology “camp" and hire local research assistants to learn archaeological methods. In addition, with the support of local collaborator the project will contribute to the development of a museum and exhibits on the local colonial history.The goal of the project is to characterize the nature of the relationship between the indigenous inhabitants and European settlers, and examine the political, economic, and socioecological realities of an informal trading encampment at a colonial frontier. The project team will conduct remote sensing, geophysical and sub-surface survey coring for environmental and geomorphological data, and excavation of archaeological and geological features. Through the application of these methods, this project investigates the development of the trading complex and surrounding enclave. This research connects with questions of how European settlers and Indigenous groups were entangled within the broader processes of colonialism and ecological transformations, exploring themes of Indigenous resilience and agency in the face of conquest.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.