Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Community Organization and Lithic Production

这个项目考察了一个古老的农村社区中手工艺品生产和社会经济不平等之间的关系。为此，研究人员将对家庭进行调查，以评估获得专门生产石器的机会是否造成了不平等。考古学独一无二地能够提供必要的时间深度来寻找社会经济不平等的根源，在这一背景下，这项研究将仔细审查其与手工艺生产的联系。这个项目将培训不同的本科生和研究生，学习考古学领域和实验室方法，以及数据分析、拨款撰写和会议报告。除了培训学者外，该项目还致力于通过实地考察和讲座以及参与研究，让当地社区参与考古进程和文化遗产保护。最后，这项研究的结果将通过学术报告、期刊文章和公共活动分享，以向广大受众提供机会。手工艺专业化是一个重要的社会过程，它影响着社区成员生活的许多其他方面，并受到其影响。这些社会和经济进程在实践社区中尤为重要。实践社区的定义是对特定努力的集体追求，通常是特定的行业或手艺。这项研究将扩大对这种实践社区的理解，以及与专业、大规模生产相邻的社会经济动态。为了实现这一目标，该项目将把重点放在一个单一地点的家庭上，这些家庭生产了数百万件石器，这些工具几乎是包括农业、建筑和食物准备在内的所有日常工作所必需的。然而，社区中的家庭与石器生产区的距离各不相同，这表明与生产活动的关系不同。研究小组将探索在社区中形成广场的家庭化合物，以确定每个家庭在物质遗迹和活动方面的社会经济差异。该项目建立在以前对社区的调查和挖掘的基础上，并实施了三个阶段的方法方法，通过1)系统的铲子测试，2)测试挖掘和3)广泛的实验室分析，以三个广场为目标。分析将首先建立家庭的年表，然后就获得长途贸易商品和声望材料的情况以及每个家庭内部发生的活动进行比较。这项研究的结果将提供一个重要的案例研究，以了解集体活动如何在实践社区的家庭中产生社会经济差异。这一奖项反映了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 examines the relationship between craft production and socioeconomic inequality in a rural ancient community. To this end, researchers will explore households to assess if inequality resulted from access to specialized production of stone tools. Archaeology is uniquely able to provide the time depth necessary to seek the genesis of socioeconomic inequality and within this context, this research will scrutinize its articulation with craft production. This project will train a diverse group of undergraduate and graduate students in archaeological field and laboratory methods, as well as data analysis, grant writing, and conference presentations. Beyond training scholars, the project works to engage the local community in the archaeological process and the preservation of cultural heritage through site visits and talks, as well as participation in the research. Finally, the results of this research will be shared through academic presentations, journal articles, and public events to provide access to a broad audience.Craft specialization is an important social process that influences and is influenced by many other aspects of life among community members. These social and economic processes are particularly important in communities of practice. Communities of practice are defined by a collective pursuit of a particular endeavor, often a specific industry or craft. This research will expand the understanding of such communities of practice and the socioeconomic dynamics adjacent to specialized, large-scale production. To accomplish this, the project will focus on households at a single site which produced millions of stone tools that were essential for nearly all daily tasks including agriculture, construction, and food preparation. However, households in the community had varied proximities to the stone tool production areas, suggesting different relationships to the production activities. The research team will explore household compounds that form plazas in the community to identify socioeconomic differences in the material remains and activities of each. This project builds on previous surveys and excavation of the community and implements a three-phase methodological approach, targeting three plazas through 1) systematic shovel testing, 2) test excavations, and 3) extensive laboratory analyses. Analyses will first establish a chronology of the households, and then make comparisons about the access to long-distance trade goods and prestige materials, as well as the activities that occurred within each household. Results from this research will provide an important case study to understand how collective activities produce socioeconomic differences among households in communities of practice.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.