Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Role of Material Culture in Ethnicity Identification

在考古背景下发现的材料有能力揭示产生它们的文化群体。原因是大多数文化都有“规范”，其中个人风格可以用来识别产生它们的个人社会，考古学家使用这种“风格”来确定群体归属。有了这种认同，就有可能重建各个文化群体如何跨越空间，与其他群体互动以及它们如何随着时间而变化。然而，并不罕见的确定之间的关系，物质文化和群体认同可以是复杂的，这个博士论文项目集中在这样一个案例。我们的目标是进一步提高进行这种匹配的能力，结果应该有助于开发更好的技术来做到这一点。该项目的重点是所谓的“萨拉多现象”，这是指一组陶器类型，突然出现在美国西南部的史前晚期，似乎跨越多个群体。因为它们与其他物质对象的变化无关，在这种情况下，它们似乎与文化群体的地理运动无关，本论文项目的目标是深入了解导致这种文化现象的原因。该项目的重点是从多个考古遗址挖掘出来的萨拉多陶瓷，这些陶瓷被收藏在博物馆中。该项目包括化学分析，可以提供对陶瓷件的地理起源的见解，以及陶瓷形状的分析。该项目通过这一中心案例研究开发了考古研究中理论概念和分析方法的新应用和实际实施。在这项工作中开发的方法是相关的类似的物质现象在世界其他地方观察到的考试，广泛分布的物质模式覆盖文化的变异性。 该项目通过部门研究学徒计划为本科生提供培训，研究经验和指导。该项目的设计和实施与盐河皮马-马瑞拉印第安社区和吉拉河印第安社区的部落历史保护办公室的持续对话，以响应和尊重文化的关注和喜好。成分研究在亚利桑那州州立大学和通过NSF支持的实习计划在密苏里州大学研究反应堆（穆尔）考古实验室进行。整个容器轮廓的轮廓图像和来自档案来源的测量数据用于数学表征和比较陶瓷容器的形状，以了解陶瓷组合的组织和结构，并评估萨拉多容器在其中的功能作用。通过建立萨拉多陶瓷的产地，生产技术和使用的实证证据，本研究提供了一个新的视角，对材料和做法的实际和社会意义的参与，并在重新评估以前的解释模型的现象在地方和区域尺度的援助。本论文的研究开发了新的应用和实际实施的理论概念和分析方法在考古研究通过这个中心的案例study.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

Materials recovered in archaeological contexts have the ability to shed light on the cultural groups which produced them. The reason is that most cultures have “norms” in which individual styles can serve to identify the individual societies which produced them and archaeologists use such “styles” to determine group affiliation. With such identifications it is then possible to reconstruct how individual cultural groups moved across space, interacted with other groups and how they changed over time. However not infrequently identifying the relationship between material culture and group identification can be complicated and this doctoral dissertation project focuses on such a case. The goal is to further the ability to make matches of this type and the results should help in the development of better techniques to do so. The project focuses on what is termed the “Salado phenomenon” which refers to a group of pottery types which appear suddenly in the late prehistory of the US Southwest and appear to spread across multiple groups. Because they are not associated with changes in other material objects in this case they seem unrelated to the geographical movement of cultural groups and the goal of this dissertation project is to gain insight into what causes such a cultural phenomenon. The project focuses on Salado ceramics which have been excavated from multiple archaeological sites and are housed in museum collections. The project includes both chemical analyses which can provide insights into the geographic origin of ceramic pieces as well as analyses of ceramic shapes. The project develops new applications and practical implementations of theoretical concepts and analytical methods in archaeological research through this central case study. The approach developed in this work is relevant to examinations of similar material phenomena observed elsewhere in the world, where broadly distributed material patterns overlie cultural variability. The project has provided training, research experience, and mentorship for undergraduate students through a departmental research apprenticeship program. The project was designed and carried out in continued conversation with the Tribal Historic Preservation Offices of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and Gila River Indian Community, in order to be responsive to and respectful of cultural concerns and preferences.Compositional studies are conducted both at Arizona State University and through an NSF-supported internship program at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) Archaeometry Lab. Silhouette images of whole vessel profiles and measurements from archival sources are used to mathematically characterize and compare the shapes of ceramic vessels to understand the organization and structure of ceramic assemblages and assess the functional roles Salado vessels served within them. By establishing empirical evidence for the provenance, production technology, and use of Salado ceramics this research provides a new perspective on the practical and social meanings of engagement with materials and practices and aids in reassessing previous explanatory models of the phenomenon at both local and regional scales. This dissertation research develops new applications and practical implementations of theoretical concepts and analytical methods in archaeological research through this central case study.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.