Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: MISSISSIPPIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH

博士论文改进补助金：密西西比考古学研究

• 批准号: 1339216
• 负责人: Robin Beck
• 金额: $ 1.45万
• 依托单位: Regents of the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-06-15 至 2014-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1339216&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; MISSISSIPPIAN

When the first Europeans explored deep into the interior of the present-day American South, they traveled among and interacted with several groups of Native Americans who shared a culture that archaeologists refer to as "Mississippian." It was roughly 500 years earlier in the American Bottom region of southwestern Illinois, a rich stretch of floodplain of the Mississippi River near the city of Saint Louis, where Mississippian culture first developed. The American Bottom is home to the famous archaeological site of Cahokia, a U.S. National Historic Landmark and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Between the 11th- and 12th-centuries AD Cahokia grew into the largest and most complex pre-Columbian town in what is now the United States. Supported in large part by an increasing economic focus on maize agriculture, the actions of Cahokians and their neighbors ushered in new forms of social, political, and economic complexity that would help shape the histories of Native groups in the U.S. Midwest and South for centuries to come. Under the direction Dr. Robin Beck, PhD candidate Casey Barrier will continue research that provides new information about early Mississippian developments in the American Bottom. Barrier's work at the archaeological site of Washausen in Monroe County, Illinois, has demonstrated that the inhabitants of this site constructed one of the earliest Mississippian towns in the region. Located approximately 24 miles south of Cahokia, the town of Washausen was constructed during the 10th- and 11th-centuries AD. Unlike Cahokia, Washausen was occupied for only a handful of generations. Because of this, the archaeological remains preserved at the site provide a unique historical "snapshot" in time that portrays local ways of life during the critical period of initial Mississippian cultural developments. Barrier's research at Washausen has integrated high-tech, geophysical survey methodologies and archaeological excavations that has produced data showing the locations of distinct residential neighborhoods, public courtyards, and a central public plaza and monumental earthen mounds. During these excavations, both undergraduate and graduate students were able to be trained in current archaeological field methodologies. This research will allow Barrier to continue collaborations with scientific specialists to provide new information about the earliest Mississippian societies. Excavations at Washausen produced well-preserved archaeological remains that will be analyzed to address research questions about new forms of social and political-economic relations, the composition of residential neighborhoods, the reliance on maize agriculture and locally available animal and plant foods, the historical importance of large-scale public festivals, and Washausen's interactions with their Cahokian neighbors. Specifically, paleobotanical, zooarchaeological, and soil mircomorphological analyses will produce rich, comparative datasets for this site and region. Coupled with better chronological controls afforded by radiocarbon dating of recovered organic remains from secure archaeological deposits, these analyses will provide significant new insights about the historical transformations that took place at one of the earliest Mississippian towns in the Americas. The results of this dissertation research will be presented in subsequent publications, and will be of significance to other Mississippian researchers, as well as scholars working on similar research questions about complex societies in other world regions. These results will also be presented publicly to audiences at academic conferences, but also at lectures for the public. Barrier will continue training undergraduate students in the laboratory, and provide them opportunities to collaborate with other scientific specialists.

当第一批欧洲人深入探索当今的美国南部的内部时，他们与几群美洲原住民进行了旅行并互动，他们分享了一种考古学家称为“密西西比州”的文化。 大约500年前，在伊利诺伊州西南部的美国底部地区，密西西比河附近的密西西比河一片洪泛区，密西西比州文化首次发展。 美国底部是美国国家历史地标和联合国教科文组织世界遗产的著名考古遗址。 在11世纪和12世纪，卡霍基亚（Cahokia）在现在美国的最大，最复杂的哥伦比亚前小镇发展起来。 在很大程度上是由于对玉米农业的越来越多的经济关注，卡霍克人及其邻居的行动迎来了新形式的社会，政治和经济复杂性，这些形式将有助于塑造美国中西部和南方本土群体的历史，这些历史将在未来几个世纪以来。 在罗宾·贝克（Robin Beck）博士的指导下，博士候选人凯西·障碍（Casey Barrier）将继续研究，以提供有关美国底部密西西比州早期发展的新信息。 Barrier在伊利诺伊州门罗县Washausen考古遗址的工作表明，该遗址的居民建造了该地区最早的密西西比州城镇之一。 华盛顿镇位于卡霍基亚（Cahokia）以南约24英里处，在10世纪和11世纪的公元期间建成。 与Cahokia不同，Washausen被占领了几代人。 因此，在及时保存在该地点的考古遗迹提供了独特的历史“快照”，在最初的密西西比文化发展的关键时期描绘了当地的生活方式。 Barrier在Washausen的研究综合了高科技，地球物理调查方法和考古发掘，这些方法已经产生了数据，显示了不同的住宅区，公共庭院，中央公共广场和巨大的泥土土墩的位置。 在这些发掘过程中，本科生和研究生都可以接受当前考古野外方法的培训。 这项研究将使障碍能够继续与科学专家合作，以提供有关最早的密西西比社会的新信息。 Washausen的发掘制作了保存完好的考古遗体，该遗体将进行分析，以解决有关社会和政治经济关系的新形式的研究问题，居住社区的组成，对玉米农业的依赖以及当地可用的动物和植物食品，大规模公共节日的历史重要性，大规模的公共节日的历史重要性以及Washausen与他们的Cahokian neigrors nequian neigrors nequian neigrors neigrors neigrors neigrors。 具体而言，古植物，动物考古学和土壤mirdmorphologicals分析将为该站点和地区提供丰富的比较数据集。 再加上通过安全考古沉积物中回收的有机遗骸的放射性碳预期提供的更好的时间顺序控制，这些分析将提供有关在美洲最早的密西西比城镇之一发生的历史转变的重要新见解。 这项论文研究的结果将在随后的出版物中介绍，对其他密西西比研究人员以及研究其他世界地区复杂社会的类似研究问题的学者将具有重要意义。 这些结果还将公开向学术会议上的观众公开介绍，也将在公众的讲座上公开展示。 障碍将继续培训实验室的本科生，并为他们提供与其他科学专家合作的机会。