Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Visual and Technical Styles: An Integrative Approach to the Identification of Archaeological Social Boundaries

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

Under the supervision of Dr. Jodie O'Gorman, Jeff Chivis will examine the varying types of interactions and the sharing of sociopolitical and technological ideas that were associated with the introduction of Hopewellian beliefs into west Michigan during the early Middle Woodland period (~50 B.C. - A.D. 250). During this time interval a new prehistoric society emerged in the US Midwest. Characterized by a more complex religions system and form of social organization it is responsible for monumental sites which included mounded "pyramids" and populations numbered in the thousands. While much is understood about development in the core area, how Hopewellian influence spread is much less clear. Some archaeologists believe that it was ideas rather than people which moved outwards from the core while others argue that it was primarily indirect influence which spread. Through study in one outlying region Mr. Chivis will address this question directly. The research is important because it provides insight into how in traditional societies people and ideas can spread and interact in complex fashion and over extended periods of time. In west Michigan, this Hopewellian transition is evidenced by the implementation of a distinct mortuary program involving the construction of burial mounds, the utilization of grave inclusions, and the application of characteristic design elements on pottery vessels. Mr. Chivis' research will examine Middle Woodland pottery from west Michigan and northwest Indiana to record the different types of communities and interactions involved in the initial spread of Hopewellian information into west Michigan. Ceramics are abundant and well preserved in archaeological contexts and have the potential to provide insight into the behaviors and cultural affiliations of their producers. Mr. Chivis' research employs a comprehensive methodology by uniting stylistic pottery analysis with compositional analysis. Utilizing ceramic petrography as the primary method of compositional analysis, this research design will explore new ways to discover markers of identity in the archaeological record and will permit one to distinguish between the spread of ideas vs. the actual movement of people. This methodology will provide a significantly more comprehensive identification of identity, communities, and interaction networks than has previously been possible within the study region. The broader impact of this research rests on the fact that, as a member of a federally recognized tribe in Michigan, Mr. Chivis will be enhancing the involvement of underrepresented/minority individuals within archaeology. Mr. Chivis will make the resulting data available to his tribe and the larger anthropological community through potential peer-reviewed publications and presentations at various national conferences. Dissemination of this information to local tribal entities will provide them with a supplementary perspective of their past and could promote more frequent and worthwhile communication between academia and Native American tribal governments.