Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Unpacking Personhood and Identity in the Hohokam Area of Southern Arizona

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

Under the supervision of Dr. Barbara J. Mills, Jessica I. Cerezo-Román will analyze mortuary practices among the Southern Arizona Hohokam during the Preclassic (A.D. 700-1150) and Classic periods (A.D. 1150-1450/1500) to look at how identities were defined by the participation of individuals in different social networks. They will use the concept of personhood to elucidate how individuals' networks were defined through burial practices, spatial distributions, and associated material culture. Prior research in the U.S. Southwest typically focused on single attributes of identity, such as social status and gender. However in the past decade archaeological approaches to identity have broadened considerably and have gone beyond single attributes of identity to look at the multiple ways in which identity was constructed. The proposed research will focus on evidence from 12 archaeological sites in the Tucson area. The proposed research will build on significant advances in identity studies of past populations, particularly by looking beyond the study of a single attribute of identity to the multiple ways a person's identity was constructed. It will employ an original approach that has implications for refinement of archaeological method and theory. The project will examine three problems related to the identification of, and changes in, aspects of identity and personhood: 1. What is the range of identity practices found within a site's mortuary assemblage, and how do these intersect to reveal different aspects of identity associated with the individual's age, sex, and group identity, among others? 2. What are the differences and similarities between sites, and why do they or don't they occur? 3. What are the differences/similarities through time at different scales, and why do they or don't they occur? To answer these questions a multidimensional approach will be used that incorporates several spatial scales through time, and that applies different statistical analyses. The approach used will analyze how people were represented in mortuary rituals by analyzing human skeletal remains from the sites, how people in the past treated those bodies, and the archaeological contexts of burial. The combination of the study of the skeletal remains, posthumous treatment of the body and archaeological context will reveal clues to how people were remembered at death by their families and community, and an individual's position(s) within multiple social networks. Beyond research questions that are important to social scientist the research will provide information on prehistoric populations that may support links to contemporary indigenous groups. The data generated through this research can be used by tribes and institutions for cultural affiliation studies. Upon completion the results of the research will be broadly disseminated to the scientific community, Native American communities, and to the general public.