Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The role of Kin Relations and Residential Mobility in Attica

Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The underlying goal of this dissertation project is to gain insight into the role which family relationships and broad regional interactions play in the development of complex societies, a process which culminates in entities which exist and exert political power in many regions of the world today. Archaeology provides a valuable means to examine this question since it can examine actual instances in which this first occurred. Under the guidance of Dr. Jane Buikstra, Eleanna Prevedorou will address the role of biological kinship and post-marital residence in the formation of Early Bronze Age (EBA) Attica, in the southern Aegean (Greece). She will focus on the cemetery of Tsepi, located in Marathon, that dates to the early third millennium BC. Tsepi constitutes the earliest example of formal organization on the Greek mainland, characterized by uniformity in grave construction, orientation, and space allocation. Moreover, the strong Cycladic influences on artifact and grave styles at Tsepi have raised questions about EBA coastal mainland-island interaction. This research integrates osteological, biogeochemical, temporal (radiocarbon), and archaeological data. Inherited dental dimensions, as well as heritable dental and cranial morphological features will be used to examine biological affinities within each grave (e.g., whether or not the communal graves represent families), and post-marital residence practices (e.g., exogamy vs. endogamy, matrilocality vs. patrilocality). Chemical analysis on archaeological human teeth will be conducted to investigate the geographic origins of the individuals buried in the cemetery. Biogeochemistry, a new and developing field in archaeological science, uses strontium that is incorporated into the skeleton through diet to detect changes in the residential history of individuals. Thus, it becomes a powerful and invaluable tool in reconstructing prehistoric human mobility and migration. Given that strontium analysis is based on the underlying geological variation, the characterization of "local" vs. "non-local" ranges through appropriate baseline samples is a challenging aspect. Here, to be able to detect mobility between different regions, modern animal (wild hare), plants (edible wild greens), snails, and soil samples will be analyzed. Strontium analysis will also be used to reconstruct prehistoric diet by establishing differences between different trophic levels. This project will generate an extensive and detailed database of isotopic signatures that can be used in future studies and will serve as a model for other ecosystems. The systematic use of legal modern game (from food waste) is innovative and can be of great value in paleomobility research. Hence, this endeavor will advance the application of biogeochemistry for the identification of archaeological residential mobility. Furthermore, on a regional scale this project will contribute to the long-lasting archaeological debates on the nature of kinship and mobility by answering questions on grave use, cemetery structure, descent systems, mate exchange, marriage practices, and social networks through residential relocation. On a broader scale, this study will add to the anthropological investigation of kinship and marriage practices as mechanisms of integration, adaptation, or differentiation by offering a time depth of 5,000 years. This award will assist in graduate student training by providing the candidate with additional professional experience in bioarchaeology. It will train four undergraduate students in biogeochemical analysis at Arizona State University (ASU), while also serving long-term preservation goals in Greece through the curation and study of this rare archaeological skeletal assemblage. Public dissemination of the results and datasets will include their full publication and availability digital webpages. In addition to international professional conferences such as the Archaeological Institute of America, the results will be presented at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (ASCSA) and the University of Athens to inform scholars who live and work in Greece. Finally, this project fosters the collaboration between Arizona State University, ASCSA, the Institute for Aegean Prehistory, the Archaeological Museum of Marathon, and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, and thus it strengthens ties between US and Greek academic institutions.