Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Examining Long Term Social Interaction And Change

University Of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa AL

Investigators

Abstract

Researchers are attempting to understand the ways in which complex societies may transform their social organization to accommodate new ideologies or changing material conditions. Erik Porth of the University of Alabama, under the direction of Dr. John Blitz, will use archaeological evidence to study the transformation and reorganization of a socially complex prehistoric settlement following rapid shifts in religious and political traditions in the Southeastern United States. This research will study the linkages between ritual practices and community resilience to identify how groups negotiated obligations and social relationships through local and non-local resource acquisition during a time when elaborate ceremonial and political institutions ceased and social groups emphasized a new, communally-based affiliation. Archaeology can identify how such changes occurred because it relies on physical evidence that accumulated over long time spans in the places where ritual and community practices occurred. The research contributes to a broader intellectual and social benefit by adding to an understanding of community resilience in the face of social and political change, an issue of importance in ancient and contemporary societies. It will also provide historical context for understanding how more recent processes of localized production and consumption of goods may be associated with community solidarity and identity. This project will result in scientific collaboration between institutions within the United States and the results will be presented to the public in peer-reviewed publications, online databases, and a planned museum display. Erik Porth will address key anthropological issues concerning the poorly understood and under theorized relationship between social transformation, community resilience, and material remains from ceremonial activities on an earthen platform mound. The evidence needed to address the research question was excavated from ritual mound contexts at the Moundville site, a multiple-mound Mississippian ceremonial center in Alabama that was occupied from A.D. 1200 to 1520. During the fifteenth century, non-local trade, monumental construction, and elaborate ritual ended at Moundville, mirroring similar processes in Mississippian societies throughout the Deep South and Midwest. This research hypothesizes that after A.D. 1450, social relationships shifted at Moundville from individually focused practices to communal oriented activities by emphasizing locally acquired resources. Radiocarbon dates will address the timing of these proposed changes during the fifteenth century. Use of local materials will be assessed by analyzing the chemical composition and source location of the clays used to make ritually important, but stylistically non-local ceramic vessels. These techniques will determine if pottery production was occurring locally by potters from other regions who maintained their distinctive styles, or if the vessels were imported from other locations. This question is important because it points to the maintenance or disintegration of non-local connections. If potters were coming from other locations, they would have brought with them new ideas and norms that might have shaped the social transition occurring during this period. On the other hand, if pottery was being imported, this would indicate exchange relationships, and would pinpoint a different source of social influence with connected groups.