Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Household Response To Changing Environmental, Demographic And Social Conditions

University Of California-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara CA

Investigators

Abstract

Researchers wish to understand the processes by which societies become "complex"; that is, under what kind of conditions a group came to be differentiated and/or stratified. However, many existing models for studying incipient social complexity overlook crucial variation in societies whose changing social-political order cannot readily be characterized as more or less hierarchical (e.g., when communities seem to be changing in composition, but not with evidence of increasing inequality.) Additionally, climatic instability and a changing resource base are frequently identified as factors contributing to social upheaval and reorganization. These issues have relevance to our own society, and examination can contribute to an understanding of the ways in which individuals in a society can react to and gird against dramatic ecological and environmental changes. How does resource scarcity or unpredictability affect community organization? And why does social inequality, as in this particular case study, not arise where we might expect it to? Archaeology in general, and this project specifically, is uniquely positioned to address these questions. Excavations for this project will be conducted at a site that has been subject to looting; this project will illustrate that looted sites can still be informative to researchers and should remain subject to protection. Community outreach in the form of talks and presentations to emphasize the importance of respecting and protecting local archaeological resources are a key part of this project. Dr. Gregory D. Wilson and Jenna K. Santy, of the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), will investigate changes in social organization during two periods of pre-Columbian occupation in Owens Valley, in eastern California. During a time period when known changes occurred (such as the introduction of the bow and arrow, the introduction and spread of pottery, dramatic shifts in food resources, and increasing climatic instability), how was small-scale, village-level social organization changing as well? Using household-level data, obtained by excavation supported by NSF but also from existing, un-analyzed collections, this project will investigate how individual household subsistence strategies compared to neighboring households, and will assess how space was used and organized differently. Spatial analyses include a method using chemical-isotopic levels in soil as a proxy for activity areas, as certain activities (such as eating and food processing) leave traces in soil visible long after the activities occurred. This project will also assess where certain features of village life were located: where were cooking and storage activities taking place? Inside the house, away from the eyes of others in the village? Or in open space, suggesting a communal orientation? Excavation will be carried out by undergraduate and graduate student volunteers, who will be trained in field methods as part of this project.