Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Domesticated Plants, Animals and the Emergence of Social Complexity

University Of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

Anthropological archaeology has focused intently on the early emergence of sedentism and animal and plant domestication processes in many regions of the world. Research focused on demographic changes connected with these trends has frequently linked emerging population growth and resource exploitation to greater levels of social conflict and warfare. These developments often led to greater levels of regional centralization and organization and completely new trajectories of social, economic and political development. This program of research examines these dynamics in the development of early village life in southeastern Europe during the 6th-5th millennia BCE. At this time, distinct changes occurred in the use of domesticated plants and animals and new forms of ceramic and metal craft production. These important shifts in technology and social organization contributed to the subsequent emergence of complex societies in the Balkans region and subsequent foundation of early European civilizations. Archaeology is in a unique position to provide a deep chronological scale of analysis and has the potential to produce specific forms of data that can be used to evaluate and model such transitions. Such research not only identifies when such changes occurred but also contributes to answering the question of why early human societies changed from egalitarian hunter-gatherer groups to more highly specialized and hierarchical organized communities. This program of research will encourage international intellectual collaboration and communication in the field of anthropological archaeology, will enhance regional methodological approaches to settlement patterning and demographic analysis, and will produce an important database that will contribute to future studies of early village societies in a global context. Within this broader context, and under the supervision of Dr. Bryan Hanks of the University of Pittsburgh, doctoral candidate Miroslav Kocic will investigate the emergence of large scale Neolithic village societies in central Serbia. This study will produce new data on demographic growth, the emergence of scalar stress and social inequality, and regional center-hinterland dynamics through time. In particular, research questions will focus on examining: (i) the distribution of identifiable sites within the survey zone and their relationship to each other spatially and chronologically; (ii) estimated settlement sizes and possible rank order patterns in terms of demography; (iii) relationship of settlements to local topographical and environmental resources and related catchment zones; and (iv) spatial patterning and density of artifacts within settlements and variation between settlements and identification of craft production zones. In order to address these questions, field research activities will focus on a 110 square kilometer region within the Grua River valley of the central Balkans. Data will be produced through regional scale pedestrian survey, surface collection of artifacts and statistical analysis, targeted test pit excavations, and GIS analysis of survey data, topographical features and local environmental resources. This will produce a robust diachonic, spatial dataset in which to model transitions in village size, spatial organization and trends in craft production. Collaboration with regional archaeologists and institutions in central Serbia also will create an important educational opportunity and training for students contribute to the long term knowledge and heritage of these important archaeological sites.