Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: The Use of Material Remains to Trace Cultural Interaction

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

Animals figure prominently in prehistoric ritual and religion throughout the world. Because of their unique colors, behaviors, and their ability to fly, birds in particular have been one of the most symbolically important types of animals throughout time. This is especially true in the prehistoric Americas, where the study of their remains from archaeological sites can help address questions concerning prehistoric ritual and religion. Katelyn Bishop, a PhD Candidate at the University of California, Los Angeles, will examine prehistoric Pueblo ritual and religion through an analysis of the use and ideological significance of birds in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico between AD 850-1150. Ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and archaeological research have demonstrated the centrality of birds in Pueblo ritual and cosmology; avifaunal remains, which are frequently under-studied, should therefore be considered strong indicators of ritual practice, the analysis of which can speak to ideological perceptions and belief. The reconstruction of ritual practices in Chaco Canyon, a major social and ceremonial center in what is now New Mexico, during the Pueblo II period (AD 900-1150), will contextualize these traditions in the long development of Pueblo ritual and religion, and within broader regional context in the greater Southwest. The results of this research may have relevance to modern descendent communities, and can enrich the experience of visitors to the Chaco Canyon National Historical Park through the creation of an interpretive exhibit on the past and present importance of birds in the Pueblo world, and online material for those who cannot access the remote location of the park. This project will bring together material from widely disbursed institutions, and demonstrate the importance of bringing to light old and unpublished collections from historic excavations. Through the analysis of both avifaunal remains and the depiction of birds in art, Bishop seeks to address three major goals: (1) to understand the nature of ritual practice and ideologies that involved birds; (2) to understand how ritual was organized across the canyon, within and between multiple great houses and small sites; and (3) to examine change over time in the nature of ritual and its organization. In the process of achieving these goals, this project will synthesize all avifaunal remains and bird imagery from the nearly 130-year long history of excavation in the canyon. Bishop relies on the theoretical perspective of ritual as a form of social practice, where ritual is a dynamic activity that is both structured by and can restructure existing social and belief structures. This theoretical perspective makes it possible to understand what ritual practices may have looked like, and how they may have changed over time. She also employs ethnographically-based models to understand the organization of this ritual practice, with expectations derived from modern and historic organizational principles of ritual. Under the guidance of Dr. Gregson Schachner, Bishop's research will advance our understanding of Pueblo ritual and religion, the nature of the Chaco regional system, and the value of birds in prehistory. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.