Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: The Processes of Coalescence and Colonialism

University Of Arizona, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

The researchers, at the University of Arizona and collaborators at Desert Archaeology, Inc., will collect data to understand the relationship between the social processes of coalescence and colonialism. Previous research on both of these processes has tried to understand how the communities created through either coalescence or colonialism maintained social cohesion, both within pluralistic communities and between communities in a diverse social landscape. At large scales, one of the primary impacts of both coalescence and colonialism was to draw communities together in a web of economic interdependence, whether on equal footing or in unequal relationships. In many parts of the world, and particularly in North America, coalescence was a key process shaping the social landscape into which European colonists inserted themselves. The organization of economic relationships in these coalescent societies may have served as a pattern for the economic relationships created by the subsequent colonial encounter. However, the relationship between these processes has been understudied. How much did economic organization under European colonialism rely on existing relationships among Native American communities created through coalescence? To what degree did European colonialism reconfigure these existing relationships? Understanding the functioning of these processes is broadly relevant to understanding the history of modern Native American communities in the United States, particularly in the U.S. Southwest, Great Lakes, and Southeastern regions. The results of this research are also applicable more generally to understanding how economic interdependence can foster cooperation between communities and help manage some of the social challenges encountered in highly diverse communities. The researchers will explore the relationship between pre-colonial coalescence and early colonialism in the Americas, particularly the impact of both processes on economic organization. This research will focus on the degree of continuity and change in the organization of the regional economy of New Mexico from a period of coalescence (A.D.1300-1598) into the period of early Spanish colonialism (A.D.1598-1700). Data will be collected from archaeological sites dating to this period throughout the Rio Grande valley of central New Mexico. This data collection is necessary to fill geographic gaps in the existing archaeological literature and therefore give a more complete picture of economic relationships between communities throughout the Rio Grande in New Mexico. The researchers will compile existing data from three lines of evidence to evaluate different scales and types of economic interaction related to the production of ceramics. The researchers will collect new data through petrographic analysis of ceramic tempers and isotopic analysis of lead glaze paints to help fill geographic gaps in the coverage of the existing data. Network analysis will be use used to analyze the data and will both facilitate comparison between the lines of evidence and provide a methodology for understanding complex sets of relationships at larger scales. The researchers will generate new methodologies for archaeological network analysis of regional interactions. The researchers will also expand on existing network analyses of coalescence to also help evaluate the social consequences of colonialism. 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.