Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Metallurgical Production and Social Organization

University Of Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

Mr. Michael Johnson, a PhD candidate at the University of Chicago, will undertake research on how societies integrate new technologies socially and economically. Early research typically treated technology as applied science with a predetermined developmental trajectory that predicted specific outcomes. Recent work contradicts this, suggesting that technologies and their structures are the result of complex social dynamics between producers, consumers, and other members of a society with a vested interest, often leading to conflict, cooperation, and compromise. These interactions produce unique and materially traceable patterns of specialization, organization, and consumption. Archaeology, with a material dataset spanning millennia, is well suited to studying the material aspects of these phenomena. When supported by ancient textual records, as in the case of the present research, it is also possible to investigate the social dynamics behind the material record, allowing researchers to look at the tension between what people say (texts) and do (material remains), which often reveals information about social ideals and the limits of power. Over the long-term, how do different societies come to terms with new and complex technological suites? Today, as societies grapple with the unforeseen consequences of technologies like the internet, labor automation, and machine learning, the importance of this question is clear - new technologies often do not have straightforward and predictable effects, and different groups, based on their unique priorities, will structure them differently and use them to meet a wide variety of goals. Mr. Johnson and his collaborators will examine how metallurgical technologies were practiced, managed, and perceived during a crucial transformative period where metallurgy underwent a shift from a small-scale elite craft to a complex industry that facilitated the development of wealth-based economies and increased productive capacity, thereby laying part of the foundation for the formation of large territorial empires. Working with material scientists, geologists, and archaeologists, Mr. Johnson will utilize methods developed in the STEM disciplines to analyze metallurgical debris excavated from the ancient city of Alalakh in southern Turkey. As the capital of a small state with a diverse economic base that was frequently subservient to much larger regional powers, Alalakh is an ideal setting for studying these developments. Through these analyses, the researchers will develop a comprehensive assessment of metallurgical technologies in use over a 400-year period (1600-1200 BC), during which the production of iron was mastered and the manufacture of copper reached a truly industrial scale. Considered in reference to local and regional textual records and their archaeological contexts, the evaluation of these data will permit a thorough assessment of changing methods of production, management, and consumption at a local level and how these trends supported broader social developments. Using a robust interdisciplinary program, Mr. Johnson and colleagues will generate a more thorough protocol for the integration of STEM and humanities datasets, while the international nature of the collaboration with create a valuable venue for cross-cultural teaching and exchange. 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.