An Investigation into the Governance of Village Life

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

A team of researchers will undertake research to study the organization of small-scale, village-based societies and, especially, resistance to the process of state formation. Archaeologists have long been interested in documenting and explaining the origins of the state, but attention has recently shifted toward societies that explicitly sought to prevent state formation, that is, to prevent the accumulation of wealth, power, and authority in the hands of any particular individual or group. Understanding how these intentionally small-scale, decentralized, and egalitarian societies operated can yield new insight into the diverse forms of governance organization that have developed, persisted, and thrived alongside states. Archaeology offers the only scientific means of glimpsing the operation of such organization in prehistory. Given its focus on the physical remains left behind by past societies, archaeology also draws attention to the spaces, places, and objects that helped people construct and maintain specific governance systems. The research team will use archaeological evidence for food production, craft production, community organization, burial practices, symbolic representations, and trade to study governance organization in a village-based, egalitarian society contemporary with and in close proximity to the classic centers of state formation. Excavations are designed to collect evidence for the governance of village life in one small settlement and thereby provide a glimpse into the operation of such a small-scale, locally organized, and deliberately maintained alternative to the state. The research will consist of a three-year program of archaeological data collection and analysis that includes study of ceramic, lithic, metallurgical, architectural, zooarchaeological, palaeobotanical, osteological, and geoarchaeological remains. Drawing on these diverse data sets, the project will provide a new perspective on the deep history of efforts to build and maintain more equitable social systems. It will also contribute to international education, training, cultural heritage preservation, and human resource development. 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.