The goal of this research is to gain understanding of the process which leads to the development in technologically simple societies of large functioning social units. How are such groups formed and maintained? The prehistoric US Southwest is appropriate for study since the process, at different time periods, included both population increase and the melding of multiple social groups. Similar phenomena can be observed in multiple regions within the developing world today and archaeology provides a context to traces such changes over extended periods of time. The intellectual merits of this research include the development of new methods and approaches applying models of social group formation from the broader social sciences in archaeological research. Further, this research will strengthen ties between archaeology and other fields by expanding the range of political and economic contexts considered in comparative social science research on social group formation.
With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Matthew Peeples, Dr. Gregson Schachner, and Paul Reed along with a team of scholars from across the U.S. will conduct archaeological field and collections research exploring the relationship between demographic change and the development of regional-scale social groups in two portions of the prehispanic U.S. Southwest (A.D. 1050-1350); the Mariana Mesa and Cebolleta Mesa regions of New Mexico. Available information from the two study areas suggests that both were occupied by diverse populations including locals with long histories in the region and immigrants from other portions of the Southwest. Using models from multiple social science fields focused on the development of social boundaries in contemporary contexts, the team will explore the role of population size and structure in promoting either the creation of homogenous social groups or the long-term maintenance of diversity. The two study areas, along with previous work in the nearby Zuni area, provide a range of demographic scales to explore this relationship through time across multiple transformations of community organization. The project team includes specialists with backgrounds covering a broad range of material classes (architecture, ceramics, stone tools, basketry, fiber perishables, etc.) which will allow for the documentation and comparison of several different kinds and scales of interaction.
This research requires both new data on the nature of settlement and material culture in the focal areas as well as a compilation and evaluation of existing information. Through mapping and/or in-field analysis of 24 major sites in the focal areas, along with re-analyses of existing museum collections, the team will document the changing demographic properties of settlements and regions through time and develop an improved regional chronology and settlement history. The team will then conduct analyses to characterize patterns of interaction and evidence for group formation through time by: (1) documenting the movement of ceramics and obsidian tools through neutron activation analysis and X-ray fluorescence,(2) comparing technological similarities in a range of materials including domestic architecture, ceramics, lithics, and perishable materials, and (3) analyzing highly visible markers of group membership including painted ceramics and public architecture.
One of the broader impacts of the study will be the creation of new primary data for portions of the Southwest which have seen little research since the 1960s; providing information essential for evaluating models of social change in the prehispanic Southwest. The project will also result in training and experience for graduate students in archaeology. Finally, the project will produce information and new approaches applicable to evaluating cultural affiliation as mandated by the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990.
