Dr. J. Heath Anderson, of the Minnesota State University - Mankato, and his team of collaborators at Florida State University, Luther College, and the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia of Mexico, are conducting archaeological research to investigate the role immigration played in the collapse and regeneration of complex societies such as states and empires. Archaeology investigates a broad range of environmental, economic, social, and ideological dimensions of human behavior at time scales much greater than several generations. As such, it is particularly useful for producing reliable knowledge about past civilizations that serves to contextualize the present-day problems U.S. citizens confront in their roles as participants in public discourse and the democratic process. The present project investigates questions regarding how people interact under a number of conditions all too familiar to the present day, such as: How do incoming immigrant populations negotiate the use of ecological and economic resources? What kinds of social and ethnic differences form as a result of this process? How do people overcome those differences to form a cohesive government? In the course of investigating these questions, the project also builds and maintains national and international collaborative relationships, provide training for undergraduate and graduate students, safeguard ancient remains under threat of destruction, and involve local populations in the investigation and preservation of cultural patrimony that has global significance. Project results are shared with the public in several ways, including their integration into undergraduate and graduate coursework, publication in peer-reviewed journals, creation of publicly accessible online database, and public outreach in the form of lectures and articles in popular print and online formats.
Dr. Anderson and his research team undertake a program of topographic mapping, archaeological excavation, and analysis of artifacts and human remains to address research questions related to migration and interaction between communities. Specifically, the project addresses broad questions of general relevance in anthropology related to the difficulties in distinguishing between movement of ideas and the migration of populations. The research is conducted in the Tula Region, located in central Mexico, which was incorporated into Mesoamerica's first empire until its collapse ca. AD 550. After four centuries, it became the epicenter of regeneration of complex society as the seat of power for the Toltec state. The four centuries leading up to this regeneration are the focus of the present project, when new populations began to inhabit the region. By analyzing isotopes in human bone, trace elements in ceramic and lithic artifacts, and cultural details such as cuisine, iconography, construction methods, and the manufacture of ceramic vessels, the research team can distinguish between the movement of ideas and the movement of people. This is vital in order to illuminate the magnitude of population movement and the social and economic ties and ethnic identities of these incoming populations. Most crucially, the project investigates how these relationships changed in order to weld autonomous communities into a cohesive government in the form of the Toltec state.
