Drs. Heather McKillop of Louisiana State University and E. Cory Sills of The University of Texas at Tyler, along with graduate and undergraduate students will investigate how staple goods and resources are produced and distributed in complex economies, in particular by examining how food staples are produced for marketplace trade. The researchers will examine what factors make small enterprises successful, including the organization and composition of labor and the identification of markets, as well as factors that contribute to failure. Archaeology is particularly useful in addressing these issues due to the material evidence of production, distribution of goods, and the ability to investigate changes over time. The research is important to the United States economy, which includes both large corporations, as well as small businesses, including family-run enterprises. Why do certain factors allow some enterprises to succeed and other's fail? Students, many who are first-generation college students, will be trained in the use of technologies such as Global Positioning Systems, Geographic Information Systems, and 3D digital imaging, all marketable skills in addition to participating in interdisciplinary research in archaeology. Descendant communities as well as other interested people will be involved in workshops to share findings from the project as well as 3D printed replicas for exhibits. Additionally, the knowledge obtained from this study will be available to interested students, professionals, and the public through an online public repository, web page, and digital updates.
The researchers will evaluate the production and distribution of salt, a staple good, by study of abandoned salt works where wooden buildings have preserved a record of production untouched from 1500 to 1000 years ago in a coastal lagoon in southern Belize. As a basic daily necessity, salt was scarce at inland cities so its production on the coast figures into supply and demand of a good distributed at inland marketplaces in cities, towns, and smaller communities. Previous archaeological survey, mapping, and transect excavations indicated massive salt production. However, there were unanswered questions about the workforce, including if they lived near the salt works or elsewhere, if production was organized by households who worked individual salt kitchens or by day or seasonal workers from elsewhere. The researchers will carry out aerial excavations inside multiple buildings and in the adjacent yards at two large archaeological sites to identify residential, production, and other uses. In addition, excavations will be carried out at smaller sites in five different areas of the salt works. Interdisciplinary collaboration includes study of mineralogy of pottery to identify the sources of manufacture as a proxy for the locations of inland markets and consumers. The study incorporates soil chemistry to identify chemical residues of activities, along with quantitative and spatial evaluation of salt production tools. Species identification and radiocarbon dating of wooden posts as well as column samples of the earth beside posts will evaluate the ancient landscape and timing of building construction.
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.
