RUI: Regional Expansion of Early Polities

This project utilizes archaeological research and laboratory analysis to improve scientific understanding of what factors contribute to the regional expansion of early polities, through excavation and material analysis at two sites in a peripheral high elevation context. Through archaeological excavation, this project explores how this polity solidified territorial presence in the built landscape through permanent structures, as well as what factors contributed to the maintenance or attenuation of its territorial control over those sites. As a Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI), this project provides unique research opportunities for undergraduate students in the archaeology program (and related fields). Students receive multi-level mentoring and training from the research team, comprised of the investigators who work at a small liberal arts college and a large R1 institution, as well as researchers at the archaeological site. The project also accelerates scientific discovery in biotechnology, and provides training for students in that priority area, through the use of a range of integrated macro- and microbotanical analytical techniques. The project fosters public science and supports public engagement in the research process. This project is designed to answer two basic research questions: 1) What is the chronology of the features at defensive fortifications, based on radiocarbon dates and stratigraphy?, and 2) What activities took place at these sites, with what participants, and for whose viewing? One season of excavation takes place at these structures. Ceramic, faunal, and paleobotanical analyses are employed in order to understand the chronology of the use of the structures and to identify who was participating in various activities at these sites. The study of excavated material informs how the structures were built, how they were used, and over what time frame, to shed light on regional-local negotiations of state expansion. 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.