Doctoral Dissertation Research: Interplay of Organization, Exchange Over Long Term Adaptation

This doctoral dissertation project focuses on how the spread of mobile pastoralism interacted with the rise of small-scale complex societies in an archaeological region in which communities were situated between herd dependent groups and hunter gatherers. These Early Iron Age people found themselves on the frontier of a rapidly diffusing intensive pastoralist lifeway and at the same time they may also have begun interactions with complex societies in an adjacent region. Either of these processes, or perhaps both, may have stimulated changes locally resulting in the emergence of small-scale complex organizations, a dramatic shift in burial practices, and landscapes of monumental graves in very large cemetery sites. This project includes fieldwork and material analysis. The research addresses anthropological theories on early pastoralism, monumentality, and mortuary treatments and asks how these factors may have contributed to the emergence of complex societies. The project trains students in scientific research methods, archaeological fieldwork, and STEM based analyses. The project employs comprehensive field survey methods, targeted excavation, and advanced analytical techniques—including radiocarbon dating, pXRF bronze analysis, GIS mapping, ceramic and faunal evaluations, and stable isotope research. By integrating archaeological evidence with interdisciplinary analyses, this study explains the mechanisms underlying complex community formation and transformation and provides understanding of early nomadic pastoral lifeways. 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.