Project Details
Description
As evidenced in many regions of the world today environmental change can have major impact on population distribution as groups of people may migrate in mass, disperse more broadly over the landscape or congregate in adaptive response. Archaeology, hand in hand with paleoclimate sciences, provides an excellent context within which to evaluate this process because it permits the reconstruction of both long term environmental fluctuation and human response. Such changes can play out slowly over multiple centuries and vary across multiple states. In this research project Drs. Douglas Kennett and Thomas Harper of Pennsylvania State University will focus on one such case dating to the Early Bronze Age period in Eastern Europe. During this period of climatic unstability settlement patterns indicate a highly volatile variation in population dynamics. During one time interval dispersed populations merged into 'giant-settlements' which attained sizes of 100-320 hectares unique not only in size but also in the fact that they show no sign of internal social stratification. While these settlements, have been the focus of prior study, they are poorly dated and thus it is difficult to situate them tightly in an environmental context which is chronologically controlled. Researchers will collect relevant cultural material for radiocarbon dating to construct a cultural sequence which is tightly anchored in time.
In order to firmly establish the habitational sequence, the researchers will obtain datable materials (faunal bone samples; though a contingency using charcoal may be implemented in some cases) from a selection of twenty-two undated or poorly dated sites with artifact assemblages suggesting occupation ca. 4200-3300 BC. These sites represent the periods on either side of the giant-settlement phenomenon, Materials from these sites are kept in the collections of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kiev), the Museum of Tripolye Culture and other regional museums and archaeological authorities. Co-PI Harper will travel to Ukraine for the month in order to perform relevant collections research. Samples will be packed and shipped to Penn State where they will be cleaned, prepared and radiocarbon dated.
Status | Finished |
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Effective start/end date | 8/15/17 → 7/31/19 |
Funding
- National Science Foundation: $101,179.00