Origins and Development of Prehistoric European Villages
- Program: International Multidisciplinary Research Project, Spring - Autumn, 2011
- Major Field: Anthropological Archaeology
- Directors: William A. Parkinson, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; Richard Yerkes, Ohio State University, Columbus; Attila Gyucha, Hungarian National Museum, Budapest
Locations of Neolithic Tells (stars), Neolithic flat sites (black and gray squares), and Early Copper Age sites (gray circles) that are being investigated by the Körös Regional Archaeological Project in Hungary (black circles are modern towns). Photo (c) Körös Regional Archaeological Project
Locations: Budapest and Vésztö, Hungary; Rethymnon (Crete), Greece; Chicago and Columbus, USA. This is part of a collaborative, multi-disciplinary, international research project between scientists and students at several European and American Universities and Museums.
Program Description: Five outstanding undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers in Anthropological Archaeology - particularly qualified minorities and members of other underrepresented groups - will join an international, multidisciplinary, research team studying prehistoric European agricultural villages on the Great Hungarian Plain occupied between 5500 and 4500 BC (cal.). This research, training, and mentoring program includes field work at Neolithic tells and flat sites, data collection, laboratory analysis, publication, and dissemination of information to a wide audience. Five applicants will be selected to join our archaeological field project in eastern Hungary, design an independent research project, and collect data at the field sites. After the field season, they will work with scientists and mentors at laboratories in Greece, Hungary, and the USA, analyze and interpret their data, present their results at international conferences, publish their results in peer-reviewed journals, and disseminate their findings via webpages and other media.
Dr. Apostolos Sarris (Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, FORTH, Crete) is conducting a geophysical survey using a magnetometer which records subtle changes in the magnetic properties of the soil that are related to human activities, such as building houses, kilns, and ovens, and digging ditches and pits. He is recording magnetic data on a flat site near the Szeghalom-Kovácshalom tell. In the background, a student is using the GPS "rover" to complete a topographic survey of the site. Photo (c) Körös Regional Archaeological Project
Independent research projects after the spring, 2011 field season:
- In Crete, work with Dr. Apostolos Sarris, and interpret anomalies identified during magnetic surveys. The anomalies have "signatures" associated with certain features. Magnetic survey results can be used to produce site maps before any excavations are conducted.
- Investigate Distribution patterns of artifacts in controlled surface collections. Artifact distribution maps will be used to identify structures, workshops, and activity areas within sites.
- Conduct locational analysis of sites using a Geographic Information System (GIS). Maps of natural and cultural features on the landscape can be created as GIS layers and compared with site distributions to see if certain locations were favored or avoided.
- Reconstruct paleo-environmental contexts of prehistoric villages with geomorphological data. The configuration of ancient landforms can be reconstructed from topography, while pollen, microfossils, and macrofossils found in soil cores can be used as proxies for past environmental conditions.
- Conduct microstratigraphic analysis of tell levels. Features, burned layers, and artifact concentrations are major components of tell levels. Detailed analyses can identify activity areas, obtain samples for dating, reconstruct building methods, and examine the depositional and weathering processes that occurred when buildings were dismantled and mounded over.
- Complete a functional analysis of lithic artifacts. Diagnostic wear traces on edges of flaked and ground stone tools can be identified and compared to the microwear on replicas to learn how ancient tools were used.
- Perform elemental and petrographic analysis of ceramics. Sources of clays and temper used to produce pottery can be identified and firing temperatures can be estimated. The results can be used to study ceramic technology and exchange.
- Identify and analyze animal remains. Domestic and wild species can be identified, species abundance estimated, and butchering and disposal practices can be documented.
- Idenity floral materials from flotation samples. Wood samples and plant remains can be identified and used to reconstruct past diets, seasonality, and land use practices.
- Conduct sylistic analyses of ceramics. Pottery styles can be identified and used to examine interaction between kin groups within sites and with contemporary societies on the Great Hungarian Plain and beyond.
These projects build on earlier research and provide new information that helps us understand the prehistoric origins of nucleated Neolithic villages and their social systems. Research projects employing state-of-the-art analytical methods will be carried out in archaeological laboratories in Europe and the USA supervised by the scientists and mentors of the Körös Regional Archaeological Project.
In 2011 and 2012, IRES students will help clean and map older excavation trenches at the Vészto"-Mágor and Szeghalom-Kovácshalom tells. In the above trench at the Vésztö-Mágor tell, the bottom levels date to the Middle and Late Neolithic (5,300-4,800 BC). The burial in the center dates to the Early Copper Age (4,500-4,000 BC). Photo (c) Körös Regional Archaeological Project
Financial Support: Funds from a National Science Foundation OISE International Research Experiences for Students (IRES) grant will cover airfares, food, and lodging for participants during fieldwork and residence at European and American research facilities, and emergency travel insurance (they must maintain their standard health care coverage). This will ease the financial burden for minorities and other under-represented groups. Five selected applicants will take on the responsibilities of independent research, and gain confidence in their abilities to work as full-fledged members of international scientific teams. This is a physically and mentally demanding program, but it will prepare IRES participants for productive scientific careers in an increasingly interconnected world. We seek participants who will do well in a co-educational collaborative group research project, who are enthusiastic about our program, and are willing to commit to the physical and mental demands of the international research experience.
Eligibility: Federal funding for this project restricts applications to American citizens who are currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program at an accredited college or university, or hold a postdoctoral appointment. Applicants with prior archaeological field experience (e.g., field schools or field training) are preferred. We hope to attract students from diverse backgrounds, from small colleges as well as large universities, but student applicants should have completed a course in archaeological theory and methods. Courses in European prehistory are recommended. Each independent research project may require additional course work. Applicants must be prepared for the rigors of field work and should have acquired the skills needed to begin their independent analytical research projects overseas or in the USA.
Color-coded maps of the grid squares show where artifacts were concentrated. The red and orange squares mark ceramic concentrations on the map of the Szeghalom-Kovácshalom tell and adjacent fields (above left). The map on the right shows the distribution of burnt wall rubble (daub) in grid squares on the surface of a field east of the tell. Concentrations are shown in red and orange. They are correlated with large longhouses visible on the magnetic map produced by Dr. Sarris. The distribution maps were created by Dr. Paul Duffy (U. Pittsburgh) using ArcGIS. Photo (c) Körös Regional Archaeological Project
How to apply: Eligible applicants must provide information about: 1) your academic standing; 2) the upper-level anthropology and archaeology courses you have taken, and 3) your field training. Applicants will: 4) write a self-evaluation that a) explains how your courses and field work have prepared you for international, multidisciplinary, collaborative, research, b) outlines your career goals after college and/or graduate school, and c) tells us why you think that you should be selected for this program. Applicants will choose one of the 10 independent research projects listed above and write 5) short essays a) explaining how you will prepare for your project (How will you become familiar with the literature on the topic? Do you have any experience with this kind of research? What exactly do you need to do to get ready for this research project?), and b) describing what you will learn about ancient human behavior by completing your project (What is the significance of the research? How will your results help other scientists who are engaged in similar research?). You will also be asked to submit: 6) a list of grades for your college and university courses (or a transcript), and 7) two recommendations from persons able to comment on your academic and personal qualifications for collaborative international research.
To obtain an application form, contact:
- Dr. William A. Parkinson (wparkinson@fieldmuseum.org) or
- Prof. Richard W. Yerkes (yerkes.1@osu.edu).
Completed Applications Must be Received by December 15, 2010
Related Links
- Field Museum: Expeditions
- Rick Yerkes home page
- Körös Regional Archaeological Project
- More Fieldwork in Focus
- How to Choose a Fieldschool, in which I mentioned the KRAP project as an ideal example
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