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Aaron Comstock awarded two grants for support of his doctoral dissertation research

August 11, 2015

Aaron Comstock awarded two grants for support of his doctoral dissertation research

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Congratulations goes to Aaron Comstock who has learned that he is to be awarded two grants for support of his doctoral dissertation research.  These include one from the American Philosophical Society's Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research for his proposal, Becoming Villagers: A Late Woodland/Fort Ancient Case Study in Southwest Ohio and the other from the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant Program for his Long Term Processes Of Cultural Interaction and Change.  In these projects, Aaron is investigating the emergence of agrarian village life among Fort Ancient (c. AD 1000-1650) people of Southwest Ohio through a multi-stage investigation of the Turpin site. Turpin represents the only site in this region occupied both by Late Woodland (c. AD 500-1000) horticulturalists and early Fort Ancient maize agriculturalists, presenting a unique opportunity to examine this transition. The Turpin site also provides evidence for a relationship between the emergence of Fort Ancient culture and Mississippi Valley chiefdoms, considering Mississippian artifacts and non-local individuals have been recovered. This project presents a minimally-destructive framework for understanding the structure and chronology of complex prehistoric sites by utilizing geophysical survey, focused excavations of residential contexts, and Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Hypotheses regarding the nature and timing of cultural change in this region are tested, with particular attention paid to how cultural contact can lead to the development of new ways of life.

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