Of Pots and People: Investigating Hunter-Gatherer Pottery Production and Social Networks in the Kuril Islands Erik W. Gjesfjeld A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Washington 2014 Reading Committee: Ben Fitzhugh, Chair James Feathers Benjamin Marwick Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Anthropology © Copyright 2014 Erik W. Gjesfjeld University of Washington Abstract Of Pots and People: Investigating Hunter-Gatherer Pottery Production and Social Networks in the Kuril Islands Erik W. Gjesfjeld Chair of Supervisory Committee: Associate Professor Ben Fitzhugh Anthropology Ethnographic and archaeological research shows that hunter-gatherers have colonized and inhabited a diverse range of environmental settings. One example of this is the occupation of the unique sub-arctic, island environment of the Kuril archipelago located in Northeast Asia. This research aims to investigate the strategies used by hunter-gatherers to meet the challenges associated with colonization and habitation of this dynamic landscape. Building from a human behavioral ecology framework, this research develops a model that provides a series of predictions for the structure of social networks in response to differing levels of environmental uncertainty within the Kuril Islands. Using a novel methodological approach, models of social relationships are derived from the compositional data of pottery indicating the movement of artifacts across the landscape. Once network models from archaeological data have been constructed, social network analysis methods are utilized to visually and quantitatively assess archaeological networks in relation to model expectations. In addition to investigating social network patterns, this research also provides a thorough and systematic approach to understanding the production and use of pottery within maritime foraging societies of the Kuril Islands. This includes the development of a regional pottery typology that contributes to the growing body of knowledge concerning the occupation history of the region. The research also investigated the technological attributes of pottery remains by utilizing a range for archaeometric methods to infer the pottery production process as well as regional and cultural differences in the use of pottery technology. Results of this research suggest that the colonization and settlement of the Kuril Islands is a complex process highly influenced by a range of environmental, cultural and demographic factors. In contrast to the theoretical expectations about the influence of biogeography, results suggest that environmental and geographic variables are not the primary influence on the colonization and long-term habitation of the Kuril Islands. Changes in the production and use of pottery vessels as well as differences in social network structures suggest the major differences recognized in the archipelago are primarily due to socio-cultural influences. This research supports a growing body of knowledge that living in marginal island landscapes is not comparable to living in geographic isolation but rather populations in these regions are highly influenced by broader political and economic conditions. Acknowledgments The dissertation project presented here is a product that represents the advice, support, collaboration and friendships of so many people that allowed me to achieve this dream. Ben Fitzhugh, my committee chair, academic advisor and friend provided me with the opportunity to participate in a truly collaborative project in one of the most amazing places in the world. His guidance, motivation and patience were vital to the development and success of this research and for that I am truly grateful. In addition to Ben, additional committee member including Ben Marwick, Jim Feathers and Peter Jordan provided valuable comments which factored greatly into the final product. Jody Bourgeois was not just a GSR but a collaborator and colleague. Given the international and interdisciplinary nature of this research, so many individuals from around the world assisted in the completion of this research. First and foremost, colleagues of the Kuril Biocomplexity Project were truly an inspirational collection of researchers that provided invaluable access to not only archaeological collections but also freely provided their time, thoughts and resources to helping me succeed. This is especially true of my collaborators at the Sakhalin Regional Museum including Olga Shubina, Valeri Shubin, Tatiana Roon, Natalia Toropova, Grandma Valentina, Sergey Kim and many others. The hospitality they showed me during nearly six months in Yuzhno-Sakhalin meant so much to me and I only hope that I can someday repay their kindness. The same is true for my colleagues at the Hokkaido University Museum in Tetsuya Amano, Hiroko Ono and Hirofumi Kato. Their willingness to show me collections, analyze materials and answer my questions about Japanese pottery was extremely helpful. Kaoru Tezuka of Sapporo University was not only a colleague, field partner and wonderful source of information for this research but also a good friend. Numerous other KBP individuals also assisted in this research through their comments, insights and willingness to answer questions. This includes Mike Eitner, Bre MacInnes, James Taylor, Matt Walsh, Pat Anderson and Cecilia Bitz. While not affiliated with the Kuril Biocomplexity Project, Sergey Rasskazov and his staff at the Institute of the Earth’s Crust at the Russian Academy of Sciences provided an immeasurable contribution to this research by providing all of the compositional data. The extensive archaeometric and statistical analyses associated with this research was greatly aided by the help of many people. This includes Jim Feathers and his willingness to teach me through basics of pottery analysis in an independent study, Steve Goodreau for his help with social network analysis, Elena Erosheva in CSSS who showed tremendous patience in helping me develop statistical routines, Tuesday Kuykendall for her guidance in XRD analysis and Laure Dussbieux at the Field Museum for her support of the LA-ICP-MS research. I want to acknowledge the direct and indirect funding support that I received from several institution and organizations. The research reported here was supported by the Kuril Biocomplexity Project funded by the United States National Science Foundation (ARC-0508109; Ben Fitzhugh, PI). Additional support was provided by the University of Washington, The Hokkaido University Museum, the Sakhalin Regional Museum and the Far East Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In addition, this research would not have been possible without a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant (ARC-1202879) from the Arctic Social Science Division at the National Science Foundation which funded so much of the travel and laboratory fees of this research. In addition, the IGERT Program in Evolutionary Modeling (IPEM) provided funding for much of the pilot research as well as supplemental support for a range of projects. More than the funding, the IPEM experience was a truly transformative experience for me and I am so grateful to Tim Kohler and Eric Smith for leadership of IPEM over the years and I hope that my current and future research can live up to the expectation of this unique program. In addition, grants from the Quaternary Research Center as well as the NSF Archaeomtery at the Field Musuem program provided valuable sources of funding. The long process of obtaining a PhD is not a journey that I went on alone. I was fortunate to be surrounded by amazing a group of friends at the University of Washington which helped so much in getting through the tough times as well as celebrating the good times. Colby Phillips was a close colleague that freely provided his knowledge, helpfulness, backyard and most importantly his friendship, all of which I am extremely grateful for. Adam Freeburg, Shelby Anderson, Jack Johnson, Amanda Taylor, Lisbeth Louderback, Molly Odell, Emily Peterson you were the best friends and grad student colleagues I could ask for with a willingness to help out in any situation without any reservation. Seungki Kwak provided so much help and freely gave long hours in the Sachs Lab to help with this research, Will Brown endured numerous requests for radiocarbon dates and never failed to deliver and Natasha Slobodina whose perseverance and help in setting up this research was absolutely critical to the success of this research and I am so thankful for everything she did. Beyond these wonderful graduate students, the staff of the Anthropology Department did so much in helping me negotiate the complexities of University of Washington. Catherine Ziegler is the most amazing Graduate Program Advisor I have ever had the opportunity to meet and John Cady’s expertise and willingness to walk me through the numerous funding issues was so very important and I am so very thankful. Finally, none of these accomplishments would be possibly without the love and support of my friends and family. To my family, who never offered anything but strong encouragement in all of my decisions such as my attendance of grad school at UCL and most importantly my dream of obtaining a PhD. To my best friends Jeremy and Erik, you have been with me through all the highs and lows and I can’t wait to celebrate this accomplishment with you. Most importantly, I want to thank my wife for her years of sacrifice in allowing me to achieve this dream. Nearly