Project Grant 2147118

This National Science Foundation project grant of $212,756 awarded on September 1, 2022 will fund research into the economic integration of rural regions in prehistoric times. Under the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences program (CFDA 47.075), Arizona State University will investigate trade and economic behavior in a peripheral rural area located far from major population centers through analyzing excavated archaeological artifacts. Researchers will determine if elite trade networks, merchants, or community markets structured the local economy by studying the presence of goods like pottery, stone tools, shell artifacts and jade across households of varying socioeconomic status. The project will train students and future researchers, and use findings in university classes and public presentations. Results will help understand diverse economic structures in areas historically portrayed only as resource extraction zones or unsophisticated rural regions.