Bandelier Archaeological Excavation Project

科勒博士和他的同事们将在位于新墨西哥州的国家公园班德利耶国家纪念碑进行为期两个季节的考古研究。公园里有许多悬崖民居和其他考古遗迹。先前的考古工作表明，大约在公元1,200至1,500年间，公园里出现了阿纳萨齐人。数据还表明，在这段时间里，小的分散定居点让位于更大的聚集群体，美国西南部的其他地区也出现了类似的模式。科勒博士和他的同事们希望记录下这一趋势，并找出其原因。为此，他们将在先前工作中找到的地点进行两个季节的挖掘。他们将收集陶瓷材料来构建一份精细的年表。这将使他们能够确定人口如何随着时间的推移而变化。动物和花卉遗骸将允许在这大约300年的间隔内重建饮食和变化的环境。在此基础上，可以考察气候、饮食、环境退化和社会变化之间的相互作用。尽管考古学家多年来已经认识到史前西南地区发生了人口聚集的过程，但很难分离出支撑这一发展的力量。科勒博士认为，人口增长导致野生资源枯竭，需要加强农业生产。这些因素反过来又引发了有利于聚集发展的社会反应。该项目将提供数据来检验这一假设。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将揭示导致复杂社会发展的因素，例如我们自己的社会。这也将增加我们对美洲原住民史前的了解，并为班德利耶国家公园的管理提供有用的环境数据。最后，由于这项研究将与考古暑期实地学校一起进行，它有助于培训学生并鼓励他们追求科学事业。

Dr. Kohler and his colleagues will conduct two seasons of archaeological research in the Bandelier National Monument, a national park located in New Mexico. The park contains numerous cliff dwellings and other archaeological remains. Prior archaeological work indicates that Anasazi peoples were present in the park between approximately 1,200 and 1,500 A.D. The data also indicate that over this time period small scattered settlements gave way to larger aggregated groupings, and a similar pattern is seen in other parts of the Southwestern United States. Dr. Kohler and his colleagues wish to document this trend and discover its cause. To do this, they will conduct two seasons of excavation in sites which have been located during prior work. They will collect ceramic materials to construct a fine grained chronology. This will permit them to determine how population changed over time. Faunal and floral remains will allow reconstruction of both diet and changing environment over this roughly 300 year interval. On this basis the interactions between climate, diet, environmental degradation, and social change can be examined. Although archaeologists for many years have recognized that a process of population aggregation occurred in the prehistoric Southwest, it has been difficult to isolate the forces which underlay this development. Dr. Kohler believes that population growth led to the depletion of wild resources and the need to intensify agricultural production. These factors in turn elicited social responses that favored the development of aggregation. This project will provide data to test the hypothesis. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed light on the factors which led to the development of complex societies, such as our own. It will also increase our understanding of native American prehistory and provide useful environmental data for the management of Bandelier national park. Finally, since this research will be conducted in conjunction with an archaeological summer field school, it help to train students and encourage them to pursue careers in science.