Prehistory of the Jama River, Ecuador

詹姆斯·泽德勒博士和黛博拉·皮尔索尔博士将在位于厄瓜多尔北部贾马排水系统的圣伊西德罗遗址合作进行两个季节的田野工作。他们将继续在现场挖掘，并扩大对周围地区的调查。圣伊西德罗有一个位于中心的大型土丘，这表明它是一个地区仪式和行政中心。圣伊西德罗遗址的大小和宏伟的建筑意味着存在能够支持密集人口的过剩生产，迄今发现的材料表明，圣伊西德罗是厄瓜多尔沿海以及海岸和高地之间外部联系和商品流动的主要地点。研究小组将在遗址内挖掘大块地块，以重建定居点历史，并确定它是如何随着时间的推移而变化的。在其他地点继续进行调查和试掘，将使这一模式能够扩展到区域一级。将特别重视维持生计的技术，并将努力重建农业系统。这项研究的目的是研究厄瓜多尔北部这一热带地区的人口增长过程以及生存的变化和随之而来的文化复杂性的发展。尽管在热带地区出现了如此复杂的社会，但很多时候，在世界不同地区，根本的过程并没有得到很好的理解。这项研究将允许测试不同的模型。虽然厄瓜多尔以拥有丰富的史前遗迹而闻名，但那里的考古研究却很少。这个项目将有助于纠正这种情况。

Drs. James Zeidler and Deborah Pearsall will collaborate for two seasons of fieldwork at the site of San Isidro which is located in the Jama drainage in northern Ecuador. They will continue to excavate at the site and also extend their survey of the surrounding region. San Isidro contains a large, centrally located earthen mound which suggests that it functioned as a regional ceremonial and administrative center. The site's size and monumental architecture imply the existence of surplus production capable of supporting a dense population, and materials recovered to date suggest that San Isidro was a major point of external contact and commodity flow both along the coast of Ecuador and between the coast and the highlands. The research team will excavate large blocks within the site to reconstruct settlement history and determine how it changed over time. Continued survey and test excavation at other sites will allow extension of this pattern to a regional level. Particular emphasis will be placed on subsistence technology and an attempt will be made to reconstruct the agricultural system. The goal of the research is to study the process of demographic growth as well as change in subsistence and the accompanying development of cultural complexity which took place in this tropical area of northern Ecuador. Although such complex societies arose in the tropics, many times, in different parts of the world, the underlying processes are not well understood. This research will allow the testing of different models. While Ecuador is known to be rich in prehistoric remains, little archaeological research has been conducted there. This project will help to remedy that situation.