Dissertation Research: Prehispanic Dynamics of Settlement in the Lower Tiwanaku Valley (Bolivia)

在David Freidel博士的指导下，Juan Albarracin-Jordan先生将在提瓦纳库山谷进行考古研究，为他的博士论文收集数据。一千多年来(约公元100-1200年)，玻利维亚北部的提瓦纳库遗址是喀喀湖盆地的最高城市，而喀喀湖盆地又是当地安第斯文明的伟大人口中心之一。然而，尽管提瓦纳库在安第斯山脉的史前时期占有重要地位--它是早期国家形成的中心之一--但人们对它的经济史以及它是如何崛起、统治一个帝国，然后衰落的知之甚少。阿尔巴拉辛-乔丹的研究将有助于填补这一空白。一个特别令人担忧的问题是，这片土地--今天大部分是无人耕种的土地--是如何养活如此庞大的人口的。这些古代安第斯人所使用的农作物和耕作策略是什么？阿尔巴拉辛-约旦先生将重点讨论这一问题。他不会在市中心挖掘，而是研究可能是最丰富的农业区，进行系统调查，收集地面材料，绘制地图并挖掘选定的地点。这些数据应提供有关人口分布和景观利用的重要信息。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将阐明南美史前鲜为人知的一个方面。提瓦纳库帝国迅速崛起，其影响力迅速扩大到大片地区。人们对这段历史知之甚少。其次，它将增加我们对更普遍的问题的理解，即像我们自己这样的复杂社会是如何产生和维持的。最后，它将有助于培养一位非常有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. David Freidel, Mr. Juan Albarracin- Jordan will conduct archaeological research in the Tiwanaku Valley to collect data for his doctoral thesis. For more than a millennium (ca. AD 100-1200), the northern Bolivian site of Tiwanaku was the paramount city of the Lake Titicaca basin which was, in turn, one of the great demographic centers of native Andean civilization. However, despite Tiwanaku's important position in the prehistory of the Andes - it is one of the early centers of state formation - little is known about its economic history and how it rose to prominence, governed an empire, and then declined. Mr. Albarracin-Jordan's research will help fill that gap. One issue of particular concern is how the land, much of which is unfarmed today, was able to support such a large population. What are the crops and the farming strategies which these ancient Andeans employed? Mr. Albarracin-Jordan will focus on this issue. Rather than excavate in the city center, he will study what likely is the richest agricultural area, conduct a systematic survey, make collections of surface materials, and map and excavate selected sites. These data should provide important information on population distribution and landscape use. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed light on a little understood aspect of South American prehistory. The Tiwanaku empire rose quickly and extended its influence rapidly over a wide area. This history is little understood. Secondly, it will increase our understanding of the more general question of how complex societies such as our own arise and are maintained. Finally, it will contribute to the training of an extremely promising young scientist.