Dissertation Research: The Origin of Agricultural Bench Terraces in the Colca Valley, Peru

9318884 Denevan在William Denevan博士的指导下，Sarah Brooks女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她将在秘鲁的科尔卡山谷进行考古研究，并试图确定位于山谷斜坡上的不同类型农业梯田的建造年代和建造顺序。她还将收集能够重建气候变化的数据。为了回答第一个问题，她将对4平方公里的两种梯田类型进行彻底调查，并对25个梯田及其物理特征进行部分或全部挖掘。她还将部分揭开几座房屋结构和运河的面纱。将对发现的石块、陶瓷和动物遗骸进行分析。日期将通过比较陶瓷分析、有机材料的碳14分析和黑铁矿人工制品的水合作用获得。为了确定气候变化，将对挖掘过程中收集的花粉和大型动物材料进行分析。对科尔卡河谷附近的奎尔卡亚冰盖的分析数据表明，从公元500年到现在，出现了湿润和干燥的时期。对该地区史前历史的有限研究表明，在公元6世纪初，耕作方式发生了变化，人们放弃了雨养的坡地梯田，开始建造可通过灌溉灌溉的梯田。布鲁克斯希望研究气候变化和假定的人类反应之间的关系。她希望确定该地区的降雨量和植被是如何变化的，以及新的耕作方式是否实际上与这种变化有关。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。安第斯山脉上许多今天未被利用的地区曾经支持集约化农业。重建过去的耕作做法，并发现它们与环境变量之间的关系，可能会为今天的区域发展提供直接利用的见解。在她的工作过程中，布鲁克斯还将为许多在秘鲁高原工作的考古学家提供一个按时间顺序排列的价值序列。该项目将有助于培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。***

9318884 Denevan Under the direction of Dr. William Denevan, Ms. Sarah Brooks will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct archaeological research in the Colca Valley of Peru and attempt to date and determine the construction sequence of different kinds of agricultural terraces located on the valley slopes. She will also collect data which will permit reconstruction of climate change. To answer the first question she will conduct a through survey of a 4 square km region with two terrace types and carry out partial or complete excavations of 25 terraces and features physically associated with them. She will also partially uncover several house structures and canals. Analyses will be conducted on recovered lithics, ceramics and faunal remains. Dates will be obtained through comparative ceramic analyses, carbon 14 analyses of organic materials and hydration of obsidian artifacts. To determine climate change, analyses will be conducted both on pollen and macro faunal materials collected during excavation. Data resulting from the analysis of the Quelccaya ice cap near the Colca Valley have indicated wet and dry periods from AD 500 to the present. Limited studies of the region's prehistory indicate that in the early sixth century AD farming practices changed and people abandoned rainfed sloping field terraces and began to construct counterparts which could be watered by irrigation. Ms. Brooks wishes to examine the relationship between climate change and postulated human response. She wishes to determine how rainfall and vegetation changed in the region and whether the new farming practices were in fact related to this shift. This research is important for several reasons. Many areas in the Andes which are unused today at one time supported intensive agriculture. Reconstruction of past farming practices and discovery the relationship between them and environmental variables may provide insights of direct use for regional development today. In t he course of her work Ms. Brooks will also produce a chronological sequence of value to many archaeologists who work in highland Peru. The project will assist in the training of a promising young scientist. ***