Dissertation Research: Agricultural Change in the Bolivian Amazon

在克拉克·埃里克森博士的指导下，约翰·沃克先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。作为埃里克森博士更大项目的一部分，沃克将考察玻利维亚东部莫克索斯地区史前高地农业的实践。该地区位于地势低洼的亚马逊盆地，特点是大片精心建造的现已废弃的农田。挖土是为了建造排水沟，然后再堆积起来，形成适合农业的隆起区域。这项技术在南美洲西部和中美洲的低地得到了广泛的应用，实验工作表明，这种系统可以为作物生产提供有效的手段。在南美洲，这种方法在史前或史前早期就被停止了，在玻利维亚，人们现在用覆盖着田面的自然生长的草来放牧牛。沃克先生希望了解提高的田地是如何融入更大的社会和经济背景的，以及它们被抛弃的原因。人们提出了许多解释。其中包括假设的史前社会组织崩溃：与厄尔尼诺事件有关的气候变化；以及西班牙殖民统治的直接或间接影响。为了解决这些问题，沃克将使用航拍照片来定位和核实地面上隆起的田野的位置和范围。他将进行一次地面调查，以确定居住地的位置，确定它们与农业特征的关系，并重建人口密度。他还将在油田内部进行有限的挖掘。确定这些油田是在什么时候建造和废弃的至关重要，这可能是极其困难的。美国国家科学基金会的支持将使沃克先生能够获得挖掘过程中发现的有机材料的放射性碳年代。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为在不适宜居住的低地热带环境中的生存适应提供新的线索。它将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的数据，并帮助培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。包括保存完好的动物遗骸。虽然在阿拉斯加的这一部分发现了许多古生物遗址，但阿丁顿角岩石掩体在沉积物的受保护性质和内容物的高度保存方面是独一无二的。根据确定年代的海滩线特征，很可能陆架保存了晚更新世/早全新世的物质。因此，它将有可能揭示该区域的整个史前情况。1977年夏天的野外工作的主要目标之一将是确定考古沉积物的总深度。将在地层单元中挖掘一条沟至基岩，并收集所有文化材料以及贝壳、动物和花卉遗骸。还将进行曲面贴图。材料将被确认，S将提交样品进行放射性碳测年。对壳牌的同位素分析将使气候变化调查成为可能。阿拉斯加海岸之所以具有人类学意义，有几个原因。最早从亚洲进入新大陆的人类很可能利用了一条穿越这一地区的路线，莫斯博士的工作有可能为新大陆的人们提供新的线索。丰富的沿海资源使狩猎和采集民族在这种生存水平上达到了世界其他地方所未见的文化复杂程度，人类学家几十年来一直在研究这一独特现象。然而，在阿拉斯加，由于考古保存状况普遍较差，人们的知识极其有限，因此，发现一块干燥的岩石是极其重要的。这项研究将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的独特数据。它还有望为一个更大的研究项目奠定基础。Q^

Under the direction of Dr. Clark Erickson, Mr. John Walker will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. As part of Dr. Erickson's larger project, Mr. Walker will examine the practice of prehistoric raised field agriculture in the Lllanos de Moxos region of eastern Bolivia. This area is located in the low-lying Amazon basin and characterized by large expanses of carefully constructed and now-abandoned agricultural fields. Earth was dug to create drainage ditches and then mounded to form raised areas suitable for agriculture. This technique was widely used in Western South America as well as the lowlands of Middle America and experimental work has indicated that such systems can provide effective means for crop production. In South America this approach was discontinued in either prehistoric or early historic times and in Bolivia people now graze cattle on naturally growing grasses which cover field surfaces. Mr. Walker wishes to understand how raised fields were integrated into a larger social and economic context and also why they were abandoned. A number of explanations have been proposed. They include a postulated prehistoric breakdown in social organization: climate change related to an El Nino event: and either the direct or indirect influence of Spanish colonization. To address these questions Mr. Walker will use aerial photographs to locate and verify on the ground the position and extent of raised fields. He will conduct a surface survey to locate habitation sites, determine their relationship to agricultural features and reconstruct population density. He will also carry out limited excavations within the fields themselves. It is essential to determine both when the fields were constructed and abandoned and this can be extremely difficult to do. NSF support will allow Mr. Walker to obtain radiocarbon dates on organic materials recovered in the course of excavation. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed new light on subsistence adaptations in inhospitable lowland tropical environments. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and assist in training a promising young scientist. including faunal remains in an excellent state of preservation. Although many archaelogical sites have been discove red in this part of Alaska, the Cape Addington rockshelter is unique in the protected nature of the sediments and the high degree of preservation of the contents. Based on the presence of well dated beachline features, it i quite possible that the shelte r preserves terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene materials. It thus would have the potential to shed light on the entire prehistory of the region. One of the primary goals for fieldwork during the summer of 1977 will be to etermine the total depth of the archaeological deposit. A trench will be excavated in stratigraphic units to bedrock and all cultural material as well as shells, faunal and floral remains will be collected. Surface mapping will also take place. Material ill be identified and samples s ubmitted for radiocarbon dating. Isotopic analysis of shell will permit investigation of climate change. Coastal Alaska is of anthropological interest for several reasons. It is highly likely that the earliest humans to ener the New World from Asia util ized a route through this region and Dr. Moss' work has potential to shed new light on the peopling of the New World. Rich coastal resources permitted hunting and gathering peoples to reach a level of cultural complexity unnown elsewhere in the world at this level of subsistence and for decades anthropologists have studied this unique phenomenon. In Alaska however knowledge is severely limited because of the generally poor state of archaeological preservation and thereforethe discovery of a `dry` rock s helter is extremely important. This research will provide unique data of interest to many archaeologists. It will also, hopefully, set the stage for a larger research project. q ^