An Investigation of Cerros de Trincheras Sites

多年来，考古学家们一直知道一类被称为“Cerros de Trincheras”的遗址。位于亚利桑那州南部和北方索诺拉墨西哥，它们可以追溯到公元1,100年后的某个时候，其特点是在主要河流附近陡峭的火山和花岗岩山丘的斜坡和顶部建造了复杂的墙壁和梯田。调查人员提出，它们具有防御、居住、农业和其他功能，但由于很少有遗址被挖掘出来，很难做出明确的解释。在这些建筑上投入的大量努力强烈表明了一个依赖农业来满足生存需求的定居社会。在该地区更广泛的考古学背景下，这种情况并不令人惊讶，因为证据清楚地表明当时在邻近地区定居的农学家的存在。最近，哈德博士和同事们发现了三个Cerros de Trincheras遗址，根据相关的石器工具，这些遗址似乎是古代的，因此比他们众所周知的同行要古老得多。它们被初步确定为公元前1,500年至公元200年之间的时期。如果是这样的话，它们将是独特的，并强烈挑战传统的理论如何以及何时在该地区出现sedentism。几乎所有现有的证据都表明，游牧民族以狩猎和采集为生，生活在小群体中，经常更换住所。 在NSF的支持下，Hard博士和他的同事们将进一步评估这些Cerros de Trincheras遗址。他们将进行有限的调查，绘制地表特征图，并进行受控的地层挖掘。一个主要的目标是在原地收集有机材料，如木炭，用于放射性碳测年。了解哪些植物被开发利用对于该地点的基本评估及其进一步调查的潜力至关重要。通过漂浮土壤，调查人员将寻找烧焦的种子和其他植物部分。他们还将对他们的挖掘进行评估，以获得信息，这些信息将阐明梯田和神秘的岩石环的功能。航空摄影与地质实地考察相结合，将有助于重建这种文化发挥作用的环境。 sedentism的过程，植物和动物的驯化和大规模复杂社会的发展已经在世界许多地方独立发生。考虑到各地区之间的相似性，科学家们认为，这并不是历史上偶然发生的，而是反映了一套有序的基本规则。为了阐明这些问题，已经作了很大的努力。在这种情况下，Cerros de Trincheras遗址特别有趣，因为它们非常不寻常和意想不到。往往是打破规则的情况提供了实现更深层次理解的机会。

For many years archaeologists have been aware of a category of sites termed `cerros de trincheras.` Located in southern Arizona and northern Sonora Mexico they date to sometime after 1,100 AD and are characterized by complexes of walls and terraces constructed on the slopes and tops of steep volcanic and granitic hills near major streams. Investigators have proposed that they served defensive, habitational, agricultural and other functions although definitive explanations have been difficult because very few sites have been excavated. The amount of effort invested in their construction strongly suggests a sedentary society which relied on agriculture to meet subsistence needs. Within the broader context of archaeology in the region, such occurrences are not surprising since evidence clearly indicates the presence of settled agriculturists at that time in neighboring areas. Recently Dr. Hard and colleagues have discovered three cerros de trincheras sites which, based on associated stone tools appear to be Archaic in age and thus significantly older than their well known counterparts. They have been tentatively dated to the time period between 1,500 BC and 200 AD. Were such the case they would be unique and strongly challenge conventional theories of how and when sedentism emerged in the region. Almost all available evidence indicates that Archaic peoples subsisted by hunting and gathering, lived in small groups and changed residence frequently. With NSF support Dr. Hard and his colleagues will further evaluate these Archaic cerros de trincheras sites. They will conduct limited survey, map surface features and conduct controlled stratigraphic excavations. A primary goal is to collect in situ organic materials such as wood charcoal for radiocarbon dating. Understanding what plants were being exploited is critical to the basic evaluation of the site and its potential for further investigation. Through floation of soil the investigators will search for charred seeds and other plant parts. They will also situate their excavations to obtain information which will shed light on the functions of the terraces and enigmatic rock rings which are abundant. Aerial photographs in conjunction with geological fieldwork will permit reconstruction on the environment within which this culture functioned. The process of sedentism, the domestication of plants and animals and the development of large scale complex society has occurred independently in many parts of the world. Given the similarities among regions scientists believe that this has not happened through historic chance but rather reflects an orderly set of underlying rules. Much effort has been expended in the attempt to elucidate them. The Cerros de Trincheras sites are, in this context, particularly interesting because they are so unusual and unexpected. It is often situations which break the rules which provide the opportunity to achieve deeper levels of understanding.