Continuing Archaeological Investigations of late Archaic Cerros de Trincheras Sites in Chihuahua, Mexico

在国家科学基金会的支持下，罗伯特·哈德博士和他的同事将在墨西哥奇瓦瓦州西北部的Cerro Juanaquena遗址进行三个季节的考古研究。该遗址占地超过8公顷，包括超过8公里的梯田和墙壁。调查人员估计，在建造过程中运送了20 000公吨材料。在NSF支持对该遗址进行初步研究期间，该团队根据人工制品类型学确认了该遗址在晚白垩世时期的位置。放射性碳测定产生的年龄约。距今3070年。这使得该遗址极其重要，因为它表明它比其他北方墨西哥类似规模和劳动力投资的遗址早1500年。当时，玉米，一种重要的主食在中美洲刚刚开始广泛传播，大多数人仍然以狩猎和采集为生。在非玉米生存基础上开发这种复杂程度的地点是极不寻常的。对采集的样本进行的古植物学分析表明，玉米实际上是存在的，但它相对不重要，其重要性低于许多本土植物，包括藜、Lovegras、chia、milkvetch和野生葫芦。这些发现与考古学的预期相矛盾，考古学家认为Cerro Juanaquena的密集职业和主要劳动力投资是基于玉米农业。磨损严重的磨石在该遗址很常见，野生种子似乎在饮食中发挥了重要作用。 哈德博士和他的同事现在将在现场进行大规模挖掘。将挖掘约30个阶地特征，以测量占用跨度。该遗址的沉积作用水平及其历史将通过对梯田建设的组织和规划进行检查来确定。一个主要的漂浮计划将启动，以恢复种子和其他植物遗骸，这些与丰富的动物将揭示更多的光生存的做法。 Cerro Juanaquena是独一无二的，它的存在引起了考古学家重新评估他们对农业最初传播的理解以及相关的sedentism和村庄发展模式。这些问题不仅与中美洲有关，而且与世界其他地区有关，在这些地区，动植物的驯化是独立发生的。

With National Science Foundation support Dr. Robert Hard and his colleagues will conduct three seasons of archaeological research at the site of Cerro Juanaquena, located in northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico. The site covers over 8 hectares and includes over 8 km of terraces and walls. The investigator estimates that ca. 20,000 metric tons of material were moved during its construction. During NSF supported preliminary research at the site, the team confirmed the site's placement, based on artifact typology, within the Late Archaic period. Radiocarbon determinations yielded an age of ca. 3070 years before the present. This makes the site extremely important because it shows that it precedes by 1500 years other northern Mexican sites of similar size and labor investment. At that time maize, an important staple in Middle America was just beginning to spread widely and most peoples still lived by hunting and gathering. It is extremely unusual for sites at this level of complexity to develop on a non-maize subsistence base. Paleobotanical analysis of collected samples shows that maize in fact is present, but it is relatively unimportant ranking lower in importance than many native plants, including cheno-ams, lovegras, chia, milkvetch and wild gourd. These findings contradict the archaeological expectation that the intensive occupation and major labor investment at Cerro Juanaquena were based on maize agriculture. Heavily worn grinding stones are common at the site and it appears that wild seeds played a central dietary role. Dr. Hard and his colleagues will now conduct extensive excavation at the site. Approximately thirty terrace features will be excavated in order to gauge the occupation span. The level of sedentism at the site and its history will be determined through examination of the organization and planning of terrace constructions. A major flotation program will be initiated to recover seeds and other plant remains, and these together with abundant fauna will shed additional light on subsistence practices. Cerro Juanaquena is unique and its existence has caused archaeologists to reevaluate their understanding of the initial spread of agriculture and related models of sedentism and village development. These issues are of relevance not only in Mesoamerica but in other parts of the world where domestication of plants and animals independently occurred.