Dissertation Research: Prehispanic Urbanism and Community Expression in the Chicama Valley, Peru

在Charles Stanish博士的指导下，Christopher Attarian先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。考古学家认为秘鲁是文明的发源地之一，尽管印加人是该地区最著名的例子，因为他们被西班牙人观察并征服，但他们是一系列复杂的安第斯社会的最后一个。大约2000年前，莫切人作为一个可识别的群体首次出现在秘鲁干旱的北部海岸，考古学家可以追溯到他们在近1000年的时间里发展成为一个复杂的城市社会。莫切人与金字塔和其他纪念性建筑的建造有关，并发展了高度集中的政府形式。然而，人们对莫切文明的起源知之甚少，这一过程构成了阿塔里安先生研究的基础。Attarian先生和其他调查人员先前的工作表明，在莫切时代之前，一小群人居住在莫切山谷边缘的防御阵地上。它们随后在谷底的聚集本身就标志着莫切传统的开始。阿塔里安先生希望回答的具体问题涉及将以前独立的群体整合为一个有凝聚力的单一城市单位的机制。为了解决这个问题，他将研究6个前莫切村庄的陶瓷和其他遗迹，然后将它们与早期莫切中心Mocollope的材料进行比较。他的初步工作表明，虽然每个先驱村庄的陶瓷风格相似，构成了单一传统的一部分，但每个村庄都有特定的设计元素，使他们的陶器独一无二。阿塔里安将对每一个村庄进行进一步的挖掘，以更精确地定义每个村庄的风格。然后，他将从Mocollope收集表面陶瓷，并在选定的区域进行挖掘。有了这些数据，他应该能够确定这些风格是否在Mocollope继续存在，并且在场地内空间隔离-这表明“barrios”和持续的多民族群体-或者它们是否被泛城市风格所取代。通过陶瓷和其他材料的使用，他还将研究社会/财富分化的兴起，以及这种分化如何与种族相互作用。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据。它将增进对复杂社会兴起的理解，并有助于培养有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Charles Stanish, Mr. Christopher Attarian will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. Archaeologists identify Peru as one of the hearths of civilization and although the Inca, because they were observed and conquered by the Spanish, are the best known example from this region, they were the last in a succession of complex Andean societies. The Moche first appear as a recognizable group ca. 2,000 years ago on the arid northern coast of Peru and archaeologists can trace their development into a complex urban society over the span of almost 1,000 years. The Moche peoples were associated with the construction of pyramids and other monumental architecture and developed a highly centralized form of government. The origins of Moche civilization however are poorly understood and this process forms the basis for Mr. Attarian's research. Prior work both by Mr. Attarian and other investigators indicates that in immediate pre-Moche times small groups lived in defensible positions on the edge of the Moche Valley. Their subsequent aggregation on the valley floor itself marks the start of the Moche tradition. The particular question which Mr. Attarian wishes to answer concerns the mechanisms which developed to integrate previously independent groups into a single cohesive urban unit. To address this question he will study ceramics and other remains from 6 pre-Moche villages and then compare these with materials recovered from Mocollope, an early Moche center. His preliminary work has shown that while ceramics styles from each of the precursor villages are similar and constitute part of a single tradition, individual villages had specific design elements which made their pottery unique. Mr. Attarian will conduct additional excavation at each of these villages to define individual styles more precisely. He will then collect surface ceramics from Mocollope and excavate in selected areas. With these data he should be able to determine whether these styles continue at Mocollope and are spatially segregated within the site - an indication of "barrios" and continued multi-ethnic groups - or whether they are replaced by a pan-city style. Through the use of ceramics and other material remains he will also examine the rise of social/wealth differentiation and how this interacts with ethnicity.This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will increase understanding of the rise of complex societies and assist in training a promising young scientist.