Dissertation: Social Complexity, Religious Organization, and Mortuary Ritual at the Prehispanic Site of Paquime', Chihuahua, Mexico

在Jane Buikstra博士的指导下，Gordon Rakita先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他的研究目标是考察宗教控制和相关仪式在史前复杂社会组织中的作用。考古学家已经认识到，随着群体从狩猎和采集转变为农业生存基地，更充足的食物供应导致群体规模和人口密度的增加。这种模式在世界范围内发生。在西南部早期，复杂社会的寿命相对较短。村庄只持续了几代人，随后是人口重新分配。只有当宗教活动的证据增加时，才会出现更长期的稳定。然而，目前还不清楚这些宗教结构对个人的控制是什么，以及宗教习俗对日常生活的影响程度如何。根据人种学数据和理论工作，拉基塔先生认为，宗教专家培育了一种统一的信仰和习俗结构，将个人纳入一个受控制的运作单位。他认为，其结果是形成了一个等级结构的社会，等级之间有明确的划分，每个等级内部都是统一的。为了验证这一观点，他将研究一大批来自美国西南部和邻近的墨西哥北部的人类墓葬。我挖掘了多名研究人员，其中最大的一批人来自墨西哥奇瓦瓦的帕奎姆领悟遗址。这座大型复杂城市代表了西南地区复杂性的高度。拉基塔将在早些时候添加到这个样本中，并发布来自邻近地区的联系材料，以监测随着时间的推移而发生的变化。他将检查墨西哥和美国相关托管机构的记录，并记录一系列变量，如身体的位置和处理方式以及相关的墓葬供品。通过检查差异，应该可以确定站点分组中是否随着时间的推移出现了不同的差异，以及每个站点内的差异是否如他预测的那样减少。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将有助于理解宗教和仪式在史前社会组织中的作用，以及这种作用如何随着群体规模的增加而变化。它将提供对新大陆考古学的洞察，并产生一个有用的分析工具，在许多考古情况下具有潜在的适用性。它还将帮助培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Jane Buikstra Mr. Gordon Rakita will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. The goal of his research is to examine the role of religious control and associated ritual in the organization of prehistoric complex societies. Archaeologists have recognized that as groups changed from a hunting and gathering to an agricultural subsistence base a more abundant food supply resulted in increase in group size and population density. This pattern occurs on a world wide basis. In the Southwest early complex societies had relatively short life spans. Villages lasted for only several generations and were followed by population redistribution. Only when evidence for religious activity increases does longer term stability appear. It is unclear however what control such religious structures held over individuals and to what degree religious practice affected daily life. Based on ethnographic data and theoretical work Mr. Rakita believes that religious specialists fostered a uniform structure of beliefs and practices which served to incorporate individuals into a controlled functioning unit. He believes that the result was a hierarchical structured society with defined divisions between levels and uniformity within each. To test this idea he will study a large group of human burials from the US Southwest and adjacent Northern Mexico. Excavated my multiple researchers the largest group derives from the prehispanic site of Paquime in Chihuahua Mexico. This large complex city represents the height of Southwest complexity. Mr. Rakita will add to this sample earlier as well as post contact materials from adjacent regions to monitor change over time. He will examine records in relevant depositories in both Mexico and the U.S. and record a range of variables such as position and treatment of the body as well as associated grave offerings. By examining variation it should be possible to determine whether distinct in site groupings emerge over time and whether variation within each decreases as he predicts.This research is important for several reasons. It will help to understand the role of religion and ritual in the organization of prehistoric societies and how this changes as group size increases. It will provide insight into the archaeology of the New World and yield a useful analytic tool of potential applicability in many archaeological situations. It will also assist in training a promising young scientist.