Dissertation Research: Demography and Household Dynamics in the Chiefdoms of the Alto Magdalena, Colombia

论文研究：哥伦比亚上马格达莱纳酋长管辖区的人口统计和家庭动态

• 批准号: 9981573
• 负责人: Robert Drennan
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: University of Pittsburgh
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-12-01 至 2001-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9981573&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Demography; Household; Dynamics

Under the direction of Dr. Robert Drennan, Mr. Michael Kruschek will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct archaeological excavations in the Alto Magdalena region of southwestern Colombia. Although the Mayans, Aztec and Inca are best known for the levels of social complexity they reached prehistorically in the New World, the polity which developed in Alto Magdalena shares many of these same characteristics. Archaeologists have uncovered large, ornately carved stone tombs as well as monumental sized stone sculptures. Dr. Drennan and colleagues have traced the region's prehistory over a ca. 2,600 year period from 1,000 BC to the Spanish conquest. The record demonstrates increasing social complexity over time as well as an increase in population size. The relationship between population increase and the development of social complexity is well established and archaeologists recognized that these two variables are directly correlated. However the nature of this relationship is far from clear. Some scientists argue that population pressure is a driving force and that new social forms emerge from the need to organize increasing numbers of individuals. Other researchers believe that the causal chain is reversed and that family size increases in response to opportunities offered and demands imposed by an increasingly complex social structure. In the Alto Magdalena, as in many other areas of the world when this phenomenon has been noted, it is also uncertain whether increased population size is the result of in migration from other regions or from increased reproduction which leads to larger family size. Mr. Kruschek will collect data to shed light on these issues. He will excavate a large number of small shovel test pits to locate a sample of dwellings across the 2,600 year span and has developed an efficient way to estimate house size. Because ethnographic studies of modern day traditional people indicate a direct correlation between house area and number of occupants it will be possible to determine how family size changed over time. These data, in conjunction with available information on cultural and large scale population changes will allow Mr. Kruschek to determine whether population increase precedes or follows major cultural milestones and how family size, as opposed to migration, comes into play.This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data on an important and poorly understood archaeological phenomenon. It will yield new insight into the factors involved in the rise of complex society and will assist in training a promising young scientist.

在Robert Drennan博士的指导下，Michael Kruschek先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将在哥伦比亚西南部的上马格达莱纳地区进行考古发掘。虽然玛雅人、阿兹特克人和印加人以他们在新大陆史前时期达到的社会复杂程度而闻名，但在上马格达莱纳发展起来的政体也有许多相同的特征。考古学家发现了大型的、雕刻华丽的石头坟墓以及巨大的石头雕塑。Drennan博士和他的同事们追溯了该地区的史前时期。从公元前1,000年到西班牙征服的2,600年。记录表明，随着时间的推移，社会日益复杂，人口规模也在增加。人口增长和社会复杂性发展之间的关系已经很好地建立起来，考古学家认识到这两个变量直接相关。然而，这种关系的性质还远不清楚。一些科学家认为，人口压力是一种驱动力，新的社会形式出现于组织越来越多的个人的需要。其他研究人员认为，因果链是颠倒的，家庭规模的增加是对日益复杂的社会结构所提供的机会和提出的要求的反应。在上马格达莱纳省，如同在世界上许多其他地区一样，在注意到这一现象时，也不能确定人口数量的增加是由于来自其他地区的移民，还是由于生育增加导致家庭人数增加。Kruschek先生将收集数据来阐明这些问题。他将挖掘大量的小铲测试坑，以确定2,600年跨度的住宅样本，并开发了一种有效的方法来估计房屋大小。由于对现代传统民族的人种学研究表明，房屋面积与居住者人数之间存在直接关系，因此有可能确定家庭规模如何随时间变化。这些数据与关于文化和大规模人口变化的现有信息相结合，将使Kruschek先生能够确定人口增长是在主要文化里程碑之前还是之后，以及家庭规模与移民相比如何发挥作用。它将提供关于一个重要的和鲜为人知的考古现象的数据。它将使人们对复杂社会的兴起所涉及的因素有新的认识，并将有助于培养一个有前途的年轻科学家。