Late Prehistoric Social Complexity in Southern Amazonia (Upper Xingu, Brazil)

南亚马逊地区史前晚期社会复杂性（巴西上辛古）

• 批准号: 0004487
• 负责人: Michael Heckenberger
• 金额: $ 15.51万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-09-01 至 2003-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0004487&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Late; Prehistoric; Social; Complexity; Southern

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Michael Heckenberger and his colleagues will conduct two seasons (eight months) of archaeological research in the Upper Xingu region, Brazil, situated near the southern peripheries of the forested lowlands of the Amazon basin. The project aims to accurately characterize the regional distribution, variability, and articulation of late prehistoric (c. AD 1000-1600) habitation sites within a 900 km study area and to improve the overall chronology of prehistoric human occupation in the region. Building on the results of previous NSF funded research, specific questions to be addressed include: (1) the initial appearance of circular plaza villages in the region, suggested to be c. AD 800-900; (2) the timing of major structural elaboration of the plaza villages, through earthwork construction, thought to have occurred c. AD 1400-1600; (3) the variability, in terms of size, configuration, and structural features, of these terminal prehistoric sites and their integration within the study area; (4) the degree of population nucleation, measured in terms of village growth, coincident with major earthwork construction; and (5) the overall environmental impacts of the large prehistoric villages on the surrounding landscape, in collaboration with specialists in paleoecology, pedology, and ethnobotany. The project will include the expansion of a geographic (GIS) database for this portion of the southern Amazon, utilizing satellite images and aerial-photos, as well as ground-based data recovery. The research addresses pressing issues in regional anthropology, most notably debates regarding the nature and distribution of complex societies (chiefdoms) in late prehistoric times. Although long felt to be inimical to the development of large, settled populations, recent research indicates that such societies did exist prehistorically in Amazonia. Thus, the Amazon is one of the last major hearths for the emergence of chiefdoms to be recognized worldwide. This research is particularly timely since, to date, very few systematic regional-level archaeological studies have been conducted in the Brazilian Amazon. More broadly, scientific investigation of past settlement and land-use in different parts of the Amazon is critical to debates regarding pre-industrial adaptations to tropical forest environments and issues of contemporary economic sustainability and development in this ecologically sensitive region. The project, sponsored by the Museu Nacional and Museu Goeldi in Brazil and composed of a team of Brazilian and American researchers and students, will strengthen scientific cooperation between Brazil and the United States and also promote cooperation between scientists and indigenous peoples.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，迈克尔·赫肯伯格博士和他的同事将在巴西上辛古地区进行两个季节（八个月）的考古研究，该地区位于亚马逊盆地森林低地南部边缘附近。 该项目旨在准确地描述史前晚期（c。公元1000-1600年）的居住地点在900公里的研究区域，并改善该地区的史前人类占领的整体年表。 在以往NSF资助的研究成果的基础上，要解决的具体问题包括：（1）该地区圆形广场村庄的初步出现，建议为c。公元800-900年;（2）广场村庄的主要结构阐述的时间，通过建筑，认为已经发生c。（3）这些史前遗址在规模、形态和结构特征方面的变化及其在研究区域内的整合;（4）人口成核的程度，以村庄的增长来衡量，与主要的史前建筑相一致;（5）与古生态学、土壤学和民族植物学专家合作，研究大型史前村庄对周围景观的整体环境影响。 该项目将包括利用卫星图像和航空照片以及地面数据恢复，扩大亚马孙南部这一部分的地理数据库。 该研究解决了区域人类学中的紧迫问题，最值得注意的是关于史前晚期复杂社会（酋长）的性质和分布的争论。 虽然长期以来人们认为这种社会不利于大量定居人口的发展，但最近的研究表明，亚马逊地区在史前确实存在这种社会。 因此，亚马逊是酋长出现的最后一个主要发源地之一。 这项研究特别及时，因为迄今为止，在巴西亚马逊地区进行的系统的区域一级考古研究很少。 更广泛地说，对亚马逊不同地区过去的定居和土地使用进行科学调查，对于有关工业化前适应热带森林环境的辩论以及这一生态敏感地区当代经济可持续性和发展问题至关重要。 该项目由巴西国家博物馆和戈尔迪博物馆赞助，由巴西和美国研究人员和学生组成，将加强巴西和美国之间的科学合作，并促进科学家与土著人民之间的合作。