Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Political Economy and the Development of Chiefly Societies from the Rio Parita Area in the Central Region of Panama

在Robert Drennan博士的指导下，Mikael Haller先生将为他在巴拿马中部的博士论文收集数据。他将在地区层面进行考古调查，考察直到16世纪西班牙人接触的4000年期间的定居点占领情况。巴拿马中部是研究酋长国发展的理想地区，因为有与该地区相关的考古和历史数据，可以用来与目前主要社会发展模式进行对比。一方面，人类学家认为，远距离交流深奥的知识对建立政治权力至关重要，而不是经济利益。相反，其他人声称，主要是对当地资源的控制是主要因素。第三种模式侧重于战争，认为战争是自治社会发展酋长领地的关键因素，这种模式源于对南美洲和巴拿马部落社会和主要社会的比较。在评估这些模型时，哈勒将使用调查数据来确定五个因素的相对重要性，这五个因素加在一起包括三个模型的主要组成部分：农业土地控制、人口增长、当地交换和手工艺生产、远程交换和战争。尽管最近有关重要社会政治问题的考古工作，关于巴拿马酋长领地的地理、经济和发展的信息仍然相对较少，各种假设仍然没有得到考古记录的证实。显然，使用巴拿马酋长王国作为其他案例的考古重建和比较研究的模型，需要更好地了解它们在16世纪之前的出现和发展，以及接触时考古记录的性质。这一研究项目涉及的问题与世界各地致力于复杂社会形成的区域专家所关注的问题类似，因为其根本目标是确定人口压力、经济专业化、农业生产控制和地方交换在这一过程中的相对重要性。这一研究项目将通过考察巴拿马各酋长领地的发展来加深对当前区域进程的了解，并将为社会政治组织的比较研究提供一个具体案例。因此，这一项目有可能解决人类学研究的几条重要路线。最重要的是这项研究将对研究复杂社会的发展做出贡献。此外，它还将有助于更好地理解考古和民族历史记述之间的关系--这对重建和解释史前社会至关重要。在一般人类学层面上，这项研究的数据可以用来理解社会复杂性与人口压力、战争和经济资源控制之间的关系。它还将帮助培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Robert Drennan, Mr. Mikael Haller will collect data for his doctoral dissertation in Central Panama. He will conduct archaeological investigations at the regional level by examining settlement occupation over a 4000 year period up to Spanish contact in the 16th century. Central Panama is an ideal area to investigate the development of chiefdoms since there is both archaeological and historical data relating to the region which can be used to test against current models for the development of chiefly societies.On the one hand, anthropologists have argued that long-distance exchange of esoteric knowledge was critical for establishing political power, as opposed to economic gain. In contrast others claim that chiefly control of local resources was the main factor. A third model, focusing on warfare as the key factor in the development of chiefdoms from autonomous societies, derives from a comparison of tribal and chiefly societies in South America and Panama. In evaluating these models, Mr. Haller will use survey data in determining the relative importance of five factors that combined include the major components of the three models: control of agricultural land, population growth, local exchange and craft production, long-distance exchange, and warfare.Despite recent archaeological work concerning important sociopolitical issues, there is still relatively little information about the geography, economy and development of Panamanian chiefdoms and various hypotheses remain unsubstantiated by the archaeological record. Clearly, using Panamanian chiefdoms as models for archaeological reconstruction of other cases and for comparative studies requires a better understanding of their emergence and development prior to the sixteenth-century, as well as the nature of the archaeological record at the time of contact. This research project addresses concerns similar to those of regional specialists working around the world on the formation of complex societies since an underlying goal is to determine the relative importance demographic stress, economic specialization, control of agricultural production, and local exchange in this process. This research project will add to current understanding of regional processes through an examination of the development of Panamanian chiefdoms and it will provide a specific case for comparative studies of sociopolitical organization.Therefore, this project has the potential to address several important lines of anthropological inquiry. Foremost is the contribution this research will make to the study of the development of complex societies. In addition, it will contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between archaeological and ethnohistorical accounts-crucial in reconstructing and interpreting prehistoric societies. On a general anthropological level, data from this research can be used in understanding the relationship between social complexity and population pressure, warfare, and control of economic resources. It will also assist in training a promising young scientist.