The Ancestors of Parita: Pre-Columbian Settlement Patterns in the Lower La Villa River Valley, Azuero Peninsula, Panama

传说中的巴拿马酋长领地在小规模政体内政治权力的人类学理论中占有重要地位。最早的记录是由16世纪的西班牙征服者记载的，巴拿马酋长们以其对外国进口商品的收购和贸易的敏锐、创业的兴趣而闻名，尤其是精雕细琢的金饰。尽管人类学对西班牙编年史家的早期历史记载有明显的兴趣，但巴拿马酋长领地的实际“实地”现实，以及它们的历史，从未被确立——这使得这种政治形式看起来比真实更明显。拟议的研究将通过在历史上记载的主要权力所在地之一parita或antatara进行考古研究来纠正这种情况，该所在地位于巴拿马Azuero半岛的La Villa山谷下游。这项研究建立在史密森学会赞助、考古学家理查德·库克指导的一项长期调查项目的基础上。库克把重点放在山顶的塞罗·胡安·迪亚兹（Cerro Juan Diaz）遗址上，记录了从公元前200年到西班牙征服之后的一段时间里，这个遗址是一个重要的区域中心。然而，目前的数据表明，该遗址的功能随着时间的推移而变化，从定居点到仪式中心，然后再回到定居点。目前尚不清楚的是，Cerro Juan Diaz的总规模，它与La Villa山谷其他前哥伦布定居点的关系，以及它是否是历史上描述的Parita酋长领地的权力所在地。为了扩大我们在山顶中心以外的知识基础，伊萨扎女士将对拉维拉山谷下游进行考古调查，该调查将分三个阶段进行：(1)调查和地面收集，(2)对选定区域的地下沉积物进行遥感，(3)有限的挖掘。在调查的第一阶段，地形图和商业级航空照片将有助于指导调查和选择将收集文物的土地。考古遗址，由土丘建筑和人工制品（主要是碎片、石器和加工过的贝壳）的存在来指示，将用手持式GPS接收器进行测绘。这一阶段的实地研究将产生与遗址的相对年代（通过陶瓷风格）、遗址等级的存在（一个或多个大型遗址被许多小村庄包围的模式）以及专业生产地点的存在相关的数据。在第二阶段，选定的地点将使用GEOHM 3电阻率计和铯蒸气梯度计进行电阻率和磁测量。这些仪器具有探测地下异常的潜力，如壁炉、结构墙和埋藏坑，这些将在调查的第三阶段和最后阶段成为挖掘的目标。总的来说，这些方法将允许系统地记录下拉维拉河谷下游考古遗迹的空间分布和时间深度。对散落的多色陶瓷、海贝壳、抛光的马诺石和金属石（磨石）的初步侦察和鉴定表明，山谷中的大多数遗址都是在公元300年至1300年之间被占领的。对具有不同的人工制品库存的地点的观察也表明，在主要领域内，可能存在专门为工匠工作的车间。这项调查将从两个关键方面增进我们对巴拿马深厚历史的认识。首先，这项研究将通过提供实物证据来补充殖民编年史，从而确立历史上已知的巴拿马酋长的第一个“足迹”。其次，这项调查将为评估巴拿马酋长管辖地的历史提供开创性的证据。也就是说，如果可以在更早的时期建立一个类似于接触时期定居模式的遗址等级结构，那么中美洲地峡的主要统治很可能很古老。另一方面，如果早期遗址的分布是分散的小村庄之一，那么更有可能是早期的头类政治组织。无论如何，这项调查将对小型政治一体化的人类学和政治理论以及巴拿马的文化遗产产生深远的影响。

The legendary chiefdoms of Panama have loomed large in anthropological theories of political power within small-scale polities. First recorded by sixteenth-century Spanish conquistadores, Panamanian chiefs were noted for their keen, entrepreneurial interest in the acquisition and trade of exotic imports, particularly finely crafted gold ornaments. Despite pronounced anthropological interest in the early historical accounts of Spanish chroniclers, the physical "on-the-ground" reality of Panamanian chiefdoms, as well as their antiquity, has never been established-rendering this political form more apparent than real. Proposed research will remedy this situation by conducting archaeological research at one of the historically documented chiefly seats of power-Parita or Antatara-in the lower La Villa valley on the Azuero Peninsula of Panama.This research builds on a long-term program of investigation sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and directed by archaeologist, Richard Cooke. Focusing on the hilltop site of Cerro Juan Diaz, Cooke has documented that the site was an important regional center from ca. 200 BC until the period immediately following the Spanish conquest. Current data suggest, however, that the site's function changed through time, from settlement, to ritual center, and then back to settlement. What is not clear is the total size of Cerro Juan Diaz, its relationships with other Pre-Columbian settlements in La Villa valley, and whether or not it was a seat of power within the historically described Parita chiefdom.In order to expand our base of knowledge beyond the hilltop center, Ms Isaza will conduct an archaeological investigation of the lower La Villa valley that will be pursued in three stages: (1) survey and surface collection, (2) remote sensing of subsurface deposits in selected areas, and (3) limited excavation. Within the first stage of survey, topographic maps and commercial-grade aerial photographs will help to guide the survey and to select tracts of land where artifacts will be collected. Archaeological sites, indicated by mounded architecture and the presence of artifacts (primarily sherds, lithics, and worked shell) will be mapped with a hand-held GPS receiver. This phase of field research will yield data relevant to the relative dating of sites (via ceramic style), the presence of site hierarchies (a pattern of one or more large sites surrounded by many small villages), and the presence of locales of specialized production. During the second phase, selected locales will be subjected to a resistivity and a magnetic survey using a GEOHM 3 Resistivity Meter and a Cecium-vapor Gradiometer. These instruments have the potential to detect subsurface anomalies-such as fire hearths, structure walls, and burial pits-which will then be targeted for excavation during the third and final stage of the investigation. Overall, these methods will permit the systematic documentation of the spatial distribution and temporal depth of archaeological remains in the lower La Villa valley. Preliminary reconnaissance and identification of scattered polychrome ceramics, marine shell, and polished manos and metates (grinding stones) suggest that most sites in the valley were occupied between AD 300 and 1300. The observation of sites with dramatically different artifact inventories also suggests the possibility of specialized workshop locales for artisans working within the chiefly realm.This investigation will advance our knowledge of the deep history of Panama in two critical ways. First, this study will establish the first "footprint" of a historically known Panamanian chiefdom by providing a body of physical evidence to complement Colonial chronicles. Second, this investigation will provide seminal evidence with which to evaluate the antiquity of chiefdoms in Panama. That is, if a site hierarchy similar in structure to contact-period settlement patterns can be established for much earlier periods, then it is likely that chiefly governance enjoyed great antiquity in the Central American isthmus. On the other hand, if the distribution of earlier sites is one of dispersed small villages, then an earlier acephalous political organization is more likely. Either way, this investigation will have a profound impact on both anthropological and political theories of the integration of small polities and on the cultural heritage of Panama.