Expanding Dendroarchaeology into Northern Mexico

在国家科学基金会的支持下，罗纳德·汤纳博士和他的同事将在墨西哥索诺拉州北部偏远的马德雷山脉的史前悬崖住宅进行树木年轮考古研究。这些壮观的建筑在规模和建筑技术上可与美国西南部更著名的悬崖住宅相媲美，但几乎没有受到科学家的关注。我们的美国和墨西哥树木年代学家和考古学家团队将从这些神秘的结构中收集树木年轮样本和考古数据，以便（a）为墨西哥北部开发绝对过时的年度树木年轮序列，并（b）为以前未记录的悬崖住宅生成基线考古信息，例如详细的遗址地图。该地区绝对定年树木年轮序列的开发将是为墨西哥北部许多考古遗址提供公历日期的重大进步。这一突破将有助于历史学家、考古学家和人类学家描绘墨西哥复杂社会（例如卡萨斯格兰德斯）发展和衰落的重要方面，并阐明美国西南部和墨西哥北部史前社会之间相互作用的各个方面。通过对房间和结构进行年代测定，将有可能研究现场居民的行为和社会组织，并在更大范围内研究墨西哥北部和美国西南部史前群体之间的移民、贸易以及技术和思想转移等问题。此外，基线考古数据将提供与墨西哥政府当前和未来的研究问题以及有关这些不可替代的国家遗产的管理决策相关的重要信息。该项目还将帮助墨西哥科学家学习树木年轮样本采集技术，从而使他们能够在索诺拉州北部和奇瓦瓦州开展未来的研究。最后，项目树木年轮样本本身包含重要的环境信息。悬崖住宅中使用的许多树种与美国发现的树种不同，并且表现出不同的生长模式。这些模式是墨西哥北部气候状况有所不同的结果，将有助于确定美国西南部和墨西哥北部之间的气候关系。因此，绝对年代的环序列将对未来对过去半球气候变化的研究以及西南季风、厄尔尼诺和拉尼娜等短期和长期天气现象的模型做出重大贡献。

With support of the National Science foundation, Dr. Ronald Towner and his colleagues will conduct archaeological tree-ring research at prehistoric cliff dwellings in the remote Sierra Madre of northern Sonora, Mexico. These spectacular structures rival the more famous cliff dwellings of US Southwest in size and construction techniques, but have received virtually no attention from scientists. Our team of US and Mexican dendrochronologists and archaeologists will collect tree-ring samples and archaeological data from these enigmatic structures in order to (a) develop an absolutely dated annual tree-ring sequence for northern Mexico and (b) generate baseline archaeological information, such as detailed site maps, for the previously undocumented cliff dwellings. The development of absolutely dated tree-ring sequences in the area will be a major advance toward providing Christian calendar dates for many archaeological sites in northern Mexico. Such a breakthrough will help historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists delineate important aspects of the development and decline of complex societies in Mexico, such as Casas Grandes, and illuminate aspects of the interaction between prehistoric societies in the US Southwest and northern Mexico. By dating the rooms and structures, it will be possible to study the behaviors and social organization of the site inhabitants and, on a larger scale, examine issues such as migration, trade, and the transfer of technologies and ideas between prehistoric groups in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. In addition, the baseline archaeological data will provide important information relevant to current and future research questions and management decisions by the Mexican government regarding these irreplaceable pieces of their national patrimony. The project will also help Mexican scientists learn tree-ring sample collection techniques, thus enabling them to conduct future research at sites in northern Sonora and Chihuahua. Finally, the project tree-ring samples themselves contain important environmental information. The many tree species used in the cliff dwellings are different than those found in the United states and exhibit different growth patterns. These patterns are a result of somewhat different climatic regimes in northern Mexico and will help in identifying climatic relationships between the US Southwest and northern Mexico. The absolutely dated ring sequences, therefore, will contribute significantly to future studies of past hemispheric climatic variability and models of short- and long-term weather phenomena such as the southwestern monsoons, El Nino, and La Nina.