Collaborative Research: Preceramic Chronology in the Norte Chico Region of Peru

目前的项目是对西半球文明起源进行长期调查的第一阶段。在秘鲁中北部海岸的一个地区，被称为“北奇科”（“小北方”），一种非凡的文化在公元前3000年兴起。在苏佩、帕蒂维尔卡和福塔莱萨三个相邻的小山谷中，最近发现了20多个主要考古遗址的建筑群，它们的历史大约可以追溯到公元前3000年到1800年之间。这些遗址似乎是美洲任何地方集中化、等级化、复杂社会的最早繁盛时期。该项目的研究将探索两个山谷，福塔莱萨和帕蒂维尔卡的两个主要目标：1。确定每个主要遗址的占领和纪念碑建设的具体年表。所有确定用于测试的地点都有一个显著特征：它们都缺乏陶瓷。虽然就技术而言，陶瓷的缺失有一些有趣的含义，但就这些遗址的年代而言，它具有更直接的重要性。由于陶器是在公元前1900年到1800年之间传入秘鲁的，所以没有陶器的遗址可以推断为公元前1900年之前的遗址。虽然这为基本识别早期遗址提供了一个有用的工具，但对于这些遗址是在同一时间被占领还是在一千年的时间里被先后占领，进行评估是不够的。需要精确的日期来确定这些巨大的平台土丘是在一次大型建筑事件中建造的，还是在很长一段时间内建造了许多较小的事件。为了回答这些关于年代学的核心问题，将做出具体的努力，从每个遗址的不同部分和纪念碑内部获取碳14定年的材料。第二个次要目标是获得人工制品和工具以及动植物遗骸的样本，以便开始重建属于这个早熟早期文明的人们的经济、技术和生活方式。在没有陶瓷的情况下，对石器的分析就显得尤为重要。然而，到目前为止，还没有人对这些遗址表面散落的无数石器进行过任何工作——刮刀、刀片、刀、钻头、锤、研磨机、锄头和镐。我们还将尝试重建饮食结构。虽然美洲所有后来的文明都以玉米（玉米）为主食，但直到所有北奇科遗址被遗弃很久之后，这种新世界的作物才被引入秘鲁。岛上的居民似乎以各种水果和蔬菜为生，并大量食用凤尾鱼、沙丁鱼和贝类，以补充蛋白质。由于秘鲁沿海沙漠保存完好，在垃圾中心地区发现了大量的植物和动物遗骸。为了获得石器和动植物遗骸的收藏，将在每个遗址的不同部分挖掘与各种住宅建筑相关的测试坑，并反映遗址区域的全部范围。该项目的最终目标是提供一扇通往过去的考古窗口，以研究早期文化的起源，这种文化最终导致了印加人及其在秘鲁的前身。

The present project represents the first phase of a planned long-term investigation into the very beginnings of civilization in the Western Hemisphere. In an area on the north-central coast of Peru, known as the "Norte Chico" ("Little North") a remarkable culture arose in the 3rd millennium B.C. In three small adjoining valleys, Supe, Pativilca and Fortaleza, a complex of more than 20 major archaeological ruins have been recently discovered, all dating roughly to the time between 3000 and 1800 B.C. With enormous platform mounds, round ceremonial plazas and extensive areas of socially stratified residences, these sites appear to be the earliest florescence of centralized, hierarchical, complex societies anywhere in the Americas. The research on this project will explore sites in two of the valleys, Fortaleza and Pativilca with two primary goals: 1. Determine the specific chronology of occupation and monument construction at each of the major sites. All of the sites identified for testing share one significant characteristic: they all lack ceramics. While there are interesting implications to the absence of ceramics in terms of technology, it has more immediate importance in terms of dating these sites. Since ceramics were introduced to Peru in the century between 1900 and 1800 B.C., sites without ceramics can be inferred to generally date prior to 1900 B.C. While this provides a useful tool in the basic identification of the early sites, it is insufficient to make assessments about whether the sites were occupied all at the same time or sequentially over the span of a thousand years. Precise dates are needed to determine whether the monumental platform mounds were constructed in a single massive building event or numerous smaller events over a long period of time. In order to answer these central questions about chronology a specific effort will be made to obtain materials for Carbon 14 dating from different parts of each site and from within the monuments.2. A second subsidiary goal is to obtain samples of artifacts and tools as well as plant and animal remains in order to begin reconstructing the economy, technology and lifeways of the people who belonged to this precocious early civilization. In the absence of ceramics, the analysis of stone tools assumes central importance. Yet, to date, there has been no work done on the myriad stone tools that litter the surface of these sites - scrapers, blades, knives, drills, pounders, grinders, hoes and picks. An attempt will also be made to reconstruct diet. While all later civilizations in the Americas had staple diets based largely on maize (corn), this New World crop was not introduced in Peru until well after all the Norte Chico sites were abandoned. Inhabitants appear to have survived on a wide mix of fruits and vegetables with a heavy dose of anchovies, sardines and shellfish thrown in for protein. Because there is excellent preservation on the Peruvian coastal desert, plant and animal remains are found in abundance in the trash midden areas. To obtain collections of stone tools and the plant and animal remains test pits test pits will be excavated in different parts of each site associated with various kinds of residential architecture and reflecting the full extent of the site area. The ultimate goal of the project is to provide an archaeological window into the past to examine the very beginnings of an early culture that ultimately gave rise to the Inca and their predecessors in Peru.