Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Daily Life and the Development of the State in the Moche Valley of North Coastal Peru

在Brian Billman博士的指导下，Celeste Gagnon女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她将对秘鲁北部海岸Cerro Oreja遗址中发现的大约900具骸骨遗骸进行分析。还将进行同位素测定。Cerro Oreja记录了Moche国家的发展，并提供了一个将大量人口纳入中央控制的社会的出现的见解。这一过程在世界上许多地方独立发生，因此形成了人类学研究的一个重要课题。Gagnon女士希望了解政治集中化对个人健康和营养的影响，并假设会产生积极的好处。因为Cerro Oreja的占领跨越了近2000年——从公元前1500年到公元400年，这将有可能将社会和生物变化联系起来。收集的生物考古数据包括龋齿、牙周病、牙脓肿和死前牙齿脱落的频率。此外，还将分析稳定同位素的测量、牙齿磨损的速率和类型以及牙结石中微植物残留物的鉴定。生物考古数据还将涉及阶级、性别和年龄等问题，以及这些因素对获取特定食物的影响。这项研究很重要，因为它将深入了解社会变化和生物变化之间的关系，并有助于培养有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Brian Billman, Ms. Celeste Gagnon will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct an analysis of skeletal remains of approximately 900 individuals recovered from the site of Cerro Oreja, located on the north coast of Peru. Isotopic determinations will also be made. Cerro Oreja documents the development of the Moche state and provides insight into the emergence of a society which incorporated large numbers of people under centralized control. This process took place independently in many parts of the world and thus forms an important topic for anthropological research. Ms. Gagnon wishes to understand the effect of political centralization on individual health and nutrition and hypothesizes that positive benefits result. Because the occupation of Cerro Oreja spans almost 2000 years - from 1500 BC to AD 400 it will be possible to correlate social and biological change. Bioarchaeological data to be collected include frequencies of dental caries, periodontal disease, dental abscesses and antemortum tooth loss. In addition, measures of stable isotopes, rates and types of dental wear and identifications of microplant remains from dental calculus will be analyzed. The bioarchaeological data will also address issues of class, gender and age and the effects these had on access to specific foods. This research is important because it will provide insight into the relationship between social and biological change and assist in training a promising young scientist.