Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Technology, Society, and Change: Shell Artifact Production among the Manteno (A.D. 800-1535) of Coastal Ecuador

在大卫·L·布朗曼博士的监督下，本杰明·卡特将分析曼特诺人曾经居住过的一系列遗址的贝壳文物。曼特诺人大约从公元800年到1535年生活在厄瓜多尔的北部和中部海岸。这些人是腓尼基式的商人，他们管理着一个从南部的智利和北部的墨西哥延伸的贸易网络。尽管他们交易了许多不同的商品，但其中最重要的商品是由海洋双壳类贝类Spondylus制成的五颜六色的贝壳珠。Spondylus的自然栖息地从加利福尼亚州海湾延伸到瓜亚基尔湾，瓜亚基尔湾也是曼特诺地区的南部界限。因此，他们几乎垄断了Spondylus对南方安第斯山脉早熟帝国的贸易，在那里，这在宗教和政治上都是必不可少的。虽然在这些消费社会中已经研究了脊椎，但还没有完成关于生产社会中脊椎的制造和使用的研究，其中Manteno人特别重要。如果没有这样的研究，我们就不能充分了解脊椎病在南美洲太平洋地区的作用。这项研究将通过利用一种被称为链式操作的方法对壳的生产进行分析来弥补这一遗漏。这一方法在方法和理论上都很严谨，需要收集大量有关生产技术的数据，以便将其与整个社会重新联系起来。超过5000件文物将被测量、分类量化和编目。这件物品被找回的背景将有助于将其与史前生活和活动空间重新联系起来，从而与活着的存在联系起来。将调查六个以前出土的考古遗址的文物，每个遗址代表曼特诺时期三个不同时间阶段之一和两个地理区域之一。这一广泛的样本确保了该项目将在时间和空间上密切代表曼特诺人的壳牌生产。脊椎珠子在贸易中发挥了重要作用，但其他贝壳文物是供当地消费的。因此，将分析所有外壳构件以及相关工具。连锁操作方法还没有被用于研究贝壳制品的生产，因此，将有助于该方法的方法论和理论方面，以及对一般工艺生产的研究。这项研究将对社会科学家同行具有明显的重要性。此外，它还将通过科学分析民族遗产的一个方面，为厄瓜多尔的文化遗产做出贡献。这对厄瓜多尔海岸的人民尤其重要，他们是曼特诺人的后裔，在殖民统治下失去了大部分历史。这不是一件小事；脊椎骨被用来象征厄瓜多尔和秘鲁最近达成的和平协议。其中一种方式是通过与厄瓜多尔国家文化遗产研究所协调的公开介绍来传播这一信息。该项目还将包括研究生培训，从而有助于科学考古学的继续。

Under the supervision of Dr. David L. Browman, Benjamin Carter will analyze shell artifacts from a series of sites once occupied by the Manteno, who lived on the north and central coasts of Ecuador from approximately A.D. 800 until 1535. These people were Phoenician-like merchants who managed a trade network extending from Chile in the south and Mexico to the north. Although they traded many different wares, among the most important goods were colorful shell beads made from the marine bivalve, Spondylus. The natural habitat of Spondylus extends from the Gulf of California to the Gulf of Guayaquil, which is also the southern limit of the Manteno area. They had, therefore, a near monopoly on Spondylus trade to the precocious empires of the Andes to the south where it was religiously and politically essential. Although Spondylus has been studied in these consumer societies, no study has been completed on the manufacture and use of Spondylus in producing societies, of which the Manteno were of particular importance. Without such a study we cannot adequately understand the role of Spondylus in Pacific South America. This research will remedy this omission through an analysis of shell production utilizing an approach known as the chaine operatoire. This approach is both methodologically and theoretically rigorous, requiring collection of significant numbers of relevant data on the technology of production in order to reconnect it to society in general. Over 5000 artifacts will be measured, categorically quantified, and cataloged. The context from which the object was recovered will serve to reconnect it to prehistoric living and activity spaces and, therefore, to a lived existence. Artifacts from six previously excavated archaeological sites, each representing one of three different time phases of the Manteno period and one of two geographic areas, will be investigated. This broad sample ensures that the project will closely represent shell production among the Manteno through time and space. Spondylus beads served an important role in trade, but other shell artifacts were for local consumption. Therefore, all shell artifacts, as well as associated tools, will be analyzed. The chaine operatoire approach has not been used to study shell artifact production and will, therefore, contribute to both the methodological and theoretical aspects of this approach as well as to studies of craft production in general. The research will have evident importance for fellow social scientists. In addition, it will contribute to the cultural heritage of the Ecuador by scientifically analyzing one aspect of the national patrimony. This is especially important for the people of the Ecuadorian coast, who are descendants of the Manteno and have lost much of their history through colonial rule. This is no small matter; Spondylus has been used to symbolize a recent peace accord between Ecuador and Peru. One means this information will be disseminated is through a public presentation coordinated with the Ecuadorian national Institute of Cultural Patrimony. This project will also include graduate student training, thereby contributing to the continuance of scientific archaeology.