Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Role of Craft Specialization in the Development of the Chiefly Center of He-4, Central Panama

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，在罗伯特·d·德伦南博士的指导下，博士候选人亚当·门齐斯将在巴拿马太平洋中部的里约热内卢帕里塔山谷进行一项实地考古研究。本研究的中心目标是评估在公元550-750年间He-4 （El Hatillo）地区出现的酋长领地中手工业产品生产的重要性。在西班牙征服时期，巴拿马的土著社会是高度分层的，但是对于这种复杂的社会等级产生和发展的手段存在着相当大的争论。一方面，学者们认为，对经济资源和对基本生存追求至关重要的制成品生产的控制，对社会等级的建立和维持至关重要。一种相反的观点认为，这种转变是精英们试图通过政治和宗教手段提高社会地位，而几乎没有真正的经济控制的结果。本项目的研究问题需要重点关注河4地区的家庭和居民区，以便对大量家庭进行抽样，以获取家庭活动的数据，例如手工制品的生产和消费。这将同时提供评估生活质量、地位和财富积累方面是否存在差异所需的证据。这些相同的垃圾沉积物将提供日常活动如何随时间变化的信息。实地工作的第一阶段将是在整个场地进行密集的文物表面收集，以确定职业的密度和时间深度以及工艺品生产活动的分布。实地工作的第二阶段将是分析这些收集物，以便确定在第三阶段进行小规模挖掘的取样区域。第三阶段将在河4号上挖掘50个1米× 1米的单位，以获取大量家庭的信息。最后阶段将是分析在现场工作的第1和第3阶段收集的所有工件。这项工作的智力价值在于它对社会变革模型和社会等级出现的贡献。社会等级制度建立和维持的方式是考古学的根本兴趣所在，因为这些社会轨迹是基于不同的等级原则。这项研究的更广泛的影响是，它将提供一个长期的视角来看待里约热内卢Parita的社会和政治动态，就像在一个重要的、但尚未得到充分研究的地点看到的那样。40多年来，贺4号的仪式场地一直是严重抢劫的焦点。因此，该项目将是河4区第一个以居民区为重点的系统科学调查，并将为该社区的发展提供新的视角。该项目也将是博士候选人培训的重要组成部分，并将进一步培训美国、巴拿马和哥伦比亚的学生，他们将参与实地工作的几个方面。该项目还将加强国际学术合作，使来自国家文化研究所的巴拿马考古学家参与其中。

With support from the National Science Foundation and under the supervision of Dr. Robert D. Drennan, doctoral candidate Adam Menzies will conduct one field season of archaeological research in the Rio Parita Valley of Central Pacific Panama. The central objective of this research is to evaluate the importance of the production of craft goods in the emergence of chiefdoms at the site of He-4 (El Hatillo) some time between A.D. 550-750. At the time of the Spanish Conquest, the indigenous societies of Panama were strongly stratified, but there is considerable debate with respect to the means by which this elaborate social hierarchy emerged and developed. On one hand scholars have argued that the control over economic resources and the production of finished goods critical to basic subsistence pursuits was of primary importance to the establishment and maintenance of social hierarchies. An opposing perspective sees this transition as a consequence of elites attempting to gain increased social status largely through political and religious means with little real economic control.The research questions for this project require a focus on households and residential areas across He-4 in order to sample a large number of households for data on household activities, such as production and consumption of craft goods. This will simultaneously provide the kind of evidence required to evaluate whether differences in quality of life, status and wealth accumulation existed. These same garbage deposits will provide information for how daily activities changed over time. The first phase of fieldwork will be to conduct an intensive surface collection of artifacts across the site in order to determine the density and time depth of occupation and the distribution of craft production activities. The second phase of fieldwork will be to analyze these collections in order to locate areas to be sampled by small-scale excavations in phase three. Phase three will be the excavation of fifty 1m x 1m units across He-4 to acquire information from a large number of households. The final phase will be the analysis of all artifacts collected in phases 1 and 3 of the fieldwork.The intellectual merit of this work is its contribution to models of social change and the emergence of social hierarchies. The means by which social hierarchies are established and maintained are of fundamental interest in archaeology because these social trajectories are based on different principles of ranking. The broader impacts of this research are that it will provide a long-term perspective on the social and political dynamics in the Rio Parita as seen at an important, but understudied, site. The ceremonial precinct at He-4 has been the focus of heavy looting for over forty years. Consequently this project will be the first systematic scientific investigations at He-4 to focus on the residential areas and will offer a new perspective on the development of this community. This project will also be a vital component of the training of the doctoral candidate and will further the training of U.S., Panamanian and Colombian students who will be engaged in several aspects of the fieldwork. This project will also strengthen international scholarly collaboration by involving Panamanian archaeologists from the Instituto Nacional de Cultura (INAC).