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

在国家科学基金会的支持下，在Robert D.Drennan博士的指导下，博士生Adam Menzies将在巴拿马中太平洋的里约帕里塔山谷进行一次实地考古研究。这项研究的中心目标是评估手工艺品的生产在公元550-750年间何-4(El Hatillo)遗址出现的酋长王国中的重要性。在西班牙征服的时候，巴拿马的土著社会是高度分层的，但关于这种复杂的社会等级制度的产生和发展的方式，存在着相当大的争论。一方面，学者们争辩说，对经济资源和制成品生产的控制对基本生存追求至关重要，对建立和维持社会等级制度至关重要。一种相反的观点认为，这种转变是精英阶层试图主要通过政治和宗教手段获得更高的社会地位，而几乎没有实体经济控制的结果。该项目的研究问题需要关注He-4的家庭和居民区，以便对大量家庭进行抽样，以获得家庭活动的数据，如手工艺品的生产和消费。这将同时提供评估生活质量、地位和财富积累是否存在差异所需的那种证据。这些垃圾堆积物将提供日常活动如何随着时间的推移而变化的信息。第一阶段的实地工作将对整个遗址的文物进行密集的地面收集，以确定占领的密度和时间深度以及手工艺品生产活动的分布。田野工作的第二阶段将是分析这些收藏品，以便在第三阶段确定需要通过小规模挖掘进行抽样的地区。第三阶段将在He-4上挖掘5100万×100万个单元，以从大量家庭中获取信息。最后的阶段将是对在田野调查的第一阶段和第三阶段收集的所有人工制品的分析。这项工作的智力价值在于它对社会变革模型和社会等级制度的出现做出了贡献。建立和维持社会等级制度的方法是考古学的基本兴趣，因为这些社会轨迹是基于不同的排名原则。这项研究的更广泛影响是，它将为里约热内卢地区的社会和政治动态提供一个长期的视角，正如在一个重要但未被研究的地点所看到的那样。40多年来，河4的仪式区一直是大规模掠夺的焦点。因此，这个项目将是河-4第一次以居民区为重点的系统科学调查，并将为这个社区的发展提供一个新的视角。该项目也将是博士生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，他们将从事实地工作的几个方面。该项目还将通过吸收国家文化研究所(INAC)的巴拿马考古学家参与，加强国际学术合作。

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).