Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: La Iberia: The Emergence and Development of a Secondary Site in the Linea Vieja, Costa Rica

贾里德·拉蒂默将与哥斯达黎加国家博物馆合作，在玛丽莲·马森博士的监督下，在拉伊比利亚遗址进行考古调查。拉伊比利亚位于哥斯达黎加的大西洋分水岭，大约在公元1000年西班牙征服前的半个世纪，是一个繁荣的大村庄。这是一个重要的时期，在此之前，该区域发生了重大的文化、政治和经济变化。例如，在公元500-1000年间，人口开始聚集成大村庄。经济贸易和交换增加，货物既可以在当地获得，也可以通过长途贸易获得。也有证据表明尺子更强大，他们动员了大量劳动力，在社会精英成员居住的主要定居点内部和之间建造了不朽的建筑群。这个项目调查了这些政治发展是如何以及为什么发生的基本研究问题。特别令人感兴趣的是复杂的社会是如何组织和维持的，它们是如何随着时间的推移而变化的？考古调查采用了一种方法，重点是考古记录中反映的精英政治和经济互动。该项目将审议社会融合和政治权力合法化的战略，以了解社会精英成员如何获得和操纵这一权力。这些策略在前现代世界的不同古代文化中差异很大，不同的政治制度与不同的考古特征集相关。例如，个人可能通过控制宗教或深奥的知识来获得政治权力。或者，他们可能控制基本的物质资源，如耕地、贸易网络和贵重物品。注重外部的领导人可能会强调发展与其他社区精英的关系，而更注重内部的政治制度则集中精力在自己的社区内培养关系。考古材料和与精英住宅相关的特征随时间的变化反映了权力战略的发展和转变。了解在La Iberia遗址反映的政治制度的关键要素将决定该遗址本身是如何在哥斯达黎加大西洋分水岭区域中心系统的更大背景下建立和维护的。在比较层面上，这项研究提供了来自一个新的、鲜为人知的地区的信息，以解决复杂社会的出现以及从流动的狩猎采集群体和园艺群体到等级农业文明的重大社会转型这一更大的问题。该项目收集的信息将通过传统的出版场所传播给学者和其他研究人员。一个链接到中美洲研究所(奥尔巴尼州立大学)的网页将向公众传播有关拉伊比利亚和下中美洲考古的新知识。纽约州立大学奥尔巴尼分校和哥斯达黎加大学的本科生已经同意参加这一研究项目，培养国际学习和合作。贾里德·拉蒂默将继续他的外展活动，在美国的高中和大学做演讲。此外，由于哥斯达黎加的农业或基础设施发展，考古遗址被洗劫或彻底摧毁的情况一直很普遍。该项目将直接与当地社区合作，宣传保护该地区文化遗产的价值，以供今后的研究和子孙后代使用。

In conjunction with the National Museum of Costa Rica and under the supervision of Dr. Marilyn Masson, Jared Latimer will conduct archaeological investigations at the site of La Iberia. Located in the Atlantic Watershed of Costa Rica, La Iberia was a large village flourishing at approximately A.D. 1000, half a century before the Spanish Conquest. This was an important time period that was preceded by large cultural, political and economic changes in the region. For example, between A.D. 500-1000, populations began aggregating into large villages. There is an increase in economic trade and exchange, with goods being acquired both locally and also through long distance trading. There is also evidence of more powerful rulers, who mobilized substantial labor forces to build monumental architectural complexes within and between major settlements where the elite members of society lived. This project investigates the fundamental research question of how and why these political developments occurred. Of particular interest is how complex societies were organized and maintained, and how did they change through time? The archaeological investigation employs an approach that focuses on elite political and economic interactions reflected in the archaeological record. The project will consider strategies for societal integration and the legitimation of political power in order to understand how elite members of society garnered and manipulated that power. These strategies varied greatly among different ancient cultures of the pre-modern world and different political systems correlate with alternative sets of archaeological signatures. For example, individuals may garner political power by controlling religious or esoteric knowledge. Alternatively, they may control basic material resources such as agrarian land, trade networks and valuable goods. Externally-focused leaders may emphasize the development of relationships with elites in other communities, and more internally-focused political systems concentrate their efforts on cultivating relationships within their own community. Changes through time observed in archaeological materials and features associated with elite residences reflect the development and transformations of power strategies. Understanding the key elements of political systems reflected at the site of La Iberia will determine how the site itself was founded and maintained in the larger context of a regional system of centers in Costa Rica's Atlantic Watershed. On a comparative level, this study contributes information from a new, poorly understood region to the larger question of the emergence of complex society and major societal transformations from mobile hunter-gatherer and horticultural groups to hierarchical agricultural civilizations.Information gathered by this project will be disseminated to academics and other researchers through conventional publication venues. A web page linked to the Institute for Mesoamerican Studies (University at Albany SUNY) will disseminate new knowledge to the public about La Iberia and Lower Central American archaeology. Undergraduate students from both SUNY Albany and the University of Costa Rica have already agreed to participate in this research project, cultivating international learning and cooperation. Jared Latimer will continue his outreach activities by giving presentations at high schools and colleges in the U.S. Furthermore, the looting or outright destruction of archaeological sites due to agricultural or infrastructural development in Costa Rica has been pervasive. This project will work directly with the local community to promote the value of protecting the region's cultural patrimony for future investigations and for future generations.