Collaborative Research: Demographic catchments, interregional exchange and political complexity

加州大学洛杉矶分校的查尔斯·S·斯坦尼什博士和亚利桑那州立大学的凯利·J·克努森博士将与秘鲁和美国的同事一起开展研究，研究复杂社会的发展，并调查仪式盛宴在复杂社会发展和扩张中的作用。理解复杂群体是如何出现的，无论是在过去还是现在的社会，都是一个持久的人类学问题。它在21世纪的背景下也是相关的，在这个背景下，边界和多个国家社会的存在本身都在不断变化。除了其学术价值，该项目的更广泛影响包括1)对秘鲁卡门地区的社会和经济影响，2)对北美和南美洲的教育和研究基础设施的贡献，以及3)通过为美国和秘鲁的学生提供教育和培训机会，创建一个更多样化和更具包容性的科学界。斯坦尼什和克努森以及他们的研究团队将研究仪式盛宴在政治发展和扩张中的作用。这项研究将在秘鲁的钦查山谷进行，那里有一个名为帕拉卡斯的复杂政体在公元前800-200年左右蓬勃发展。研究人员将挖掘秘鲁南部的一个考古遗址，这是一个沉没的宫廷建筑群，可能是为了接待来自遥远地区的游客而建造的。然后，他们将使用化学和地质学的技术来确定埋葬在下沉的庭院中的人类的起源，以及在那里发现的动植物遗骸等物品的起源。通过确定在沉没的宫廷考古遗址中发现的人和动物遗骸的地质起源，研究人员将检验这样一种假设，即过去曾利用重大宴会活动来整合不同的社区，是社会政治复杂性发展的重要组成部分。

Dr. Charles S. Stanish, of the University of California at Los Angeles, and Dr. Kelly J. Knudson, of Arizona State University, along with colleagues in Peru and the United States, will undertake research to study the development of complex societies and to investigate the role of ritual feasting events in the development and expansion of complex societies. Understanding how complex groups emerge is an enduring anthropological question, both in past and present societies. It is also relevant in a 21st Century context in which boundaries and the very existence of multiple state societies are in flux. In addition to its scholarly merits, the broader impacts of this project include 1) social and economic impacts in the El Carmen region of Peru, 2) contributions to the education and research infrastructure in North and South America, and 3) the creation of a more diverse and inclusive scientific community through educational and training opportunities for students in the United States and Peru.Drs. Stanish and Knudson and their research team will examine the role of ritual feasting events in political development and expansion. The research will be conducted in the Chincha Valley of Peru, where a complex polity called Paracas flourished around 800-200 BCE. The researchers will excavate an archaeological site in southern Peru, a sunken court complex that was likely built to host visitors from distant areas. They will then use techniques from chemistry and geology to determine the origins of the humans buried in the sunken courts and in the objects, such as plant and animal remains, found there. By determining the geologic origins of the human and animal remains found in the sunken court archaeological sites, the researchers will test the hypothesis that major feasting events were used in the past to integrate different communities and were a vital part of the development of sociopolitical complexity.