A Long Term Perspective On Middle American Ecology And Political Economy

莱克县学院的斯科特·帕伦博博士将与中美洲和美国的同事们一起，收集和分析哥斯达黎加南部山区博拉斯地区的考古数据。该地区见证了社会复杂性的早期发展，该地区的多个遗址具有显著的纪念性（例如石球，大土丘）。以前的学术研究主要集中在对艺术品的解释上，目前还不清楚是哪些经济或政治因素导致了社会的变化。这些问题很重要，因为通往社会等级的各种途径还没有被完全理解。由于这些社会变化发生在史前的过去，考古学是能够详细研究这一主题的少数途径之一。通过采取长期的方法，有可能深入了解将小规模社会结合在一起并使它们作为有效的稳定单位发挥作用的因素。社会稳定或缺乏社会稳定的问题是当今世界分歧的一个重要来源，因此这项研究具有现实的当代意义。一些研究人员先前认为，对最好的农业用地的控制对政治当局很重要；另一些人则认为，社会因素是聚落分布的主要决定因素。Bolas地区是研究这些可能性的理想地点，因为它具有环境异质性，而且之前的研究记录了不同定居点之间工艺生产强度的差异。Palumbo博士和他的研究小组将通过对Bolas及其直接腹地的区域调查来调查这些可能性。这项调查将包括挖掘数千个小型挖掘单位，并从数十个地点的家庭垃圾环境中收集文物（如石片、破碎的陶器）。这些垃圾将进行比较和对比，以检查社会地位的差异和过去生产活动的变化。该研究可能表明，随着时间的推移，高社会等级的证据与最佳农业用地密切相关，从而表明这一环境变量在等级发展中发挥了重要作用。另一个可能的结果是，高排名的家庭与最好的土壤的联系很弱，而是从事其他活动（例如举办宴会，制作工艺品），这表明基于不同原则的政治经济。最终，这项研究将被用于将Bolas地区与世界其他地区进行比较，以更好地了解社会复杂性在过去是如何发展和持续的。该小组将产生重要的数据，加强美国和哥斯达黎加同事之间的学术合作，并为学生和当地社区创造和提高教育机会。

Dr. Scott Palumbo, of the College of Lake County, along with colleagues in Central America and the United States, will collect and analyze archaeological data from the Bolas region in the mountains of southern Costa Rica. This area witnessed the incipient development of social complexity and multiple sites in the region are characterized by conspicuous monumentality (e.g. stone spheres, large earthen mounds). Previous scholarship concentrated largely upon interpretations of artwork, and it is not yet clear which economic or political factors contributed to social changes over time. Such questions are important to pursue because the various pathways to social hierarchy are not completely understood. As these social changes lie in the prehistoric past, archaeology is one of the few avenues capable of studying this topic in detail. By taking a long term approach it is possible to gain insight into the factors which hold small scale societies together an allow them to function as effective stable units. The problem of social stability - or lack thereof - is an important source of dissention in the world today and thus the research is of practical contemporary relevance.Several researchers previously argued that control over the best agricultural land was important to political authorities; others argued that social factors were the primary determinant of settlement distribution. The Bolas region represents an ideal location to investigate these possibilities because it is environmentally heterogeneous and because previous research documented variations in the intensity of craft production between settlements. Dr. Palumbo and his research team will investigate these possibilities through regional survey of Bolas and its immediate hinterland. The survey will involve digging thousands of small excavation units and collecting artifacts (e.g. stone chips, broken pottery) from domestic trash contexts from dozens of sites. This trash will be compared and contrasted to examine differences in social status and variation in past production activities. This study may demonstrate that the evidence for high social rank was closely associated with the best agricultural land over time, thus suggesting this one environmental variable assumed an important role in development of hierarchy. Another possible result is that high ranking households were weakly associated with the best soils, but instead practiced other activities (e.g. hosting feasts, producing crafts), suggesting a political economy based on different principles. Ultimately, this research will be used to compare the Bolas region to other regions in the world to better understand how social complexity developed and persisted in the past. The team will generate important data and strengthen scholarly collaborations between colleagues in the United States and Costa Rica, as well as create and enhance educational opportunities for students and local communities.