The Archaeology of Tiwanaku

科拉塔博士和他的同事们将在玻利维亚北部的史前遗址提瓦纳库开始研究。在一千多年的时间里(约公元100-1200年)，提瓦纳库一直是喀喀湖盆地的首屈一指的城市，而喀喀湖盆地又是当地安第斯文明的人口中心之一。然而，尽管提瓦纳库在安第斯山脉的史前时期占有重要地位--它是早期国家形成的中心之一--但人们对它的经济史以及它是如何崛起、统治一个帝国，然后衰落的知之甚少。科拉塔博士的研究旨在填补这一空白。在过去的工作中，科拉塔博士研究了维持如此庞大人口的农业系统。现在，他将把重点放在市区。他不会挖掘纪念性建筑，而是专注于国内建筑，这些建筑将揭示居民是如何生存的，以及他们是如何组织起来的。他计划研究一系列从“平民”到“精英”的住宅。对工艺品生产区的挖掘还应提供对经济组织的洞察。文物将在现场进行分析，科拉塔博士将与玻利维亚同事密切合作。这项研究之所以重要，有两个原因。首先，它将阐明南美史前鲜为人知的一个方面。提瓦纳库帝国迅速崛起，其影响力迅速扩大到大片地区。人们对这段历史知之甚少。其次，它将增加我们对更普遍的问题的理解，即像我们自己这样的复杂社会是如何产生和维持的。

Dr. Kolata and his colleagues will begin research at the prehistoric site of Tiwanaku in Northern Bolivia. For more than a millennium (ca. A.D. 100-1200), Tiwanaku was the paramount city of the Lake Titicaca basin which was, in turn, one of the great demographic centers of native Andean civilization. However, despite Tiwanaku's important position in the prehistory of the Andes - it is one of the early centers of state formation - little is known about its economic history and how it rose to prominence, governed an empire, and then declined. Dr. Kolata's research is designed to fill this gap. In past work Dr. Kolata has examined the agricultural system which sustained this large population. Now he will focus on the city proper. Rather than excavate monumental architecture, he will focus on domestic structures which will shed light on how the inhabitants subsisted and how they were organized. He plans to examine a series which extends from "commoner" to "elite" dwellings. Excavation of craft production areas should also provide insight into economic organization. Artifacts will be analyzed in the field, and Dr. Kolata will collaborate closely with Bolivian colleagues. This research is important for two reasons. First, it will shed light on a little understood aspect of South American prehistory. The Tiwanaku empire rose quickly and extended its influence rapidly over a wide area. This history is little understood. Second, it will increase our understanding of the more general question of how complex societies such as our own arise and are maintained.