Bandelier Archaeological Excavation Project

科勒博士和他的同事将进行两个赛季的 在Bandelier国家纪念碑的考古研究， 位于新墨西哥州的国家公园。 公园内有许多 悬崖民居和其他考古遗迹。 之前 考古工作表明阿纳萨齐人 大约在公元1,200年到1,500年之间， 也表明在这段时间里， 定居点让位于更大的聚集群体， 类似的模式也出现在美国西南部的其他地区。 states. 科勒博士和他的同事希望记录下这一点 趋势，并找出其原因。 为了做到这一点，他们将进行两次 挖掘季节的地点已被定位在 以前的工作。 他们将收集陶瓷材料来建造一个 精细的年表 这将使他们能够确定如何 人口随着时间的推移而变化。 动物和植物的遗骸 允许饮食和环境的重建， 大约300年的时间间隔。 在此基础上， 气候、饮食、环境恶化和社会 变化是可以检验的。 尽管考古学家多年来一直认为， 在史前时期， 西南部，很难孤立的力量， 关注这一发展。 科勒博士认为人口 增长导致野生资源枯竭， 加强农业生产。 这些因素反过来 引发了有利于发展的社会反应， 聚合来 该项目将提供数据来测试 假说. 这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。 它会脱落 导致复杂发展的因素 像我们这样的社会。 这也将增加我们的 了解美洲原住民的史前史，并提供有用的 环境数据用于管理班德利尔国家公园。 最后，由于这项研究将结合 有了考古学暑期野外学校， 学生，并鼓励他们追求科学事业。

Dr. Kohler and his colleagues will conduct two seasons of archaeological research in the Bandelier National Monument, a national park located in New Mexico. The park contains numerous cliff dwellings and other archaeological remains. Prior archaeological work indicates that Anasazi peoples were present in the park between approximately 1,200 and 1,500 A.D. The data also indicate that over this time period small scattered settlements gave way to larger aggregated groupings, and a similar pattern is seen in other parts of the Southwestern United States. Dr. Kohler and his colleagues wish to document this trend and discover its cause. To do this, they will conduct two seasons of excavation in sites which have been located during prior work. They will collect ceramic materials to construct a fine grained chronology. This will permit them to determine how population changed over time. Faunal and floral remains will allow reconstruction of both diet and changing environment over this roughly 300 year interval. On this basis the interactions between climate, diet, environmental degradation, and social change can be examined. Although archaeologists for many years have recognized that a process of population aggregation occurred in the prehistoric Southwest, it has been difficult to isolate the forces which underlay this development. Dr. Kohler believes that population growth led to the depletion of wild resources and the need to intensify agricultural production. These factors in turn elicited social responses that favored the development of aggregation. This project will provide data to test the hypothesis. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed light on the factors which led to the development of complex societies, such as our own. It will also increase our understanding of native American prehistory and provide useful environmental data for the management of Bandelier national park. Finally, since this research will be conducted in conjunction with an archaeological summer field school, it help to train students and encourage them to pursue careers in science.