The Cerro de Trincheras Excavation Project

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Randall McGuire博士和他的同事将继续在Cerro de Trincheras遗址进行考古发掘。该项目位于墨西哥索诺拉西北部的一座大型孤立火山山上，占地面积超过一公顷，包括山坡上的870多个梯田。一些可观察到的墙壁长达100米或更长，高度可达3米。在该遗址进行的先前工作表明，其职业时间大约在公元800-1450年。迄今为止的挖掘表明梯田被用于耕作。住宅结构也建在这些表面上。麦奎尔博士和他的团队将在一张完整的遗址地图上挖掘大约3-5%的地表面积。挖掘样本将根据特征类型和测绘项目中定义的位点进行双重分层。这一程序将允许对诸如每个住宅露台的房屋数量等参数进行估计，并允许对人口和劳动力投资进行推断。广泛的样本将为遗址的所有部分提供时间数据，并允许重建整个遗址的共时活动结构。要回收的材料——包括陶瓷、石头、贝壳、骨头和花粉——将由一系列专家进行分析。Cerro de Trincheras是一个鲜为人知的重要考古遗址，位于美国边境以南。该项目将测试一些关于其史前社会政治组织的命题。在较低的层次上，研究将涉及诸如人口增长的时间、人口的规模和持久性、遗址活动的性质以及遗址在更大的区域和区域间经济系统中的作用等问题。在较高的层次上，这项工作将处理技术简单的史前系统中区域相互作用的性质。有人认为，美国西南部的主要考古文化的存在归功于与墨西哥中部的联系，它们最好被解释为一个更大的互动网络的一部分。一种同样合理的解释认为，这两者只是微弱的联系，本质上是独立的现象。Cerro de Trincheras位于两者之间，为研究这些替代方案提供了一种手段。

McGuire With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Randall McGuire and his colleagues will continue archaeological excavation at the site of Cerro de Trincheras. Located on a large isolated volcanic hill in northwest Sonora, Mexico, the site covers over a hectare and includes more than 870 terraces on the slopes of the hill. Some observable walls run for a hundred meters or more and approach heights of up to 3 meters. Previous work at the site indicates an occupation which extends from approximately 800-1450 AD. Excavation to date shows that terraces were used for cultivation. Domestic structures were also constructed on these surfaces. Building on a completed site map, Dr., McGuire and his team will excavate approximately 3-5% of the surface area. The excavation sample will be double-stratified by feature types and by loci defined in the mapping project. This procedure will allow for the estimation of parameters such as the number of houses per residential terrace and permit inferences about population and labor investment. The broadly based sample will provide chronometric dates for all portions of the site and allow reconstruction of synchronic activity structure across the site. The materials to be recovered - these include among other categories, ceramics, lithics, shell, bone and pollen - will be analyzed by a range of specialists. Cerro de Trincheras is a major and little known archaeological site which lies just South of the US border. The project will test a number of propositions about its prehistoric socio- political organization. At a lower level the research will address issues such as the timing of growth, the size and permanence of the human population, the nature of activities at the site and the role of the site in a larger regional and inter- regional economic system. At a higher level the work will address the nature of regional interaction in technologically simple prehistoric systems. It has been argued that major arhaeological cultu res in the US Southwest owe their existence to ties with central Mexico and that they can best be interpreted as parts of a much larger interaction network. An equally plausible interpretation sees the two as only weakly linked, essentially independent phenomena. Cerro de Trincheras because of its location between the two provides a means to examine these alternatives.