Analyses of the La Chimba Faunas

在国家科学基金会的支持下，斯塔尔博士将分析位于厄瓜多尔皮钦查省的拉钦巴遗址的大量考古动物群。该遗址于20世纪70年代和80年代挖掘，具有重要意义，因为其层状沉积物中保存完好的动物遗骸以及陶瓷和石器等其他材料极其丰富。根据放射性碳的年代，它跨越了近1000年的间隔，包括家畜第一次出现在该地区的时期。斯塔尔博士将进行广泛的动物群分析，重点研究豚鼠和骆驼(包括许多物种)。他将根据物种、身体部位和文化处理对所有可识别的作品进行分类。我们还将对一些标本进行X光检查，以确定骨密度，这决定了一种类型的骨被保留的可能性。在此基础上，他希望深入了解这些重要的家养动物如何进入其史前活动范围的北端，并确定它们对当地经济和其他文化方面的影响。南美洲安第斯地区见证了世界上最伟大的史前文明之一的崛起。人类学家希望了解文明兴起背后的过程，由于现有丰富的考古信息，他们将重点放在了这一地区。他们知道，动植物的驯化是这一过程中的一个重要因素。骆驼或豚鼠不太可能被驯化到如此遥远的北方，而是它们很可能是以已经驯化的形式引入的。通过对La Chimba动物遗骸的研究，斯塔尔博士将能够直接评估这些引入的社会影响。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的数据，并将增加我们对复杂社会是如何发展的理解。最后，密度测量将在许多情况下被动物群分析员广泛使用。

Stahl With National Science Foundation support Dr Peter Stahl will analyze a large collection of archaeological fauna from the site of La Chimba which is located in the Pichincha Province of Ecuador. The site, which was excavated in the 1970s and 1980s is important because its stratified deposits are extremely rich in well preserved faunal remains as well as other materials such as ceramics and stone tools. Based on radiocarbon dates, it spans an almost 1,000 year interval and includes the period when domestic animals first appeared in the region. Dr. Stahl will conduct an extensive faunal analysis and focus on both the guinea pig and the camelids (which include a number of species). He will categorize all identifiable pieces by species, body part and cultural treatment. We will also xray a number of specimens to determine bone density which determines the probability that a type of bone will be preserved. On this basis he hopes to gain insight into the introduction of these important domesticates into their northerly end of their prehistoric range and to determine the effect they had on local economy and other aspects of culture. The South American Andean region saw the rise of one of the great prehistoric civilizations of the world. Anthropologists wish to understand the processes which underlay the rise of civilization and, because of the wealth of archaeological information available, have focussed on this region. They know that the domestication of plants and animals is an important factor in this process. It is unlikely that either camelids or guinea pig were domesticated this far North but were rather they were probably introduced in already domesticated form. Through his study of the La Chimba faunal remains Dr. Stahl will be able to assess in a direct manner the social effect of these introductions. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and will also increase our understanding of ho w complex societies develop. Finally the density measurements will be widely used by faunal analysts in a number of contexts.