Dissertation Research: Coastal Foragers of the South-Central Andes and the Process of Sedentarization

在Mark Aldenderfer博士的指导下，Karen Rasmussen女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她将在位于秘鲁沙漠海岸的雅拉考古遗址进行为期一季的挖掘。该遗址之前的工作表明，它是在6000至8000年前的中古时期被占领的。遗骸的密度和形状表明，雅拉可能已经被长期占据，拉斯穆森将研究这种可能性。她将挖掘两个巨大的水平地块，一个以住宅区为中心，另一个以可能的墓地为中心。这应该允许暴露诸如房屋地板、壁炉、储藏区和潜在的长期居住中心的其他指标。该遗址包含丰富的动物群和其他文化遗迹，拉斯穆森将对两者进行分析。在上一个冰河时代结束后，世界许多地区的人类社会组织的特点是定居程度增加，出现了长期占据的社区。大多数情况下，这种变化与农业的出现和/或家畜的放牧有关；考古学家推测，这些新的和丰富的食物资源的出现是聚落模式变化的原因。然而，秘鲁海岸似乎是个例外，因为久居社区似乎早在家养动物出现之前就已经出现了。拉斯穆森和其他许多考古学家都想知道是什么让这种转变成为可能，她在雅拉的挖掘就是为了这个目的。这项研究很重要，因为它将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的数据。它将增加我们对复杂社会是如何产生的理解，并将有助于培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Aldenderfer Under the direction of Dr.Mark Aldenderfer, Ms. Karen Rasmussen will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct one season of excavation at the archaeological site of Yara which is located on the desert coast of Peru. Previous work at the site indicates that it was occupied during the Middle Archaic period, between 6,000 and 8,000 years ago. The density and configuration of the remains suggests that Yara may have been occupied on a long term basis and Ms. Rasmussen will examine this possibility. She will excavate two large horizontal blocks, one centering on a domestic area and the other around a possible cemetery. This should permit exposure of such items as house floors, fire hearths, storage areas and other indicators of a potential long- term residential center. The site contains abundant faunal as well as other cultural remains and Ms. Rasmussen will analyze both. After the end of the last Ice Age, human social organization in many parts of the world was characterized by increased sedentarization and the appearance of communities occupied for extended periods of time. Most often this change is associated with the appearance of agriculture and/or the herding of domestic animals; archaeologists postulate that the appearance of these new and rich food resources was responsible for the change in settlement pattern. However the coast of Peru appears to be an exception since sedentary communities seem to have emerged well before domesticates became available. Ms. Rasmussen, as well as many other archaeologists, want to understand what made this transition possible and her excavation at Yara is directed towards this end. This research is important because it will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will increase our understanding of how complex society emerged and will contribute to the training of a promising young scientist.