Dissertation Research: Agricultural Change in the Bolivian Amazon

在Clark Erickson博士的指导下，John Walker先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。作为Erickson博士更大项目的一部分，Walker先生将在玻利维亚东部的lallanos de Moxos地区考察史前农田农业的实践。该地区位于低洼的亚马逊盆地，其特点是大片精心建造的现已废弃的农田。土被挖成排水沟，然后堆成适合农业的高地。这项技术在南美洲西部和中美洲低地得到广泛应用，试验工作表明，这种系统可以为作物生产提供有效的手段。在南美洲，这种方法在史前或早期历史时期就停止了，在玻利维亚，人们现在在覆盖田地表面的自然生长的草上放牧牛。沃克先生希望了解凸起的田地是如何融入更大的社会和经济背景的，以及为什么它们被抛弃了。人们提出了许多解释。它们包括假定的史前社会组织崩溃；与厄尔尼诺事件有关的气候变化；以及西班牙殖民的直接或间接影响。为了解决这些问题，沃克先生将使用航空照片在地面上定位和核实凸起区域的位置和范围。他将进行地面调查，定位居住地点，确定其与农业特征的关系，并重建人口密度。他还将在田野内部进行有限的挖掘。确定油田的建造和废弃时间是至关重要的，这可能是极其困难的。国家科学基金会的支持将使沃克先生能够获得挖掘过程中发现的有机材料的放射性碳年代。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为在不适宜居住的低地热带环境中生存适应提供新的线索。它将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的数据，并帮助培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。包括保存完好的动物遗迹。虽然在阿拉斯加的这一地区已经发现了许多考古遗址，但阿丁顿角岩石掩体在沉积物的保护性质和内容物的高度保存方面是独一无二的。根据确定年代的海滩线特征，陆棚很可能保存了更新世末期/全新世早期的物质。因此，它将有可能揭示该地区的整个史前历史。1977年夏季野外工作的主要目标之一将是确定考古沉积物的总深度。将在地层单位至基岩之间挖掘一条沟渠，收集所有文化材料以及贝壳、动物和植物遗骸。表面映射也将发生。将对材料进行鉴定，并提交样品进行放射性碳定年。对贝壳的同位素分析将有助于研究气候变化。阿拉斯加海岸之所以成为人类学研究的热点，有几个原因。最早从亚洲进入新大陆的人类很有可能是经过这一地区的一条路线，莫斯博士的工作有可能为新大陆的人类生活提供新的线索。丰富的沿海资源使狩猎和采集民族的文化复杂性达到了世界上其他地方无法达到的水平，人类学家几十年来一直在研究这一独特的现象。然而，在阿拉斯加，由于考古保存状况普遍不佳，人们对它的了解非常有限，因此，发现一个“干”岩石庇护所是极其重要的。这项研究将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的独特数据。它也有望为一个更大的研究项目奠定基础。问^

Under the direction of Dr. Clark Erickson, Mr. John Walker will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. As part of Dr. Erickson's larger project, Mr. Walker will examine the practice of prehistoric raised field agriculture in the Lllanos de Moxos region of eastern Bolivia. This area is located in the low-lying Amazon basin and characterized by large expanses of carefully constructed and now-abandoned agricultural fields. Earth was dug to create drainage ditches and then mounded to form raised areas suitable for agriculture. This technique was widely used in Western South America as well as the lowlands of Middle America and experimental work has indicated that such systems can provide effective means for crop production. In South America this approach was discontinued in either prehistoric or early historic times and in Bolivia people now graze cattle on naturally growing grasses which cover field surfaces. Mr. Walker wishes to understand how raised fields were integrated into a larger social and economic context and also why they were abandoned. A number of explanations have been proposed. They include a postulated prehistoric breakdown in social organization: climate change related to an El Nino event: and either the direct or indirect influence of Spanish colonization. To address these questions Mr. Walker will use aerial photographs to locate and verify on the ground the position and extent of raised fields. He will conduct a surface survey to locate habitation sites, determine their relationship to agricultural features and reconstruct population density. He will also carry out limited excavations within the fields themselves. It is essential to determine both when the fields were constructed and abandoned and this can be extremely difficult to do. NSF support will allow Mr. Walker to obtain radiocarbon dates on organic materials recovered in the course of excavation. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed new light on subsistence adaptations in inhospitable lowland tropical environments. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and assist in training a promising young scientist. including faunal remains in an excellent state of preservation. Although many archaelogical sites have been discove red in this part of Alaska, the Cape Addington rockshelter is unique in the protected nature of the sediments and the high degree of preservation of the contents. Based on the presence of well dated beachline features, it i quite possible that the shelte r preserves terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene materials. It thus would have the potential to shed light on the entire prehistory of the region. One of the primary goals for fieldwork during the summer of 1977 will be to etermine the total depth of the archaeological deposit. A trench will be excavated in stratigraphic units to bedrock and all cultural material as well as shells, faunal and floral remains will be collected. Surface mapping will also take place. Material ill be identified and samples s ubmitted for radiocarbon dating. Isotopic analysis of shell will permit investigation of climate change. Coastal Alaska is of anthropological interest for several reasons. It is highly likely that the earliest humans to ener the New World from Asia util ized a route through this region and Dr. Moss' work has potential to shed new light on the peopling of the New World. Rich coastal resources permitted hunting and gathering peoples to reach a level of cultural complexity unnown elsewhere in the world at this level of subsistence and for decades anthropologists have studied this unique phenomenon. In Alaska however knowledge is severely limited because of the generally poor state of archaeological preservation and thereforethe discovery of a `dry` rock s helter is extremely important. This research will provide unique data of interest to many archaeologists. It will also, hopefully, set the stage for a larger research project. q ^