Dissertation Research: Prehistoric Socio-Political Development and Wetland Agriculture in West Mexico

在詹姆斯·舍恩维特博士的指导下，格伦·斯图尔特先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他的研究目标是洞察史前的中世纪美国农业技术，并考察大规模农业的发展和复杂社会的出现之间的关系。对中南美洲许多地区的调查显示，存在“隆起的磁场”复合体。它们几乎完全位于地势低洼、排水不良的地区，由直线排列的凸起的泥土组成，中间隔着直线运河。这些似乎是一种广泛的湿地控制形式，重建这些田地的现代实验表明，它们能够维持集约化种植。然而，考古学家并不了解这些田地到底种植了什么作物，也没有开发出强大的分析技术来提供此类信息。先前的研究表明，墨西哥西部哈利斯科地区存在广泛的湿地农业系统。通过对这些系统的残留物进行实地研究，以及对实地考察过程中获得的放射性碳、陶瓷和花粉进行实验室研究，斯图尔特将实现几个目标。首先，他将深入了解湿地农业集约化与社会政治和经济发展之间的关系。通过对化石花粉的研究，他将阐明种植的作物类型，以及这些作物可能随着时间的推移而发生了怎样的变化。他还将开发一种识别湿地农业系统孢粉特征的方法。考古学家希望了解复杂的社会和文明是如何产生的。大量人口融合的核心是某种形式的等级控制，目前尚不清楚是什么过程导致了社会不平等的发展。一个有影响力的想法将其与灌溉系统的发展联系在一起，灌溉系统对干旱和半干旱环境中的生存至关重要，需要某种集中管理来分配水，而水是一种必不可少的有限资源。在许多中美环境中，出现了理解恐慌状态，因为这一过程发生在不需要灌溉的湿地环境中，灌溉假说不成立。然而，考古学家注意到了其他类型的大型田野系统，并希望知道这些系统是否起到了因果作用。斯图尔特的研究将解决这个问题。这个项目之所以重要，有几个原因。它将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的数据，并有助于开发一种具有巨大潜在用途的方法工具。它还将帮助培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. James Schoenwetter, Mr Glen Stuart will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. The goal of his research is to gain insight into prehistoric Middle American agricultural techniques and to examine the relationship between the development of large scale agriculture and the emergence of complex societies. Investigation in many areas of Middle and South America has revealed the presence of `raised field` complexes. These are located almost exclusively in low-lying poorly drained areas and consist of rectilinear arrangements of raised earth separated by linear canals. These appear to be a widespread form of wetland control and modern experiments to reconstruct such fields indicate that they are capable of sustaining intensive planting. However archaeologists do not understand just what crops were planted on such fields and have not developed robust analytic techniques to provide such information. Prior research has indicated the presence of extensive wetland agricultural systems in the Jalisco region of West Mexico. Through a program of field studies of these system's remnants and laboratory studies of radiocarbon, ceramics and pollen obtained during the course of fieldwork, Mr. Stuart will accomplish several goals. First he will gain insight into the relationship between wetland agricultural intensification and socio-political and economic development. Through study of fossil pollen he will elucidate the types of crops grown and how these may have changed through time. He will also develop a method to recognize the palynological signature of wetland agricultural systems. Archaeologists wish to understand how complex societies and civilizations arise. Central to the integration of large numbers of people is some form of hierarchical control and it is unclear what processes led to the development of social inequality. One influential idea ties this to the development of irrigation systems which are both central to survival in arid and semi-arid environments and which require some kind of centralized management to distribute water, an essential limited resource. In many Middle American environments prehispanic states arose and because this process occurred in wetland environments where irrigation is not necessary, the irrigation hypothesis does not hold. Archaeologists however have noted other types of large field systems and wish to know whether these played a causative role. Mr Stuart's research will address this question. This project is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and help to develop a methodological tool of great potential use. It will also assist in training a promising young scientist.