Late Prehistoric Social Complexity in Southern Amazonia (Upper Xingu, Brazil)

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，迈克尔·赫肯伯格博士和他的同事将在巴西上兴古地区进行两个季节（八个月）的考古研究，该地区位于亚马逊盆地森林低地的南部边缘附近。该项目旨在准确描述900公里研究区域内史前晚期（公元1000-1600年）居住地点的区域分布、变化和联系，并改善该地区史前人类居住的整体年表。基于之前NSF资助的研究结果，需要解决的具体问题包括：(1)该地区圆形广场村的最初出现，大约在公元800-900年；(2)广场村主要结构精心设计的时间，通过土方施工，被认为发生在公元1400-1600年左右；(3)这些终末史前遗址在大小、形态和结构特征方面的变异性及其在研究区内的整合；(4)人口核化程度，以村庄增长来衡量，与主要土方建设相一致；(5)与古生态学、土壤学和民族植物学专家合作，研究大型史前村庄对周围景观的总体环境影响。该项目将包括利用卫星图像和航空照片，以及地面数据恢复，扩大亚马逊南部这部分地区的地理（GIS）数据库。该研究解决了区域人类学中的紧迫问题，最引人注目的是关于史前晚期复杂社会（酋长管辖地）的性质和分布的辩论。尽管长期以来被认为不利于大规模定居人口的发展，但最近的研究表明，史前亚马逊地区确实存在这样的社会。因此，亚马逊是世界范围内公认的酋邦出现的最后一个主要发源地之一。这项研究特别及时，因为迄今为止，在巴西亚马逊地区进行的系统的区域级考古研究很少。更广泛地说，对亚马逊不同地区过去的定居和土地利用进行科学调查，对于讨论工业化前对热带森林环境的适应以及这一生态敏感地区的当代经济可持续性和发展问题至关重要。该项目由巴西国家博物馆和Goeldi博物馆赞助，由巴西和美国的研究人员和学生组成一个团队，它将加强巴西和美国之间的科学合作，也促进科学家和土著人民之间的合作。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Michael Heckenberger and his colleagues will conduct two seasons (eight months) of archaeological research in the Upper Xingu region, Brazil, situated near the southern peripheries of the forested lowlands of the Amazon basin. The project aims to accurately characterize the regional distribution, variability, and articulation of late prehistoric (c. AD 1000-1600) habitation sites within a 900 km study area and to improve the overall chronology of prehistoric human occupation in the region. Building on the results of previous NSF funded research, specific questions to be addressed include: (1) the initial appearance of circular plaza villages in the region, suggested to be c. AD 800-900; (2) the timing of major structural elaboration of the plaza villages, through earthwork construction, thought to have occurred c. AD 1400-1600; (3) the variability, in terms of size, configuration, and structural features, of these terminal prehistoric sites and their integration within the study area; (4) the degree of population nucleation, measured in terms of village growth, coincident with major earthwork construction; and (5) the overall environmental impacts of the large prehistoric villages on the surrounding landscape, in collaboration with specialists in paleoecology, pedology, and ethnobotany. The project will include the expansion of a geographic (GIS) database for this portion of the southern Amazon, utilizing satellite images and aerial-photos, as well as ground-based data recovery. The research addresses pressing issues in regional anthropology, most notably debates regarding the nature and distribution of complex societies (chiefdoms) in late prehistoric times. Although long felt to be inimical to the development of large, settled populations, recent research indicates that such societies did exist prehistorically in Amazonia. Thus, the Amazon is one of the last major hearths for the emergence of chiefdoms to be recognized worldwide. This research is particularly timely since, to date, very few systematic regional-level archaeological studies have been conducted in the Brazilian Amazon. More broadly, scientific investigation of past settlement and land-use in different parts of the Amazon is critical to debates regarding pre-industrial adaptations to tropical forest environments and issues of contemporary economic sustainability and development in this ecologically sensitive region. The project, sponsored by the Museu Nacional and Museu Goeldi in Brazil and composed of a team of Brazilian and American researchers and students, will strengthen scientific cooperation between Brazil and the United States and also promote cooperation between scientists and indigenous peoples.