Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Political Economy and the Development of Chiefly Societies from the Rio Parita Area in the Central Region of Panama

在Robert drenan博士的指导下，Mikael Haller先生将在巴拿马中部为他的博士论文收集数据。他将在地区层面上进行考古调查，研究从4000年到16世纪西班牙人接触的定居点。巴拿马中部是调查酋邦发展的理想地区，因为这里有与该地区有关的考古和历史资料，可以用来检验主要社会发展的现有模式。一方面，人类学家认为，与经济利益相反，深奥知识的远距离交换对建立政治权力至关重要。相反，其他人则认为主要是对当地资源的控制。第三种模式侧重于把战争作为从自治社会发展成酋长管辖地的关键因素，这种模式来自于对南美洲和巴拿马的部落社会和主要社会的比较。在评估这些模型时，Haller先生将使用调查数据来确定五个因素的相对重要性，这些因素结合在一起，包括三个模型的主要组成部分：农业用地控制、人口增长、地方交换和手工业生产、长途交换和战争。尽管最近的考古工作涉及重要的社会政治问题，但关于巴拿马酋长管辖地的地理、经济和发展的资料仍然相对较少，各种假设仍然没有得到考古记录的证实。显然，利用巴拿马酋邦作为对其他案例进行考古重建和比较研究的模式，需要更好地了解它们在16世纪以前的出现和发展，以及接触时考古记录的性质。这个研究项目处理的问题与在世界各地从事复杂社会形成工作的区域专家所关心的问题类似，因为一个基本目标是确定人口压力、经济专业化、农业生产控制和当地交流在这一过程中的相对重要性。这个研究项目将通过审查巴拿马酋邦的发展，增加目前对区域进程的了解，并将为社会政治组织的比较研究提供一个具体案例。因此，这个项目有可能解决几个重要的人类学调查路线。最重要的是，这项研究将对研究复杂社会的发展作出贡献。此外，它将有助于更好地理解考古和民族历史账户之间的关系，这对重建和解释史前社会至关重要。在一般的人类学层面上，这项研究的数据可以用来理解社会复杂性与人口压力、战争和经济资源控制之间的关系。它还将帮助培训一名有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Robert Drennan, Mr. Mikael Haller will collect data for his doctoral dissertation in Central Panama. He will conduct archaeological investigations at the regional level by examining settlement occupation over a 4000 year period up to Spanish contact in the 16th century. Central Panama is an ideal area to investigate the development of chiefdoms since there is both archaeological and historical data relating to the region which can be used to test against current models for the development of chiefly societies.On the one hand, anthropologists have argued that long-distance exchange of esoteric knowledge was critical for establishing political power, as opposed to economic gain. In contrast others claim that chiefly control of local resources was the main factor. A third model, focusing on warfare as the key factor in the development of chiefdoms from autonomous societies, derives from a comparison of tribal and chiefly societies in South America and Panama. In evaluating these models, Mr. Haller will use survey data in determining the relative importance of five factors that combined include the major components of the three models: control of agricultural land, population growth, local exchange and craft production, long-distance exchange, and warfare.Despite recent archaeological work concerning important sociopolitical issues, there is still relatively little information about the geography, economy and development of Panamanian chiefdoms and various hypotheses remain unsubstantiated by the archaeological record. Clearly, using Panamanian chiefdoms as models for archaeological reconstruction of other cases and for comparative studies requires a better understanding of their emergence and development prior to the sixteenth-century, as well as the nature of the archaeological record at the time of contact. This research project addresses concerns similar to those of regional specialists working around the world on the formation of complex societies since an underlying goal is to determine the relative importance demographic stress, economic specialization, control of agricultural production, and local exchange in this process. This research project will add to current understanding of regional processes through an examination of the development of Panamanian chiefdoms and it will provide a specific case for comparative studies of sociopolitical organization.Therefore, this project has the potential to address several important lines of anthropological inquiry. Foremost is the contribution this research will make to the study of the development of complex societies. In addition, it will contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between archaeological and ethnohistorical accounts-crucial in reconstructing and interpreting prehistoric societies. On a general anthropological level, data from this research can be used in understanding the relationship between social complexity and population pressure, warfare, and control of economic resources. It will also assist in training a promising young scientist.