Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Emerging Complexity among Middle Preceramic Hunter-Gatherers on the North Coast of Peru

在Tom Dillehay博士的指导下，Kary L.Stackelbeck女士将为她的博士论文收集考古和古生态数据。她将继续在秘鲁北海岸的下Jequetepeque山谷进行考古调查和挖掘，这项工作始于Proyecto Pacasmayo(1997-2001；Tom Dillehay博士和Alan Kolata博士共同指导)。中央安第斯山脉，特别是秘鲁和厄瓜多尔，被认为是一个原始文明和纪念性建筑发展较早的地区。但与世界上其他地区不同的是，在那里，早期的新石器时代和古代时期是相当知名的，相对较少的人对中期前石器时代(约7000-4500 BP)的先前文化和实践知之甚少，这些文化和实践为秘鲁后来的独立发展奠定了基础。人们普遍认为，简单的沿海渔民和中古时期的采集者突然建立了复杂的政治制度，具有复杂的社会等级制度和不朽的建筑，但没有任何过渡的社会经济形态。但有迹象表明，一些社会、经济和技术变革的根源是在上一次中前震旦纪。拟议研究的目的是审查秘鲁北海岸下Jequetepeque河谷的中前震前占领所证明的新出现的社会和经济复杂性的过程，并将这些过程与世界其他区域的过程进行比较。学生申请者花了两个野外季节在Jequetepeque山谷下游进行调查，作为Proyecto Pacasmayo项目的一部分。在这次调查中，在Quebrada del Batan和Quebrada Talambo的部分地区发现了种类繁多的早期和中期前震遗址的紧密集群。尤其是Q.Talambo遗址，展示了早期圆形和后来的半长方形石衬结构、密集的碎石(包括单面)和/或磨石所定义的中前震纪和后来的家居建筑的遗迹。永久建筑的存在，在单一地点的两到八个圆形石衬小屋的形式，标志着朝着永久定居、社会聚集和在该地区安第斯山脉下西坡优先生态区增加本地化迈出了重要的早期步骤。Q.Talambo地区位于安第斯山脉西侧下部由多个紧密并列的微环境带组成的生态环境中。早期和中期震前遗址的格局不同于晚期震前金字塔和聚落，后者位于更接近谷底的地方，想必是为了开发肥沃的农田。拟议的研究项目将是秘鲁北海岸第一次有机会系统地研究这种生态环境中密集的中古遗址群，以了解引发社会聚集、生存/定居本地化和技术变革的社会经济过程，并将这种理解与世界其他地区联系起来。研究方法将包括在Q.Talambo排水系统内完成调查，并挖掘选定的完整的中期震前遗址。此外，还将进行各种岩性分析、古生态研究和网站内空间分析。虽然拟议的研究特别侧重于新出现的复杂性的当地证据，但不言而喻，这项研究将对我们从更广泛的角度理解Jequetepeque山谷、北海岸地区和中央安第斯山脉的长期文化变化产生影响。此外，这项研究的结果将增加越来越多的研究，旨在了解世界许多地区早期狩猎-采集者的组织原则最终是如何为后来复杂的社会奠定基础的。

Under the direction of Dr. Tom Dillehay, Ms. Kary L. Stackelbeck will collect archeological and paleoecological data for her doctoral dissertation. She will continue archaeological survey and excavation in the lower Jequetepeque Valley on the north coast of Peru, which began during the Proyecto Pacasmayo (1997-2001; co-directed by Drs. Tom Dillehay and Alan Kolata). The Central Andes, particularly Peru and Ecuador, is known as an area where pristine civilization and monumental architecture developed early. But unlike other parts of the world where the earlier Neolithic and Archaic periods are fairly well known, relatively little is known about the preceding cultures and practices of the Middle Preceramic Period (ca. 7000-4500 BP) that set the stage for these later independent developments in Peru. It has generally been assumed that simple coastal fisherfolk and gatherers of the Middle Preceramic suddenly established complex polities with sophisticated social hierarchies and monumental architecture of the Late Preceramic period without any transitional socio-economic formations. But there are indications that some social, economic, and technological changes had their roots in the preceding Middle Preceramic. It is the purpose of the proposed research to examine the processes of emerging social and economic complexity as evidenced by Middle Preceramic occupations of the lower Jequetepeque Valley on the North coast of Peru and to compare these processes with those in other regions of the world. The student applicant has spent two field seasons conducting survey in the lower Jequetepeque Valley as part of the Proyecto Pacasmayo. During this survey, tight clusters of a wide variety of Early and Middle Preceramic sites were identified in parts of Quebrada del Batan and Quebrada Talambo. The Q. Talambo sites in particular exhibit the remains of Middle Preceramic and later domestic architecture defined by earlier circular and later semi-rectangular stone-lined structures, dense concentrations of chipped-stone lithics (including unifaces), and/or grinding stones. The presence of permanent architecture in the form of two to eight circular stone-lined huts at single sites signals important early steps toward settlement permanency, social aggregation, and increased localization in preferred ecological zones along the lower western slopes of the Andes in this area. The Q. Talambo area lies within an ecological setting consisting of multiple, closely-juxtaposed microenvironmental zones along the lower western flanks of the Andes. The pattern of Early and Middle Preceramic sites is different from the Late Preceramic pyramids and settlements, which are located closer to the valley floor, presumably for the purpose of exploiting fertile agricultural lands. The proposed research project will be the first opportunity on the north coast of Peru to systematically examine tight clusters of Middle Preceramic sites in this kind of ecological setting in order to understand the socio-economic processes that set in motion social aggregation, subsistence/settlement localization, and technological change, and to relate this understanding to other areas of the world. The research methodology will involve the completion of survey within the Q. Talambo drainage and excavation of selected, intact Middle Preceramic sites. In addition, various lithic analyses, paleoecological studies, and intrasite spatial analysis will be performed. Although the proposed study is specifically focused on local evidence for emergent complexity, it is understood that this research will have implications for our understanding of long-term culture change within the Jequetepeque Valley, the north coast region, and the Central Andes in broader perspective. In addition, the results of this research will add to a growing body of research aimed at understanding how the organizational principles of early hunter-gatherers in many parts of the world ultimately set the stage for later, complex societies.