Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Ecology, Ritual, and Agriculture at Chavin de Huantar

在克里斯汀·哈斯托夫（Christine Hastorf）博士的监督下，马修·塞尔（Matthew Sayre）将对从重要的安第斯仪式中心Chavin de Huantar的国内部分挖掘中收集的数据进行分析。早期定居生活中仪式中心的位置，特别是当它们相互作用并改变了当地家庭社区和更广泛的景观时，是考古研究的重要课题。该项目将在秘鲁高原的Chavin de Huantar遗址解决这些问题，该遗址被认为是早期地平线（公元前900-200年）的仪式中心。将完成对所有遗骸的全面分析，特别侧重于宏观和微观植物样本的古民族植物学分析。古民族植物学能够解决农业、采集和食物实践的变化，因为它是生态、仪式和农业这三个看似独立的领域相交的一个领域。这个项目有三个部分。第一部分是在拉班达地区挖掘的家庭家庭，与查文遗址隔江相望。拉班达区是第一个在查文进入的当代家庭社区。挖掘，结合直接的绝对年代测定，将可靠地将这些国内建筑置于当地的年代学中，并确定该部分与查文纪念性部分的关系。该项目的第二部分是现代农业生态调查，将由其他来源提供资金。该项目的第三个组成部分是对查文家庭和仪式地区出土的材料进行古民族植物学分析。古民族植物学研究将包括分析土壤样本中的大型植物遗骸、植物岩和淀粉颗粒，以及选定的人工制品的使用表面。这项研究尤其重要，因为该遗址被认为是通过使用神圣植物进行仪式诱导的中心。此外，“查文崇拜”的传播在围绕这些早期文明的贸易和交换程度的辩论中也很重要，特别是在这些交换中植物的地位。这些研究目标在一个长期以来没有大量可测试数据推断其性质的地点尤为重要。这项研究的学术价值在于它对早期仪式中心内外生活的更广泛的理论讨论做出了贡献，特别是对Chavin de Huantar，一个在前西班牙安第斯山脉文明发展中至关重要的地点，以及古民族植物学方法论。该项目的更广泛影响体现在美国和秘鲁之间的主要文化交流，为来自几个国家的本科生提供培训机会。斯坦福大学和加州大学伯克利分校的本科生和秘鲁学生将在我和项目现场主任John Rick博士的指导下协助挖掘拉班达地区的国内建筑。此外，来自加州大学伯克利分校的四名本科生研究学徒计划（URAP）学生将参与挖掘后的实验室分析，特别强调拉丁美洲的学生。这项研究的结果将在学术和公共场合广泛传播，包括向秘鲁和美国的学校作报告。

Under the supervision of Dr. Christine Hastorf, Matthew Sayre will conduct analysis of data gathered from excavations of a domestic sector of the important Andean ceremonial center of Chavin de Huantar. The place of ceremonial centers in early settled life, especially as they interacted and transformed the local domestic communities and the broader landscape, is an important subject in archaeological inquiry. This project will address these issues at the highland Peruvian site of Chavin de Huantar, the presumed ceremonial center of the Early Horizon (900-200 BC). A full analysis of all remains, with special focus on paleoethnobotanical analyses of macroscopic and microscopic plant samples will be completed. Paleoethnobotany is able to address changing agricultural, collecting and food practices because it is one field where the three seemingly discrete areas of ecology, ritual, and agriculture intersect. There are three parts to this project. The first section is the excavation of domestic households in the La Banda region, across the river from the site of Chavin. The La Banda sector is the first contemporaneous domestic community to be accessible at Chavin. Excavations, combined with direct absolute dating, will reliably situate these domestic constructions within the local chronology and determine the relationship of this sector with the monumental sector of Chavin. The second part of the project is a modern agroecological survey, which will be funded by other sources. The third component of the project is a paleoethnobotanical analysis conducted on excavated materials from the domestic and ceremonial areas of Chavin. The paleoethnobotanical research will include the analysis of macrobotanical remains, phytoliths and starch grains from soil samples as well as from use-surfaces of selected artifacts. This research is particularly crucial as the site is postulated to have served as a center for ritual induction through the use of sacred plants. Additionally, the spread of the "Chavin cult" has been important in the debates surrounding the extent of trade and exchange during these early civilizations, especially the place of plants in these exchanges. These research goals are particularly important at a site whose nature has long been inferred without substantial, testable data.The intellectual merit of this study builds on its contribution to wider theoretical discussions of life inside and outside early ceremonial centers, especially for Chavin de Huantar, a site of central importance in the development of civilization in the pre-Hispanic Andes, as well as on Paleoethnobotanical methodology. The broader impacts of this project is seen in the major cultural exchange between Americans and Peruvians providing training opportunities for undergraduate students from several nations. Stanford and UC Berkeley undergraduate and Peruvian students will assist in excavations of the domestic structures in the La Banda region under my supervision and that of project field director, Dr. John Rick. Additionally, four Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (URAP) students from UC Berkeley will be involved in post-excavation laboratory analysis, with specific emphasis on Latin American students. The results of this research will be widely distributed in both academic and public settings including presentations to Peruvian and American schools.