Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: El Cholo: A Case Study Evaluating Site Variability and Social Organization in the Upper General Valley, Costa Rica

在Garth L. Bawden博士的指导下，Roberto A. Herrera将在El Cholo进行广泛的地表和地下调查，El Cholo是哥斯达黎加南部Diquis地区几个形成时期，Aguas Buenas阶段（公元前300年-公元800年）的土堆遗址之一。El Cholo位于一个通常被称为中间区域的区域，它代表了一个独特的机会来调查一个被认为是一个定义不清的考古区域。自19世纪开始调查以来，该地区就提出了一个有趣的问题，与普遍接受的中美洲和南美洲文化进化和社会复杂性模型相比，该地区呈现出独特的差异。墨西哥谷和安第斯山脉等地区出现了国家级社会，而中间地区则保持了稳定的中等水平的社会复杂性，表面上从形成时期一直到与欧洲接触。与现存的社会进化模型相比，这种相对稳定的持续时间很有趣。对El Cholo的调查将通过检查先前的假设来探索这个更大问题的一个组成部分，这些假设提出，纪念性建筑（即鹅卵石平台丘）的出现是早期酋长和专家的崛起的结果，他们开始通过社会仪式和经济手段巩固权力。根据最近的研究，埃雷拉提出，这些平台也可以通过按公司路线组织的社区一级劳动力来生产，而不是通过建立等级分明的酋长管辖地来生产。在人类学上，该地区和案例现场体现了一个未充分利用的数据样本，可以用来探索有关社会复杂性和不平等发展的重要问题。除了Herrera先生的研究将在人类学和学术界做出贡献之外，该项目还将能够提供一个机会，通过与当地居民接触，促进对国家遗产的管理意识，促进对日益濒危的文化资源的兴趣，向当地社区伸出援手。Herrera的工作不仅将提供给学术界，而且还将在哥斯达黎加当地的公共论坛以及公共宣传讲座中传播。

Under the direction of Dr. Garth L. Bawden, Roberto A. Herrera will conduct extensive surface and sub-surface investigations at El Cholo, one of several Formative Period, Aguas Buenas phase (300BC-AD800) mound sites in the Diquis region of Southern Costa Rica. El Cholo, located within a region commonly known as the Intermediate Area, represents a unique opportunity to investigate what is understood to be a poorly defined archaeological region. The area has posed an interesting problem since the beginning of investigations in the 19th century, presenting distinctive variation when compared against generally accepted Mesoamerican and South American models of cultural evolution and social complexity. Whereas areas such as the Valley of Mexico and the Andes saw the rise of state-level societies, the Intermediate Area maintained stable, middle-range levels of social complexity, ostensibly from the Formative period up to European contact. It is the duration of this relative stability that is interesting when compared to extant models of social evolution. The investigation of El Cholo will explore a component of this larger question by examining previous hypotheses which propose that the emergence of monumental architecture (i.e. cobble platform mounds) results from the rise of incipient chiefs and specialists who begin the process of consolidating power through socio-ritual and economic means. In light of recent research, Mr. Herrera proposes that these platforms could also be produced through community level labor organized along corporate lines rather than established hierarchical chiefdoms. Anthropologically, the area and the case site embody an underutilized data sample that can be used to explore vital questions regarding the development of social complexity and inequality.In addition to the contribution that Mr. Herrera's research will have within the anthropological and academic community, the project will be able to provide an opportunity for outreach to local communities by engaging the local population and promoting a sense of stewardship in the national patrimony, promoting interest in what is increasingly an endangered cultural resource. Herrera's work will not only be made available to the academic community but also disseminated in local Costa Rican public forums as well as in public outreach lectures.