Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social Change in Pre-Columbian San Ramon de Alajuela, Costa Rica, and Its Relation with Adjacent Regions

在Robert D. Drennan，Mauricio Murillo-Herrera将在哥斯达黎加的San Ramon de阿拉胡埃拉进行一项区域系统调查，探讨区域间关系在该区域前哥伦比亚社会的社会政治发展中的作用。中美洲地区之间的联系以及与中美洲以外地区的联系一直是中美洲考古学的主要研究重点。然而，这些区域间关系对社会变革进程的实际影响是非常有争议的。虽然有些人强烈认为，史前社会发展的过程是普遍影响区域间的关系，其他人承认接触的存在，但认为他们的社会政治影响是非常微弱的，相比之下，非常地方性的因素。什么是写在中美洲，安第斯山脉，而中美洲使得区域间关系对中美洲来说似乎比对邻国更重要。这种印象可能是因为区域间关系实际上在中美洲更为重要，但人们担心，这只是因为中美洲的地方进程没有像其他地方那样得到充分研究。Murillo先生的研究将有助于评估区域间关系在中美洲史前社会变革动态中的作用。特别是，它侧重于区域间关系相对于纯粹地方因素的相对重要性。之所以选择圣拉蒙德阿拉胡埃拉，是因为它位于几个较知名的地区之列，对那里社会变革的性质和时间有更充分的了解，将特别有助于进行各种比较，而这些比较是确定这些地区社会变革轨迹是相互联系的还是基本上相互独立的关键。确定史前社会变革力量最强烈感受到的地方或区域间规模将为未来的研究提供重点，旨在进一步阐明导致中美洲史前酋长国出现的因素的性质。这项研究将产生超出其社会科学目标的更广泛影响。这将是博士生培训的一个关键因素，并将进一步培训将参加实地工作的哥斯达黎加学生。它还将提供目前因农业发展而受到破坏威胁的文化遗迹的文献资料，并将加强国际学术合作关系，因为它将与哥斯达黎加大学在该区域的研究工作密切合作。与该项目相关的公共宣传将提高圣拉蒙社区公众对科学的理解水平。这些外展工作将包括学校访问以及与当地博物馆的合作。

Under the supervision of Dr. Robert D. Drennan, Mauricio Murillo-Herrera will carry out a regional systematic survey in San Ramon de Alajuela, Costa Rica, to explore the role of interregional relationships in the sociopolitical development of the precolumbian societies of the region. Connections between regions within Central America and with regions outside Central America have been a major research focus in Central America archaeology. The actual impact that these interregional relationships had on the processes of social change, however, is highly controversial. While some argue strongly that the course of prehistoric social development was pervasively affected by interregional relationships, others recognize the existence of contacts, but argue that their sociopolitical impact was very weak, compared to that of very local factors.What is written on the archaeology of Mesoamerica, the Andes, and Central America makes interregional relationships seem much more important forces of change for Central America than for its neighbors. This impression might arise because interregional relationships actually were more important in Central America, but one worries that it is due only to the fact that local processes have not been as fully investigated in Central America as they have been elsewhere. Mr. Murillo's research will help evaluate the role of interregional relationships in the dynamic of prehistoric social change in Central America. In particular, it focuses on the relative weight of interregional relationships as compared to that of purely local factors. San Ramon de Alajuela has been chosen because it is situated among several better-known regions, and fuller knowledge of the nature and timing of social transformations there will especially facilitate the kinds of comparisons that are the key to determining whether the trajectories of social change in these regions are linked together or operate largely independently of each other. Determining the local or interregional scale at which the forces of prehistoric social change were most strongly felt will provide focus for future research aimed at further delineation of the nature of the factors that led to the emergence of prehistoric chiefdoms across Central America.This research will have broader impact beyond its social science aims as well. It will be a crucial element in the training of the doctoral candidate, and it will further the training of Costa Rican students who will participate in the fieldwork. It will also provide documentation of cultural remains currently threatened with destruction by agricultural development, and will strengthen ties of international scholarly collaboration, since it will cooperate closely with research efforts in the region by the Universidad de Costa Rica. Public outreach associated with the project will enhance the level of public understanding of science in San Ramon communities. These outreach efforts will include school visits, and collaboration with the local museum.