Practices in Life, Presence After Death: Style and Substance at the Paracas Necropolis

在国家科学基金会的支持下，安·H·彼得斯将协调一个由考古学家和生物人类学家组成的国际团队，将伟大的帕拉卡斯墓地作为古代安第斯山脉的社会社区、亲属网络和文化十字路口进行研究。这一多学科的努力汇集了来自美国和秘鲁的科学家，以重建和更新20世纪早期著名的胡里奥·C·特洛的研究。来自两国的专业人员和学生团队将在美国自然历史博物馆、秘鲁国家人类学、考古学和历史博物馆以及三家秘鲁地区博物馆收藏藏品。其目标是将现代分析技术应用于429名男性和女性的埋葬，他们死于2000年前，年轻人和老年人被精心刺绣的纺织品和其他文物包裹起来，安放在向北俯瞰帕拉卡斯湾的陡峭沙漠山坡上。殡仪馆背景为社会角色和社会等级制度的出现提供了重要的考古信息。虽然巨大的圆锥形木乃伊束被称为“领主”，但这项研究将检验一种假设，即它们是由勇士和长老领导的强大血缘网络的尊贵祖先，结合了政治和仪式角色。生物人类学家将结合对DNA、身体改造、饮食、健康、生命活动和死因的研究，以了解Paracas Necropolis种群以及与死后精心治疗相关的标准。研究纺织品、陶瓷、食品、工具和武器的专家将描绘和跟踪与每个人相关的墓葬物品中的图案。该墓地保存条件良好，埋葬复杂，为检验统计分析的潜力提供了机会和挑战，以衡量社会关系的程度和男女在不同生命阶段和作为祖传人物的不同角色。预计这些数据将揭示文化多样性的证据，包括帕拉卡斯地区不同社会群体之间的通婚，以及来自安第斯山脉更遥远地区的个人的存在。早在20世纪，像泰洛这样的考古学家就在不再存在或不再能够进行研究的遗址上工作。机构档案和储藏室为检验社会理论和既定的历史叙事提供了重要机会。虽然帕拉卡斯刺绣、造型和彩绘器皿、黄金和羽毛制品往往是古代秘鲁展品中的亮点，但有关生产这些精美文物的社会团体的新信息应该有助于解释安第斯社会创造壮观纺织品、陶瓷和金属制品的能力--以及他们这样做的动机。泰洛的研究利用了多学科的团队合作以及与美国和欧洲的同事们的思想交流。遵循这一传统，这项研究为博物馆、考古学家、生物人类学家和学生之间的进一步国际合作创造了机会，导致在秘鲁举行的一次会议，来自世界各地的研究帕拉卡斯的学者将聚集在一起。

With support from the National Science Foundation, Ann H. Peters will coordinate an international team of archaeologists and biological anthropologists to study the great Paracas Necropolis cemetery as a social community, kinship network, and cultural crossroads of the ancient Andes. This multidisciplinary effort brings together scientists from the United States and Peru to reconstruct and update the famous early 20th century studies of Julio C. Tello. Teams of professionals and students from both countries will work with collections in the American Museum of Natural History, Peru's National Museum of Anthropology, Archaeology and History, and three Peruvian regional museums. The goal is to apply contemporary analytic techniques to the burials of 429 men and women, youths and elders, who died two thousand years ago, were wrapped in elaborately embroidered textiles and other artifacts, and set into a steep desert hillside looking north over the Bay of Paracas.Mortuary contexts contribute vital information to archaeological research on social roles and the emergence of social hierarchy. While the huge conical mummy bundles of Paracas have been called "lords", the research will test a hypothesis that they were the honored ancestors of powerful kinship networks led by warriors and elders, combining political and ritual roles. Biological anthropologists will combine studies of DNA, body modification, diet, health, activities in life and cause of death to understand the Paracas Necropolis population and the criteria associated with elaborate treatment after death. Specialists in the study of textiles, ceramics, foodstuffs, tools and weapons will delineate and track patterns in the grave goods associated with each individual. The excellent conditions of preservation and complexity of many burials at this cemetery provide an opportunity and a challenge to test the potential of statistical analysis to measure degrees of social relationship and the differentiated roles of men and women, both in different phases of life and as ancestral figures. It is expected that the data will reveal evidence of cultural diversity, including intermarriage between different social groups in the Paracas region and the presence of individuals from more distant parts of the Andes.Early 20th century archaeologists like Tello worked on sites that no longer exist or are no longer accessible to research. Institutional archives and storerooms provide important opportunities to test social theory and established historic narratives. While Paracas embroideries, modeled and painted vessels, gold and featherwork are often the highlight of exhibits on ancient Peru, new information on the social communities that produced these fine artifacts should help explain the capacity of Andean societies to create spectacular textiles, ceramics and metalwork - and their motivations for doing so. Tello's research drew on multidisciplinary teamwork and exchange of ideas with his colleagues in the United States and Europe. Following in that tradition, this research builds opportunities for further international collaborations among museums, archaeologists, biological anthropologists and students, leading to a conference in Peru that will bring together scholars working on Paracas from around the world.