Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Examining Formative Craft Economies in the Northern Lake Titicaca Basin, Peru

在查尔斯·S·斯坦尼什博士的监督下，阿比盖尔·R·莱文将对最近在塔拉科遗址进行考古发掘时发现的三种特定类型的精细陶瓷进行岩相学分析和地球化学表征。塔拉科位于秘鲁的喀喀湖盆地北部，盛产于中期晚期(公元前1300-公元前500年)和晚期(公元前500年-公元400年)早期。塔拉科是一个非常重要的地区中心，很可能是普卡拉政体的前身。对出土材料的分析表明，塔拉科在整个形成期间参与了远程交流和仪式活动，但这些活动的性质随着时间的推移而变化。这项实验室研究将进一步调查这些模式，以便在区域范围内考察随着时间的推移交换高地位手工艺品的情况。通过这项研究获得的信息将有助于解释塔拉科是如何在形成中期变得比它的任何近邻更大和更复杂的。这项工作将有助于更好地定义提提卡卡地区多社区政治的出现，并将有助于了解世界范围内日益复杂的知识体系。手工艺经济，包括手工艺品的制造、分配和消费，经常被认为是日益复杂的社会的一个基本方面，并与区域中心的发展密切相关。这些物品的获得和积累都是有抱负的精英的重要声望来源，它们的交换在社会等级制度的阐述中发挥着重要作用。作为一个早期的中心，塔拉科是考察形成中的手工艺经济的一个很好的案例。具体地说，这项研究将获得塔拉科高级住宅中发现的三类非家用陶瓷的矿物学和元素数据。这些结果将与该区域同期地点的类似材料进行比较，以便在区域范围内监测这些货物的生产和流通情况。了解手工业经济的组织以及它是如何随着时间的推移而变化的，是了解经济和政治权力如何集中在提的卡卡北部地区的几个社区中的关键的第一步。这个项目将产生一系列的影响，超出了它对人类学的兴趣。在塔拉科的整个研究期间，莱文一直与秘鲁学者以及当地社区成员密切合作。继续与塔拉科遗址博物馆合作将有助于提高公众对最近的研究和该地区丰富的文化历史的认识。将建立一个基于网络的档案，以便当地和国际学者可以访问研究计划所有阶段的数据。学术期刊上的综合出版物将向科学界传达结果。Levine和她的本科助手还将在各种地质表征技术方面获得宝贵的培训，这些技术将用于获取上述陶瓷样品的成分数据。

Under the supervision of Dr. Charles S. Stanish, Abigail R. Levine will conduct petrographic analysis and geochemical characterization of three specific types of finely made ceramics recovered during recent archaeological excavations at the site of Taraco. Taraco, located in northern Lake Titicaca Basin of Peru, flourished during the late Middle (1300-500 BC) and early Upper (500 BC-AD 400) Formative Periods. Taraco was a very important regional center, and was a likely predecessor to the Pukara polity. Analysis of excavated materials has indicated that Taraco participated in long-distance exchange and ceremonial activities throughout the Formative Period, but that the nature of these activities varied over time. This laboratory research will further investigate these patterns in order to examine the exchange of high-status craft goods over time on a regional scale. The information obtained through this research will help to explain how Taraco became larger and more complex than any of its immediate neighbors during the Middle Formative Period. This work will help to better define the emergence of multi-community polities in the Titicaca area and will contribute to the body of knowledge of increasing complexity worldwide.The craft economy, which consists of the manufacture, distribution, and consumption of crafted goods, is often cited as a fundamental aspect of increasing social complexity, and has been closely linked to the development of regional centers. Both the acquisition and accumulation of such objects represent an important source of prestige for aspiring elites, and their exchange plays an important role in the elaboration of social hierarchies. As an early center, Taraco is an excellent case for examining the Formative craft economy. Specifically, this research will obtain mineralogical and elemental data for three classes of non-domestic ceramics recovered from Taraco's high-status residences. These results will be compared with analogous materials from contemporaneous sites in the region order to monitor the production and circulation of these goods over time on a regional scale. Understanding the organization of the craft economy, and how it changed over time, is a critical first step towards understanding how economic and political power became centralized among a few communities in the northern Titicaca region. This project will have a series of impacts beyond its interest to the anthropological community. Throughout the duration of her research at Taraco, Levine has worked closely with both Peruvian scholars as well as local community members. Continued collaboration with the Taraco site museum will help to enhance public awareness of recent research and of the region's rich cultural history. A web-based archive will be created so that local and international scholars may access data from all stages of the research program. Synthetic publications in scholarly journals will communicate results to the scientific community. Levine and her undergraduate assistants will also gain valuable training in various geological characterization techniques, which will be used to obtain compositional data for the sample of ceramics described above.