Collaborative Research: Demographic catchments, interregional exchange and political complexity

Dr. Charles S.加州大学洛杉矶分校的Stanish博士和亚利桑那州立大学的Kelly J. Knudson博士沿着秘鲁和美国的同事将进行研究，研究复杂社会的发展，并调查仪式宴会事件在复杂社会发展和扩张中的作用。理解复杂群体是如何出现的，是一个持久的人类学问题，无论是在过去还是现在的社会。在21世纪的背景下，它也是相关的，在这个背景下，多个国家社会的边界和存在本身都在不断变化。除了其学术价值外，该项目更广泛的影响包括：1）秘鲁埃尔卡门地区的社会和经济影响，2）对北美和南美教育和研究基础设施的贡献，和3）通过为美国和秘鲁的学生提供教育和培训机会，建立一个更加多样化和包容的科学界。研究小组将探讨宴会仪式在政治发展和扩张中的作用。这项研究将在秘鲁的钦查山谷进行，那里有一个名为帕拉卡斯的复杂政体，大约在公元前800-200年繁荣起来。研究人员将在秘鲁南部挖掘一个考古遗址，这是一个下沉的法院建筑群，可能是为了接待来自遥远地区的游客而建造的。然后，他们将使用化学和地质学技术来确定埋在下沉法院和物体中的人类的起源，如植物和动物遗骸，在那里发现。通过确定沉没的宫廷考古遗址中发现的人类和动物遗骸的地质起源，研究人员将测试一个假设，即过去主要的宴会活动被用来整合不同的社区，并且是社会政治复杂性发展的重要组成部分。

Dr. Charles S. Stanish, of the University of California at Los Angeles, and Dr. Kelly J. Knudson, of Arizona State University, along with colleagues in Peru and the United States, will undertake research to study the development of complex societies and to investigate the role of ritual feasting events in the development and expansion of complex societies. Understanding how complex groups emerge is an enduring anthropological question, both in past and present societies. It is also relevant in a 21st Century context in which boundaries and the very existence of multiple state societies are in flux. In addition to its scholarly merits, the broader impacts of this project include 1) social and economic impacts in the El Carmen region of Peru, 2) contributions to the education and research infrastructure in North and South America, and 3) the creation of a more diverse and inclusive scientific community through educational and training opportunities for students in the United States and Peru.Drs. Stanish and Knudson and their research team will examine the role of ritual feasting events in political development and expansion. The research will be conducted in the Chincha Valley of Peru, where a complex polity called Paracas flourished around 800-200 BCE. The researchers will excavate an archaeological site in southern Peru, a sunken court complex that was likely built to host visitors from distant areas. They will then use techniques from chemistry and geology to determine the origins of the humans buried in the sunken courts and in the objects, such as plant and animal remains, found there. By determining the geologic origins of the human and animal remains found in the sunken court archaeological sites, the researchers will test the hypothesis that major feasting events were used in the past to integrate different communities and were a vital part of the development of sociopolitical complexity.