Expanding Dendroarchaeology into Northern Mexico

将树木考古学扩展到墨西哥北部

• 批准号: 0210436
• 负责人: Ronald Towner
• 金额: $ 10.8万
• 依托单位: University of Arizona
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-01-01 至 2004-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0210436&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Expanding; Dendroarchaeology; into; Northern; Mexico

With support of the National Science foundation, Dr. Ronald Towner and his colleagues will conduct archaeological tree-ring research at prehistoric cliff dwellings in the remote Sierra Madre of northern Sonora, Mexico. These spectacular structures rival the more famous cliff dwellings of US Southwest in size and construction techniques, but have received virtually no attention from scientists. Our team of US and Mexican dendrochronologists and archaeologists will collect tree-ring samples and archaeological data from these enigmatic structures in order to (a) develop an absolutely dated annual tree-ring sequence for northern Mexico and (b) generate baseline archaeological information, such as detailed site maps, for the previously undocumented cliff dwellings. The development of absolutely dated tree-ring sequences in the area will be a major advance toward providing Christian calendar dates for many archaeological sites in northern Mexico. Such a breakthrough will help historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists delineate important aspects of the development and decline of complex societies in Mexico, such as Casas Grandes, and illuminate aspects of the interaction between prehistoric societies in the US Southwest and northern Mexico. By dating the rooms and structures, it will be possible to study the behaviors and social organization of the site inhabitants and, on a larger scale, examine issues such as migration, trade, and the transfer of technologies and ideas between prehistoric groups in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States. In addition, the baseline archaeological data will provide important information relevant to current and future research questions and management decisions by the Mexican government regarding these irreplaceable pieces of their national patrimony. The project will also help Mexican scientists learn tree-ring sample collection techniques, thus enabling them to conduct future research at sites in northern Sonora and Chihuahua. Finally, the project tree-ring samples themselves contain important environmental information. The many tree species used in the cliff dwellings are different than those found in the United states and exhibit different growth patterns. These patterns are a result of somewhat different climatic regimes in northern Mexico and will help in identifying climatic relationships between the US Southwest and northern Mexico. The absolutely dated ring sequences, therefore, will contribute significantly to future studies of past hemispheric climatic variability and models of short- and long-term weather phenomena such as the southwestern monsoons, El Nino, and La Nina.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，罗纳德·汤纳（Ronald Towner）博士及其同事将在墨西哥北索诺拉（North Sonora）偏远的塞拉加德（Sierra Madre）的史前悬崖住宅上进行考古树环研究。这些壮观的结构与我们西南地区的悬崖住宅相媲美，但在大小和建筑技术上，几乎没有受到科学家的关注。我们的团队和墨西哥的Dendrochologists和考古学家将从这些神秘的结构中收集树环样本和考古数据，以便（a）为北部墨西哥北部开发一个绝对日期的年度树环序列，以及（b）生成基线考古学信息，例如先前无概述的杂乱无章的详细地点，例如详细的地点图。该地区绝对过时的树木序列的发展将是为墨西哥北部许多考古遗址提供基督教日历日期的重大进步。这样的突破将帮助历史学家，考古学家和人类学家描述墨西哥复杂社会发展和衰落的重要方面，例如卡萨斯·格兰德斯（Casas Grandes），并阐明了美国西南部和北部墨西哥史前社会之间相互作用的方面。通过与房间和结构约会，可以研究居民的行为和社会组织，并在更大范围内研究诸如移民，贸易以及技术和思想在墨西哥北部和西南部史前群体之间的转移等问题。此外，基线考古数据将提供与墨西哥政府有关当前和未来的研究问题和管理决策有关的重要信息，这些信息对其民族遗产的这些不可替代的作品。该项目还将帮助墨西哥科学家学习树环样品收集技术，从而使他们能够在北索诺拉北部和奇瓦瓦州进行未来的研究。最后，项目环样本本身包含重要的环境信息。悬崖住宅中使用的许多树种不同于美国在美国发现的树种，并且表现出不同的生长模式。这些模式是墨西哥北部气候政权有些不同的结果，将有助于确定美国西南部和墨西哥北部之间的气候关系。因此，绝对日期的环序列将对过去半球气候变异性以及短期和长期天气现象的模型（如西南季风，埃尔·尼诺（El Nino）和拉尼娜（La Nina））产生重大贡献。