Collaborative Research: Preceramic Chronology in the Norte Chico Region of Peru

合作研究：秘鲁北奇科地区的陶瓷前年代学

• 批准号: 0211014
• 负责人: Jonathan Haas
• 金额: $ 7.33万
• 依托单位: Field Museum of Natural History
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2002
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2002-06-01 至 2005-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0211014&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Preceramic; Chronology; Norte

The present project represents the first phase of a planned long-term investigation into the very beginnings of civilization in the Western Hemisphere. In an area on the north-central coast of Peru, known as the "Norte Chico" ("Little North") a remarkable culture arose in the 3rd millennium B.C. In three small adjoining valleys, Supe, Pativilca and Fortaleza, a complex of more than 20 major archaeological ruins have been recently discovered, all dating roughly to the time between 3000 and 1800 B.C. With enormous platform mounds, round ceremonial plazas and extensive areas of socially stratified residences, these sites appear to be the earliest florescence of centralized, hierarchical, complex societies anywhere in the Americas. The research on this project will explore sites in two of the valleys, Fortaleza and Pativilca with two primary goals: 1. Determine the specific chronology of occupation and monument construction at each of the major sites. All of the sites identified for testing share one significant characteristic: they all lack ceramics. While there are interesting implications to the absence of ceramics in terms of technology, it has more immediate importance in terms of dating these sites. Since ceramics were introduced to Peru in the century between 1900 and 1800 B.C., sites without ceramics can be inferred to generally date prior to 1900 B.C. While this provides a useful tool in the basic identification of the early sites, it is insufficient to make assessments about whether the sites were occupied all at the same time or sequentially over the span of a thousand years. Precise dates are needed to determine whether the monumental platform mounds were constructed in a single massive building event or numerous smaller events over a long period of time. In order to answer these central questions about chronology a specific effort will be made to obtain materials for Carbon 14 dating from different parts of each site and from within the monuments.2. A second subsidiary goal is to obtain samples of artifacts and tools as well as plant and animal remains in order to begin reconstructing the economy, technology and lifeways of the people who belonged to this precocious early civilization. In the absence of ceramics, the analysis of stone tools assumes central importance. Yet, to date, there has been no work done on the myriad stone tools that litter the surface of these sites - scrapers, blades, knives, drills, pounders, grinders, hoes and picks. An attempt will also be made to reconstruct diet. While all later civilizations in the Americas had staple diets based largely on maize (corn), this New World crop was not introduced in Peru until well after all the Norte Chico sites were abandoned. Inhabitants appear to have survived on a wide mix of fruits and vegetables with a heavy dose of anchovies, sardines and shellfish thrown in for protein. Because there is excellent preservation on the Peruvian coastal desert, plant and animal remains are found in abundance in the trash midden areas. To obtain collections of stone tools and the plant and animal remains test pits test pits will be excavated in different parts of each site associated with various kinds of residential architecture and reflecting the full extent of the site area. The ultimate goal of the project is to provide an archaeological window into the past to examine the very beginnings of an early culture that ultimately gave rise to the Inca and their predecessors in Peru.

目前的项目代表了对西半球文明起源的长期计划调查的第一阶段。 在秘鲁中北部海岸的一个地区，被称为“Norte Chico”（“小北”）的地区，在公元前三千年兴起了一种非凡的文化。最近，在苏佩 (Supe)、帕蒂维尔卡 (Pativilca) 和福塔莱萨 (Fortaleza) 这三个毗邻的小山谷中，最近发现了由 20 多个主要考古遗址组成的建筑群，所有遗址的年代大致可追溯到公元前 3000 年至 1800 年之间。 这些遗址拥有巨大的平台土丘、圆形仪式广场和大面积的社会分层住宅区，似乎是美洲任何地方最早出现的集中化、等级化、复杂的社会。 该项目的研究将探索福塔雷萨和帕蒂维尔卡这两个山谷的遗址，有两个主要目标： 1. 确定每个主要遗址的占领和纪念碑建设的具体年代。 所有确定进行测试的地点都有一个显着特征：它们都缺乏陶瓷。 虽然陶瓷的缺失在技术方面具有有趣的意义，但在确定这些遗址的年代方面具有更直接的重要性。 由于陶瓷是在公元前 1900 年至 1800 年之间传入秘鲁的，因此可以推断，没有陶瓷的遗址通常可以追溯到公元前 1900 年之前。 虽然这为基本识别早期遗址提供了一个有用的工具，但不足以评估这些遗址是否在同一时间或在一千年的跨度内相继被占据。需要精确的日期来确定这些巨大的平台土墩是在一次大型建筑活动中建造的，还是在很长一段时间内的多次小型活动中建造的。 为了回答这些关于年代学的核心问题，我们将做出具体努力，从每个遗址的不同部分和纪念碑内获取碳 14 的材料。2。第二个附属目标是获取文物和工具以及动植物遗骸的样本，以便开始重建属于这个早熟的早期文明的人们的经济、技术和生活方式。 在没有陶瓷的情况下，石器的分析就显得至关重要。 然而，迄今为止，还没有对散布在这些遗址表面的无数石器——刮刀、刀片、刀、钻头、捣碎器、研磨机、锄头和镐——进行任何研究。还将尝试重建饮食。虽然美洲所有后来的文明都以玉米为主食，但这种新世界作物直到所有北奇科遗址都被废弃之后才被引入秘鲁。 居民似乎靠吃各种各样的水果和蔬菜以及大量的凤尾鱼、沙丁鱼和贝类来获取蛋白质而生存。 由于秘鲁沿海沙漠保存完好，在垃圾堆地区发现了大量动植物遗骸。 为了收集石器和动植物遗骸，测试坑将在每个场地的不同部分挖掘，这些测试坑与各种住宅建筑相关，并反映场地面积的全部范围。该项目的最终目标是提供一个了解过去的考古窗口，以研究最终产生印加人和他们在秘鲁的前辈的早期文化的起源。