Dissertation Research: Subsistence Economy and Chiefdom Emergence in the Muisca Area

论文研究：穆伊斯卡地区的自给经济和酋长统治的出现

• 批准号: 1241358
• 负责人: Robert Drennan
• 金额: $ 2.47万
• 依托单位: University of Pittsburgh
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2014-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1241358&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Subsistence; Economy; Chiefdom

Muisca societies located in the central mountains of Colombia impressed early Spanish arrivals in the sixteenth century with the power and level of respect commanded by their chiefs and the quality and variety of the crafts their artisans produced, sometimes from raw materials obtained from other regions. Early Spanish accounts especially emphasize the "advanced" economic development of Muisca societies, with what seemed to European eyes especially well organized and flourishing trade and dense populations that were well provisioned despite the fairly cold, wet, high-elevation zone they inhabited. As several regional chiefdoms in northern South America have been studied archaeologically, it has often turned out that their subsistence and craft economies do not involve very high degrees of trade, tribute, or household interdependence. This emerging pattern contrasts with sixteenth-century descriptions of the Muisca. The archaeological evidence of Muisca societies has provided at best only incomplete confirmation of the descriptions in historical sources, particularly in regard to the development of local, regional, and supra-regional patterns of economic interdependence and the importance of such an economy to the emergence of chiefly power.One aspect of economic interdependence specifically discussed in the historical sources, however, has been subject to very little archaeological investigation. This is the agricultural exploitation of warmer low-elevation zones located quite close to some of the principal Muisca chiefly centers. In these areas higher temperatures led to greater productivity as well as protection from the frosts that were a constant risk to agriculture in the Muisca heartland. There are detailed sixteenth-century historical accounts of the importance of these resources for sustaining the very high population densities of the Muisca heartland, high densities fully attested to by both historical and archaeological information.Under the supervision of Dr. Robert D. Drennan, Pedro Argüello will carry out a systematic regional survey of some 100 sq km in the Tena region on the slopes leading down from the western edge of the Muisca heartland toward the valley of the Magdalena River. The Tena region, which ranges from 2200 m above sea level down to about 700 m, is specifically mentioned in sixteenth-century documents as a major source of agricultural produce for the Bogotá chiefdom. If its agricultural resources were increasingly intensively exploited as Muisca chiefdoms emerged and developed and population levels in the high-elevation Muisca heartland grew, this will be reflected in changing patterns of distribution of human occupation in the Tena region. Such a result would provide stronger support for the historical accounts of one of the economic foundations of Muisca chiefly power than has been forthcoming from archaeological investigations of other aspects of Muisca economy. It would help to explain the relatively late but extremely rapid development of the Muisca chiefdoms and to position these societies properly in comparative analysis of the pathways toward the consolidation of political power in general.This project will also have broader impacts. First, it will make a vital contribution to the training of the doctoral candidate as well as to undergraduate students from several Colombian universities who will take part. Second it will contribute to the public appreciation of science through presentations to local communities as well as provide information that will enhance local authorities' efforts to protect their cultural heritage.

位于哥伦比亚中部山脉的Muisca社会在16世纪的西班牙早期到来印象深刻，其酋长的力量和尊重水平以及其工匠生产的手工艺品的质量和多样性，有时是从其他地区获得的原材料。西班牙早期的说法特别强调了Muisca社会的“先进”经济发展，尽管欧洲眼中似乎有良好的组织和蓬勃发展的贸易和密集的人口，尽管他们居住了相当冷，潮湿，潮湿，高海拔地区。由于南美北部的几个区域酋长都已经在考古学上进行了研究，因此经常证明，他们的生活和手工艺经济不涉及很高的贸易，致敬或家庭相互依存。这种新兴模式与十六世纪的Muisca描述形成鲜明对比。 Muisca社会的考古证据充其量只提供了对历史来源中描述的不完整确认，尤其是关于经济相互依存关系的地方，区域和超级区域的发展模式，以及这种经济对特权的出现的重要性。然而，经济相互依存的一个方面是针对历史来源的一个方面，这些方面是在历史来源的一项方面进行了讨论，这些方面的研究很少有所进行。这是对较温暖的低海拔区域的农业开采，该地区位于一些主要的Muisca主要中心。在这些地区，较高的温度导致了更高的生产率，并免受了穆斯卡心脏地带农业持续风险的起点的保护。有详细的十六世纪历史记录，说明了这些资源对维持Muisca心脏地带非常高的人口密度非常高的重要性，在历史和档案信息的情况下完全证明了高密度，在Robert D. Drennan博士的监督下，PedroAgüello的监督将对MU ISC在Tena sq tena tena的系统进行系统调查，从马格达莱纳河。 Tena地区的海平面为2200 m至约700 m，在16世纪的文件中特别提到了波哥大酋长国农业生产的主要来源。如果随着Muisca酋长国的出现和发展以及高海拔Muisca Heartland的人口水平的增长，其农业资源越来越多地探索，这将反映在Tena地区人类发生分布的变化模式中。这样的结果将为Muisca的经济基础之一的历史记录提供大力支持，而不是对Muisca经济其他方面的存档学调查来进行的。这将有助于解释Muisca酋长国的相对晚期但非常快速的发展，并在对一般政治权力的巩固途径的比较分析中正确地定位这些社会。该项目还将产生更广泛的影响。首先，它将为培训博士候选人以及来自哥伦比亚几所大学的本科生的培训做出重要贡献。其次，它将通过向当地社区的演讲进行公众对科学的欣赏，并提供信息，以增强地方当局保护其文化遗产的努力。