Mayan Site Excavation

玛雅遗址发掘

• 批准号: 8718654
• 负责人: William Fash
• 金额: $ 4.27万
• 依托单位: Northern Illinois University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1988
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1988-04-01 至 1990-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8718654&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Mayan; Site; Excavation

In this research Dr. Fash will continue excavation of structure 10L-26 located at the site of Copan in Honduras. The site of Copan is a major Mayan center which documents the rise and subsequent decline of the Mayan civilization. Structure 10L-26 is a mound which contained a stairway which led to a temple on the top. It is one of the most important and least understood of all Maya monuments. An inscription carved in stone covered the stairway and the facade of the superstructure and this is the longest known in the aboriginal New World. Unfortunately, over half the stairway text fell and was buried. Even more seriously, the stairway inscription, exposed to the elements is deteriorating at a rapid rate. The goal of this research is to continue excavation of the buried portions of the stairway, assemble the blocks in the right order and then record, translate and interpret the inscription. Archaeologists have come to realize that different Mayan sites did not develop in isolation. Regions fought and traded, regularly with each other and thus each influenced the growth and decline of its neighbors. To understand the history of individual sites, it is necessary to set them in a regional context and in fact it probably makes more sense to think in terms of regions than individual sites. Although they have been only partially translated, it is believed that the inscriptions on the monument record a war and its outcome with a neighboring state. Through translation of the text and then incorporation of this information into a broader archaeological framework, it should be possible to both detail one aspect of intersite relations. This research is important because it will increase our understanding of complex societies such as our own. It will show, in particular how such entities emerge, are maintained and then decline. Since such processes cover not decades but thousands of years, archaeological data are particularly well suited to this purpose.

在这项研究中，Fash博士将继续挖掘位于洪都拉斯Copan遗址的10L-26结构。科潘遗址是一个主要的玛雅中心，记录了玛雅文明的兴起和随后的衰落。10L-26号建筑是一个土丘，上面有一条通往神庙的楼梯。它是所有玛雅纪念碑中最重要也是最不为人所知的。刻在石头上的铭文覆盖了楼梯和上层建筑的正面，这是在土著新大陆已知的最长的铭文。不幸的是，超过一半的楼梯文字掉下来被埋了。更严重的是，楼梯上的铭文，暴露在自然环境中，正在迅速恶化。这项研究的目标是继续挖掘被掩埋的楼梯部分，将石块按正确的顺序组装起来，然后记录、翻译和解释铭文。考古学家逐渐认识到，不同的玛雅遗址并不是孤立地发展起来的。地区之间经常发生战争和贸易，因此每个地区都影响着邻国的兴衰。要了解单个遗址的历史，有必要将它们置于区域背景中，事实上，从区域角度考虑可能比从单个遗址角度考虑更有意义。虽然这些碑文只被部分翻译，但人们相信，碑文记录了一场与邻国的战争及其结果。通过翻译文本，然后将这些信息纳入更广泛的考古框架，应该可以详细说明遗址间关系的一个方面。这项研究很重要，因为它将增加我们对复杂社会的理解，比如我们自己的社会。它将特别展示这些实体是如何出现、维持和衰落的。由于这一过程持续的时间不是几十年，而是数千年，因此考古资料特别适合于这一目的。