Dissertation Research: Prehispanic Maya Community Organization and Settlement Hierarchy in the Chichen Itza Area

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Under the direction of Dr. Alan Kolata, Ms. Patricia Anderson will conduct archaeological research to collect data for her doctoral dissertation. Ms. Anderson will carry out both survey and excavation at the Mayan site of Yula which dates from the classic/post-classic period and is located near the major ceremonial center of Chichen Itza in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. Because of extensive work which has been done at Chichen Itza, it should be possible to place Yula into a broader regional context. With a team of assistants, Ms. Anderson will clear site overgrowth and then construct a site map. Site boundaries will be determined and microenvironmental and hydrological resources noted. Buildings and other cultural remains will be plotted and non-ceramic objects collected. Test excavations will then be placed in rich midden areas to retrieve pottery and other material remains. On this basis it should be possible to determine the size of the community and the range of activities conducted there. Although much archaeological research has been conducted in the Yucatan peninsula, the focus has been almost exclusively on "elite sites" with impressive temples and public buildings. What makes this project important is its examination of a small non- elite settlement. This should aid in producing a more balanced picture of Mayan society. It should also increase archaeological understanding of how communities of different sizes interacted and the over-arching political and economic system which linked them. This research is important for several reasons. First, it will assist in the training of an extremely promising young scientist. Secondly, it will provide new insight into how complex societies develop. The information on economic interactions between larger and smaller agrarian based entities and how these change over time may help us to understand processes of development in the Third World.