RUI: Archaeological Research in the Northern Valley of Mexico

在国家科学基金会的支持下，伊丽莎白·布伦菲尔博士将在墨西哥北部盆地的萨尔托坎地区进行考古挖掘和勘探。萨尔托坎是一个古老的政治中心，位于现代墨西哥城以北约35公里处。1987年，Brumfiel博士对该地区进行了广泛的表面调查，这项研究为当前的项目提供了基线。她将挖掘大约20个2x2米的试验坑，另外还有两个深坑。利用这些数据，她将实现几个目标。首先，由于这一北部盆地地区不为人所知，她将开发一份陶瓷年代学，为个别地表遗址的分配提供基础。其次，她将研究地表和地下产状之间的关系，这将使研究人员能够确定表面材料在密封环境中反映下面的情况有多好。这项研究之所以令人感兴趣，有几个原因。在墨西哥盆地进行了许多大规模的地面调查，并根据这些结果尝试了人口结构重建。然而，目前还不清楚以这种方式使用表面材料的有效性，布卢姆菲尔博士的工作将为这种评估提供基础。鉴于盆地的快速城市化和随之而来的考古遗址的破坏，未来的研究人员将不得不越来越多地依赖地表测量数据，在这种情况下，布卢姆菲尔博士的研究具有重要意义。从民族历史文献中也知道，萨尔托坎在墨西哥晚期的理解能力中发挥了关键作用，但该地区尚未进行系统的考古研究。这正是布伦菲尔博士打算做的事情。该项目也很重要，因为它将支持本科院校的研究，将直接让学生参与工作，因此，有望鼓励他们和他们的同学追求科学事业。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Elizabeth Brumfiel will conduct archaeological excavation and exploration in the Xaltocan region of the northern basin of Mexico. Xaltocan was an ancient political center located ca. 35 kilometers north of modern Mexico City. In 1987, Dr. Brumfiel conducted extensive surface survey of the area and that research provides the baseline for the current project. She will excavate ca. 20 2x2 meter test pits, in addition to two deep excavations. Using these data she will pursue several goals. First, since this Northern Basin region is not well known, she will develop a ceramic chronology which will provide a basis for the assignment of individual surface sites. Secondly, she will examine the relationship between surface and subsurface occurrences, and this will allow researchers to determine how well surface materials reflect what lies below in sealed contexts. This research is of interest for several reasons. Many large surface surveys have been conducted in the Basin of Mexico and based on these results, demographic reconstructions attempted. However, it is unclear how valid it is to use surface materials in this way, and Dr. Brumfiel's work will provide the basis for such an assessment. Given rapid urbanization in the Basin and the consequent destruction of archaeological sites, future researchers will have to rely increasingly on surface survey data, and in this context Dr. Brumfiel's research assumes great importance. It is also known from ethnohistorical literature that Xaltocan played a critical role in the late prehispanic Mexico, yet the area has not been studied in an archaeologically systematic fashion. This is just what Dr. Brumfiel proposes to do. The project is also important because it will support research at an undergraduate institution, will directly involve students in the work, and, therefore, hopefully encourage them and their classmates to pursue scientific careers.