Archaeological Reconnaissance at Chau Hiix

Chau Hiix 考古勘察

• 批准号: 9223103
• 负责人: K. Anne Pyburn
• 金额: $ 6.65万
• 依托单位: Indiana University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1993
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1993-04-01 至 1995-09-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9223103&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Archaeological; Reconnaissance; Chau; Hiix

With National Science Foundation support Dr. Anne Pyburn and her collaborators will conduct one season of archaeological research at the site of Chau Hiix. This site, located in the lowlands of Belize, was only brought to archaeological attention in 1990 and is extremely unusual because villagers who live in the region have protected it from looting. Preliminary research suggests that Chau Hiix served as a major regional center because it contains a number of mounds and associated courtyards. In this first season of work Dr. Pyburn and her colleagues will map and survey the site. They will conduct limited excavations on visible structures and also carry out a program of coring to determine whether less obvious archaeological features are also present. On this basis they should be able to provide more exact dates for the span of occupation and obtain a better idea of its internal organization. These data will provide the basis to design a second, more extensive project. The Maya constitute a central focus of archaeological interest because they developed a civilization with monumental architecture, writing and large population concentrations in a difficult lowland tropical environment. Just as mysteriously as it arose, the Maya civilization then declined as large centers were abandoned and large scale construction ceased. Dr. Pyburn wishes to gain insight into this process. In the last decade Belize has been the scene of much archaeological research and a number of Mayan sites have been studied. It is unclear to what extent each functioned as an independent center and it is not known whether sites were grouped into larger functional units. Through excavation of Chau Hiix and comparison with other sites known from the area Dr. Pyburn wishes to examine this question. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide insight into how complex societies arise, are maintained and decline. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and assist in the training of undergraduate students.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，安妮·派本博士和她的合作者将在周希伊克斯遗址进行一季的考古研究。这处遗址位于伯利兹的低地，直到1990年才引起考古学的注意，非常不寻常，因为生活在该地区的村民保护它不被抢劫。初步研究表明，洲希伊克斯是一个主要的区域中心，因为它包含一些土丘和相关的庭院。在第一季的工作中，皮伯恩博士和她的同事们将绘制地图并勘测现场。他们将对可见建筑进行有限的挖掘，并进行取芯计划，以确定是否也存在不太明显的考古特征。在此基础上，他们应该能够提供更准确的占领期间的日期，并更好地了解其内部组织。这些数据将为设计第二个更广泛的项目提供基础。玛雅人构成了考古兴趣的中心焦点，因为他们在困难的低地热带环境中发展了具有纪念性建筑、文字和大量人口集中的文明。就像它的兴起一样神秘，玛雅文明随后随着大型中心被废弃和大规模建设停止而衰落。皮伯恩博士希望深入了解这一过程。在过去的十年里，伯利兹进行了大量的考古研究，并对一些玛雅遗址进行了研究。目前还不清楚每个站点在多大程度上作为一个独立的中心发挥作用，也不知道这些站点是否被划分为更大的功能单元。通过对洲希伊克斯遗址的挖掘，并与该地区已知的其他遗址进行比较，皮伯恩博士希望研究这个问题。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将提供对复杂社会如何产生、维持和衰落的洞察。它将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的数据，并有助于本科生的培训。