Archaeological Reconnaissance at Chau Hiix: Agricultural, Settlement and Political Economy

Chau Hiix 考古勘察：农业、定居点和政治经济

• 批准号: 9507204
• 负责人: K. Anne Pyburn
• 金额: $ 16.19万
• 依托单位: Indiana University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 1995
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1995-07-15 至 1999-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9507204&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Archaeological; Reconnaissance; Chau; Hiix; Agricultural

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Anne Pyburn will conduct three seasons of archaeological fieldwork at the Mayan site of Chau Hiix located in Belize. The site was discovered in 1990 and is of special interest because it is located between the well documented sites of Lamanai and Altun Ha, themselves only 40 km apart. Chau Hiix contains about 25 large structures located on and around its central platform, the largest of which is 20 meters in height. The outlying settlement area contains a continuous scatter of platform groups and small mounds interrupted in at least 4 places by clusters of larger buildings on platforms. Dr. Pyburn and her collaborators will map the distribution of ancient features in and around Chau Hiix during three seasons combining mapping and test excavation of the settlement area with excavation in the central precinct. The methodology is designed to investigate: 1. Chau Hiix's sustaining area and satellite populations; 2. agricultural features; 3. late period settlement and civic center. Settlement data will be collected by mapping, testpitting, and surface collection. A contour map of the settlement will be constructed. and a sample of 10 to 20% of the structures in the settlement area will be excavated. Throughout the project excavators will recover pollen samples, human and non-human bone, carbon, soil, flotation samples and lithic debitage. The ecofacts will permit reconstruction of the prehistoric environment and provide insight into Mayan use of it. Archaeologists have focused on the prehistory of the Mayan peoples because these groups, spread over large portions of lowland tropical Middle America, created a civilization which supported and incorporated large numbers of individuals in regions which are today inhabited only by small numbers of people. Evidence indicates that following a high point during the Classic period, levels of population density and social integration declined rapidly and that writing ceased and no new monumental architecture was constructed. Chau Hiix was occupied during both the Mayan climax and following decline and through careful examination, Dr. Pyburn will gain insight into both aspects of this process. She hypothesizes that Mayan farmers were organized into smallholder groups which were effective productive units and that state interference with them provided the impetus for the disintegration of Mayan society. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will shed new light into human - environment interaction in tropical lowland regions and into the rise and decline of complex societies.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，安妮·派伯恩博士将在位于伯利兹的Chau Hiix玛雅遗址进行三个季节的考古实地考察。该遗址于1990年被发现，具有特殊的意义，因为它位于有文献记载的Lamanai和Altun Ha遗址之间，两者相距仅40公里。Chau Hiix包含大约25个位于其中央平台上和周围的大型结构，其中最大的高20米。外围定居区包含一个连续分散的平台群和小土丘，至少有4个地方被平台上的大型建筑群打断。Pyburn博士和她的合作者将在三个季节中绘制Chau Hiix及其周围地区的古代特征分布图，将定居区的测绘和测试挖掘与中心区的挖掘相结合。该方法的目的是调查：1。2.周氏的维持面积和卫星种群;农业特色; 3.晚期定居点和城市中心。沉降数据将通过测绘、探坑和地表采集来收集。将绘制定居点的等高线图。在沉降区的建筑物中，将有10%至20%的样本被挖掘。在整个项目中，挖掘机将回收花粉样本、人类和非人类骨骼、碳、土壤、浮选样本和岩屑。这些生态事实将允许重建史前环境，并深入了解玛雅人对史前环境的利用。考古学家将重点放在玛雅人的史前史上，因为这些群体分布在中美洲热带低地的大部分地区，创造了一种文明，在今天只有少数人居住的地区支持和融合了大量个人。有证据表明，在古典时期的一个高峰之后，人口密度和社会融合水平迅速下降，文字停止，没有新的纪念性建筑被建造。Chau Hiix在玛雅高潮和衰落期间都被占领，通过仔细的检查，Pyburn博士将深入了解这一过程的两个方面。她推测，玛雅农民被组织成小农群体，这是有效的生产单位，国家对他们的干预为玛雅社会的解体提供了动力。 这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据。它将为热带低地地区的人类与环境的相互作用以及复杂社会的兴起和衰落提供新的视角。