Dissertation Research: Changing Patterns of Community Structure and Organization: The End of the Classic Period at San Lorenzo, Cayo District, Belize

论文研究：社区结构和组织模式的变化：伯利兹卡约区圣洛伦索古典时期的结束

• 批准号: 9530949
• 负责人: Robert Sharer
• 金额: $ 1.18万
• 依托单位: University of Pennsylvania
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1996
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1996-02-01 至 1997-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9530949&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Changing; Patterns; Community

Under the direction of Dr. Robert Sharer, Mr. Jason Yaeger will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct an archaeological study of San Lorenzo, a prehistoric Mayan site located in Belize. The site itself is interesting because it is intermediate in size between the large ritual centers for which the Mayans are so well known and the small isolated mounds which are common across the Mayan range. San Lorenzo is, in Mayan terms, a small community and its inhabitants probably lived a life typical of most people at that time. Mr. Yaeger and his colleagues have conducted prior excavation at the site and with NSF support this work will be expanded to provide a representative sample of dwellings. Areas within and adjacent to structures will be cleared and additional test pits excavated. Abundant stone tools and ceramics as well as floral and faunal remains will be collected. On this basis it will be possible to reconstruct interrelationships among families as well as subsistence practices. The Mayan civilization has long interested archaeologists not only because of the impressive stone monuments which were constructed but also because of the organizational and subsistence skills required to sustain large populations in tropical environments which are sparsely populated today. While excavations at ceremonial mounds have shed considerable light on ritual organization and elite behaviors much less is known about how smaller communities which constituted the backbone of Mayan society were organized. Mr. Yaeger's research will provide relevant information. Mr. Yaeger notes that other researchers have studied present-day Mayan villages and described a particular form of social organization. Through his excavations he will test whether this same model applied to the past. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will shed new light on how the Mayan civilization was organized and it will assist in the training of a promising young scientist.

在Robert Sharer博士的指导下，Jason Yaeger先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将对位于伯利兹的史前玛雅遗址圣洛伦索进行考古研究。该遗址本身很有趣，因为它的大小介于玛雅人众所周知的大型仪式中心和玛雅山脉中常见的小型孤立土丘之间。圣洛伦索，在玛雅语中，是一个小社区，它的居民可能过着当时大多数人的典型生活。Yaeger先生和他的同事们已经在现场进行了事先的挖掘，在NSF的支持下，这项工作将扩大到提供一个有代表性的住宅样本。将清理结构内和结构附近的区域，并挖掘额外的测试坑。丰富的石器和陶瓷以及动植物遗骸将被收集。在此基础上，将有可能重建家庭之间的相互关系以及维持生计的做法。 玛雅文明长期以来一直引起考古学家的兴趣，不仅因为建造的令人印象深刻的石碑，而且还因为在今天人口稀少的热带环境中维持大量人口所需的组织和生存技能。虽然在仪式土丘的发掘已经揭示了仪式组织和精英行为的相当多的光，但很少有人知道构成玛雅社会支柱的较小社区是如何组织的。耶格先生的研究将提供相关信息。耶格尔先生指出，其他研究人员研究了当今的玛雅村庄，并描述了一种特殊的社会组织形式。通过他的挖掘，他将测试是否同样的模式适用于过去。 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。它将揭示玛雅文明是如何组织起来的，并将有助于培养一名有前途的年轻科学家。