Dissertation Research: The Site of Naranjal and the Interaction Spheres of the Late Preclassic to Early Maya Lowlands

在斯科特·费迪克博士的指导下，詹妮弗·马修斯女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她将在位于墨西哥尤卡坦半岛的玛雅遗址纳兰贾尔进行考古研究。根据过去的研究，Naranjal似乎早于古典玛雅时期。目前已确定的主要建筑有21座，大部分建筑采用了巨大的、装饰精美的石头建造，具有“巨石风格”的特点。许多积木是楔形或馅饼形的，长度超过一米。表面石膏的遗迹表明，它们被厚厚的涂层形成了光滑的外部表面，这种风格在外观上与玛雅地区不同地区的其他风格明显不同。马修斯女士的工作将聚焦于这一现象。她将挖掘几个结构，以详细描述施工技术和成品。将收集石膏样本，并提取其中包含的木炭包裹体进行放射性碳测年。最后，将与该区域其他地点的类似结构进行比较。玛雅地区长期以来一直是考古研究的重点，因为它见证了大型复杂社会在恶劣的低地热带环境中的崛起。虽然许多遗址已经被仔细挖掘，但研究人员仍然不能详细了解这些遗址之间的相互关系、区域互动的程度和遗址间的政治一体化。个别单位在多大程度上被组合成区域联盟和更大的职能集团？如果它们存在，它们是在玛雅史前史的哪个阶段发展起来的？马修斯女士在相对知之甚少的玛雅北部地区进行了她的研究，她希望解决这个基本问题。她注意到了似乎是一种独特的地区建筑风格，这似乎反映了这种地区互动领域，她将决定她的猜测是否正确。通过她收集的放射性碳样本，将提供这些结构的绝对日期。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为复杂社会的发展进程提供新的线索。它将有助于开创放射性碳年代测定的新用途，可应用于世界许多地区的考古遗址，最终将有助于培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Scott Fedick, MS Jennifer Mathews will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct archaeological research at the Mayan site of Naranjal which is located in Mexico's Yucatan peninsula. Based on past research it appears that Naranjal predates the Classic Maya period. A total of 21 major structures have been identified, most characterized by a `megalithic style` which employed large well-dressed stones in construction. Many of the blocks are wedge or pie-shaped and over a meter in length. Remains of plaster on facing stones indicate that they were thickly coated to from a smooth exterior surface and this style is distinctly different in appearance from others in different parts of the Mayan area. MS. Mathews' work will focus on this phenomenon. She will excavate several structures in order to describe in detail both construction techniques and finished product. Plaster samples will be collected and the charcoal inclusions they contain will be extracted for radiocarbon dating. Finally comparisons will be made with similar structures in other sites in the region. The Mayan region has long constituted a focus for archaeological study because it witnessed the rise of large complex societies in a hostile lowland tropical environment. While many sites have been carefully excavated, researchers still do not understand in detail how these related to each other, the extent of regional interaction and political integration at the inter site scale. To what extent were individual units grouped together into regional alliances and larger functional groupings? If they exist, at what stage in Mayan prehistory did they develop? MS Mathews conducts her research in the Northern Mayan region where relatively little is known and she wishes to address this basic question. She has noted what appears to be a distinct regional architectural style which appears to reflect such a regional interaction sphere and she will determine whether or not her guess is correct. Through the radiocarbon samples she collects, absolute dates will be provided for these structures. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed new light on the process of the development of complex societies. It will help to pioneer a new use for radiocarbon dating which may be applied to archaeological sites in many parts of the world and finally it will assist in training a promising young scientist.