Dissertation Research: An Inter-Capital Settlement Perspective on Political Control and Organization in the Northern Maya Lowlands

在Olivier de Montmollin博士的指导下，J. Gregory Smith先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将在位于墨西哥北北方地区的伊奇穆尔玛雅遗址进行考古发掘和调查。虽然足够大，包括一个封闭的广场，周围环绕着拱形建筑和一个近18米高的巨大金字塔，但基于大小，Ichmul是一个“小”中心。它位于两个较大的政治首都奇琴伊察和埃克巴拉姆之间，特别有趣，因为在其建筑，陶瓷组合和石头图像中，它显示了与两者的关系。本研究的目的是探讨Ichmul行使的独立程度及其与邻居互动的性质。史密斯先生描绘了三种可能的关系：自主，间接控制和直接控制;调查和挖掘将进行，希望允许识别正确的模式。该项目包括五个目标：绘制与市政建筑相邻的国内定居点地图;在广泛的定居点环境中进行测试挖掘;检查奇琴伊察和埃克巴拉姆之间的横断面区域中以前定位的遗址，以绘制地图和表面收集陶瓷和其他文化材料;在这些横断面遗址的样本中进行测试挖掘;在样带中对非现场清理的田地进行测绘和测试，以更好地了解这些农村荒地。 考古学家认识到，个别玛雅遗址被整合到更大的政治网络中，通过发现每个遗址的范围并追踪它们如何随着时间的推移而变化，可以理解这种政治组织的基本原则。虽然很多工作都集中在主要的中心，相对较少的人知道农村的荒地，以及中心如何施加-或没有施加-控制这些地区。史密斯先生的研究将直接解决这个重要问题。它还将协助培养一名有前途的青年科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Olivier de Montmollin, Mr. J. Gregory Smith will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct archaeological excavation and survey at the Mayan site of Ichmul which is located in the northern Peten region of Mexico. While large enough to include a closed plaza surrounded by vaulted architecture and a substantial pyramid nearly 18 meters in height, based on size, Ichmul is a `minor` center. It lies between two larger political capitals, Chichen Itza and Ek Balam and is particularly interesting because, in its architecture, ceramic assemblages and stone iconography it shows relations to both. The goal of the research is to examine the degree of independence which Ichmul exercised and the nature of its interactions with its neighbors. Mr. Smith delineates three possible relationships: autonomy, indirect control and direct control; the survey and excavation to be conducted will, hopefully, permit identification of the correct model. The project includes five goals: mapping of the domestic settlement adjacent to the civic architecture; test excavations in a wide-range of settlement contexts; examination of previously located sites in the transect area between Chichen Itza and Ek Balam to map and surface collect ceramics and other cultural materials; test excavations at a sample of these transect sites; mapping and test-pitting a sample of non-site cleared fields in the transect to better understand these rural hinterlands. Archaeologists recognize that individual Mayan sites were integrated into larger political networks and that by discovering the extent of each and tracing how they changed over time it is possible to understand the principles which underlie such political organization. While much work has focused on major centers, relatively little is known about rural hinterlands and how centers exerted - or did not exert - control over these regions. Mr. Smith's research will directly address this important question. It will also assist in training a promising young scientist.