Doctoral Dissertation: The Technological Styles of Late Postclassic Slipped Pottery Groups in the Peten Lakes Region

博士论文：佩滕湖地区后古典晚期陶器群的技术风格

• 批准号: 9816325
• 负责人: Prudence Rice
• 金额: $ 1.16万
• 依托单位: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-01-15 至 1999-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9816325&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Technological; Styles; Late

Under the direction of Dr. Prudence Rice, MS Leslie Cecil will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct both stylistic and technological analysis on a large series of potsherds from Postclassic sites in the Peten region of Guatemala. The Peten was inhabited by Mayan speaking peoples and the archaeology of the Classic period - the height of Mayan development in the region - is well known. The early Spanish explorers in the region encountered the descendents of these groups and the written descriptions they recorded have been extensively analyzed. However it is difficult to match this written record with individual Classic period Mayan groups. During the intervening Postclassic period, the highly centralized form of social organization which resulted in the construction of impressive temples and monuments was transformed and populations were redistributed into smaller more dispersed and independent units. Archaeologists wish to understand why and how this process occurred and thus, in recent years have increasingly focused on the Postclassic period. They have learned that it is difficult to match individual sites to places and groups mentioned in the Spanish descriptions and MS. Cecil's research is directed towards this goal.Ceramics can be fabricated in a variety of ways and the potential variation in the form and decoration on the finished products are practically endless. Pottery is produced and used in a social context and its final form reflects unspoken group rules as do other aspects of culture. Through both stylistic and technological analysis of potsherds from a number of Postclassic Peten sites, MS Cecil will determine commonalties and differences among sites, define larger social units and then hopefully link these to ethnohistorically described groups. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide insight into what is commonly regarded as the "collapse" of Mayan society. It will help to refine an analytic technique of potentially wide archaeological applicability and assist in training a promising young scientist.

在Prudence Rice博士的指导下，Leslie塞西尔女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她将对危地马拉佩滕地区后古典遗址的大量陶片进行风格和技术分析。贝登居住着说玛雅语的民族，古典时期的考古学-玛雅在该地区发展的高峰-是众所周知的。早期的西班牙探险家在该地区遇到了这些群体的后裔，他们记录的书面描述已被广泛分析。然而，很难将这一书面记录与古典时期玛雅群体的个人相匹配。在后古典时期，高度集中的社会组织形式发生了变化，导致了令人印象深刻的寺庙和纪念碑的建设，人口被重新分配到更小的更分散和独立的单位。考古学家希望了解这一过程为什么以及如何发生，因此近年来越来越多地关注后古典时期。他们了解到，很难将个别遗址与西班牙文描述中提到的地点和群体相匹配，塞西尔女士的研究正是针对这一目标。陶瓷可以用各种方式制造，成品的形式和装饰的潜在变化几乎是无穷无尽的。陶器是在社会环境中生产和使用的，它的最终形式反映了潜规则，就像文化的其他方面一样。通过对一些后经典贝登遗址的陶器碎片进行风格和技术分析，塞西尔女士将确定遗址之间的共性和差异，定义更大的社会单位，然后将这些与民族历史描述的群体联系起来。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将提供对通常被认为是玛雅社会“崩溃”的深入了解。它将有助于完善一种可能广泛适用于考古学的分析技术，并有助于培养一名有前途的年轻科学家。