Archaeological Survey in the Central Mixteca Alta, Mexico

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下。Stephen Kowalewski， Andrew Balkansky和他们的合作者将在墨西哥瓦哈卡州的Mixteca Alta高地对一个800平方公里的多山地区进行考古调查。先前的研究表明，至少从公元前1300年开始，该地区就一直被占领，因此记录了墨西哥中部各州的崛起及其在后古典时期的扩张。虽然今天该地区受到侵蚀，贫穷，但西班牙征服者在16世纪将米斯特卡阿尔塔描述为人口众多，富裕和繁荣的土地。瓦哈卡在整个中美洲史前时期都是一个焦点地区。阿尔班山是史前的一个主要国家，在公元1000年左右发展成为一个米斯特克王国，其影响力远远超出了瓦哈卡。然而，与此同时，在这一区域内存在着较小的看似半独立的权力中心，考古学家希望了解中央集权与较小的部分自治区域之间的复杂关系和不断变化的平衡。研究人员已经意识到，为了深入了解技术简单的史前国家和帝国的组织，有必要采用非常广泛的区域方法，并在这个更广泛的框架内设置单个主要遗址。Kowalewski博士的研究就是为了实现这一目标。该小组将对阿奇特拉地区100%的可居住区域进行系统的足部调查。两人小组将系统地走过所有山脊顶部和较大的溪流底部。所有考古材料和特征，如建筑和梯田将被记录和绘制。主要由陶瓷组成的表面材料将被收集起来。由于设计风格随着时间的推移而变化，陶器提供了一个敏感的时间指示器，通过它的使用，可以绘制出随着时间变化的地点、人口密度和分布。然后，这些数据将在环境上下文中进行解释。Achiutla的研究将填补瓦哈卡州一个重要的调查空白。当这个项目完成后，考古学家将获得大约140公里的连续区域的信息，这将为在大区域范围内详细研究人类行为提供一个独特的机会。这项工作有可能为了解中美洲国家和帝国如何发展和维持提供独特的见解。

With National Science Foundation support Drs. Stephen Kowalewski, Andrew Balkansky and their collaborators will conduct an archaeological survey of an 800 km. square region of mostly mountainous terrain in the Mixteca Alta highlands in the state of Oaxaca Mexico. Prior research indicates that the region has been continuously occupied since at least 1,300 BC and thus documents the rise of Central Mexican states and their expansion in the Postclassic period. While today the region is eroded and poor, the Spanish conquerors in the sixteenth century described the Mixteca Alta as a well-populated, rich and prosperous land. Oaxaca was a focal area throughout much of Middle American prehistory. Monte Alban emerged as one of the major prehistoric states and at ca. 1,000 AD developed into a Mixtec Kingdom whose influence extended well beyond Oaxaca. However, at the same time smaller apparently semi-independent centers of power existed within this region and archaeologists wish to understand the complicated relationships and changing balances between centralized authority and smaller partially autonomous regions. Researchers have come to realize that to gain insight into the organization of technologically simple prehistoric states and empires it is necessary to adopt a very broad regional approach and set individual major sites within this broader framework. Dr. Kowalewski's research is directed towards this goal. The team will conduct a systematic foot survey over 100% of the habitable area in the Achiutla region. Two person teams will walk systematically over all ridge crests and larger stream bottoms. All archaeological materials and features such as buildings and terraces will be noted and mapped. Surface materials, which consist largely of ceramics, will be collected. Because design styles change over time, pottery provides a sensitive time indicator and through its use it will be possible to plot changing site location and population density and distribution over time. These data will then be interpreted in an environmental context. The Achiutla study will fill an important survey gap in Oaxaca. When the project is completed, archaeologists will have information on a ca 140 km. contiguous area and this provides a unique opportunity which allows detailed examination of human behavior at a large regional scale. The work has the potential to provide a unique insight into how Mesoamerican states and empires developed and were maintained.