Dissertation Research: At the Edge of the Aztec Empire: An Archaeological and Ethnohistorical Study in Chacalapan, Southern Veracruz, Mexico

在诺曼·哈蒙德博士的指导下，Chantal Esquivias女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她的研究将集中在墨西哥南部韦拉克鲁斯湾沿岸的后古典时期，她将用地层挖掘来补充她之前的考古调查。她还将在西班牙塞维利亚进行档案研究。在后古典时期，随着西班牙人的到来而结束，玛雅人离开了大型寺庙中心，分裂成更小的群体。与此同时，阿兹特克帝国在墨西哥中部高地崛起，并将其影响力扩展到广阔的地区。考古学家希望了解这样的帝国是如何运作的，并保持对分布在广阔地理区域的多个民族的控制。从直接的经验控制到更宽松的联盟形式，已经提出了许多策略，并且在不同的情况下可能采用了不同的方法。南韦拉克鲁斯位于阿兹特克帝国的边界，或者稍微超出阿兹特克帝国的边界，埃斯基维亚斯女士将研究这个地区是如何受到阿兹特克帝国的影响的。为了实现这一目标，她将把考古发掘与档案分析结合起来。西班牙文献描述了该地区在被征服时的社会组织，并列举了土地所有权和土地所有权。在此基础上，应该有可能重建社会和政治组织的许多方面。考古数据将允许MS Esquivias直接解决阿兹特克人影响的问题。人们对这个地区的后古典时代知之甚少，她将在一些遗址进行测试挖掘，以建立一个陶瓷序列。她将寻找诊断陶瓷类型，并利用这些来深入了解后古典定居模式。从其他地区的工作中，我们知道有几种陶瓷与阿兹特克人有关，这些材料在南韦拉克鲁斯的存在与否将有助于确定阿兹特克人是否渗透到该地区。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将提供一个鲜为人知的地区的数据，这将引起许多考古学家的兴趣。它将提供有关帝国如何运作的新信息，并有助于培养有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Norman Hammond, MS Chantal Esquivias will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. Her research will focus on the Postclassic period on the Southern Veracruz Gulf coast of Mexico and she will supplement her prior archaeological survey with stratigraphic excavation. She will also conduct archival study in Seville Spain. During the Postclassic period, which ended with the arrival of the Spanish, the Mayan peoples moved away from large temple centers and broke down into smaller groups. At the same time the Aztec empire arose in the highlands of Central Mexico and extended its influence over a broad area. Archaeologists wish to understand how such empires function and maintain control over multiple ethnic groups distributed over broad geographic regions. A number of strategies ranging from direct empirical control to looser forms of alliance have been proposed and likely different approaches were employed in different situations. Southern Veracruz lies at, or slightly beyond the boundary of the Aztec empire and MS Esquivias will examine how this area was affected by it. To accomplish this goal she will combine archaeological excavation with archival analysis. Spanish documents describe the social organization of the region at the time of conquest and enumerate land claims and land holdings. On this basis it should be possible to reconstruct many aspects of social and political organization. Archaeological data will allow MS Esquivias to address questions of Aztec influence directly. Very little is known about the Postclassic in this region and she will conduct test excavations at a number of sites to establish a ceramic sequence. She will search for diagnostic ceramic types and use these to gain insight into Postclassic settlement pattern. From work in other areas, it is known that several kinds of ceramics are Aztec related and the presence or absence of such materials in Southern Veracruz will serve to determine Aztec penetration into this region.This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data on a little known region which will be of interest to many archaeologists. It will yield new information on how empires functioned and assist in training a promising young scientist.