Dissertation: The Structure of Ritual Practice: An Ethnoarchaeological Investigation of Community Ritual Activity Areas in the Maya Highlands

在Payson Sheets博士的指导下，琳达·布朗女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她将在危地马拉高地圣地亚哥阿蒂特兰的玛雅语民族中进行人种学研究，并记录关于地方一级、农村宗教习俗以及这些活动的物质副产品的信息。然后，她将利用这些信息来解释考古材料，并深入了解史前玛雅仪式。在中美洲工作的民族志学者区分了“大”和“小”的宗教传统。“大传统”是指大规模的国家支持的宗教，在西班牙人定居后成为天主教。“小传统”由根深蒂固的当地传统习俗组成，其中包括宴请、仪式陶醉、神殿和埋葬习俗。这些有助于建立社区团结，并提供了一套有助于规范当地生活的原则。由于这些做法是由早期的西班牙观察家记录的，并在玛雅地区广泛传播，它们可能具有相当古老的历史，很可能在史前社会组织中发挥了重要作用。虽然考古学家对纪念性寺庙的挖掘给予了极大的关注，并对史前伟大传统有了相当大的洞察力，但对其规模较小的同行却知之甚少。布朗女士的研究目的就是纠正这种情况。因为尚不清楚小传统的考古学特征可能是什么，布朗女士将从人种学的现状开始，并在一个传统的玛雅村庄研究这种习俗。她将采访从业者，并观察仪式产生的潜在物质签名。她将绘制它们在景观上的空间位置图，并在最近的遗址进行受控挖掘，以确定它们是如何被纳入考古记录的。有了这些信息，她将分析来自史前玛雅遗址Ceren的两个结构的材料。埋在一场灾难性的火山喷发中，Ceren提供了史前玛雅人生活的无与伦比的洞察力。研究人员认为，该遗址内的几个区域是小型传统仪式的焦点，但很难确定如何检验这种假设。这项研究之所以重要，原因有几个。考古学家希望了解史前玛雅社会组织的基础是什么使这种文明得以发展，布朗女士的工作与这一目标直接相关。她收集的人种学数据将在解释许多玛雅遗址时具有潜在的价值。该奖项还将有助于培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Payson Sheets, MS Linda Brown will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct ethnographic research among Mayan speaking peoples in the highland Guatemalan village of Santiago Atitlan and record information on local level, rural religious practices as well as the material byproducts of these. She will then use this information to interpret archaeological materials and gain insight into prehistoric Mayan ritual. Ethnographers who work in Middle American has distinguished between "Great" and "Little" religious traditions. The "Great Tradition" refers to large scale state sponsored religion which after Spanish settlement became Catholicism. The "Little Tradition" consists of deeply rooted locally based traditional practices which involve, among other things, feasting, ritual intoxication, shrines and burial practices. These serve to forge community unity and provide a set of principles which help to order local life. Because these practices were recorded by early Spanish observers and were widespread in the Mayan region, they likely are of considerable antiquity and most probably played an important role in prehistoric social organization. While archaeologists have directed great attention to the excavation of monumental temples and gained considerable insight into the prehistoric Great Tradition, its smaller counterpart is poorly understood. The goal of MS Brown's research is to remedy this situation. Because it is unclear what the archaeological signatures of a Little Tradition might be, MS Brown will begin in the ethnographic present and study such practices in a traditional Mayan village. She will interview practitioners and observe the potential material signatures which rituals produce. She will map their spatial placement on the landscape and conduct controlled excavations at recent sites to determine how they are incorporated into the archaeological record. With this information she will then analyze materials from two structures at the prehistoric Mayan site of Ceren. Buried in a catastrophic volcanic eruption, Ceren provides unparalleled insight into prehistoric Mayan life. Researchers believe that several areas within the site were foci of Small Tradition ritual but it has been difficult to determine how such an hypothesis might be tested.This research is important for several reasons. Archaeologists wish to understand the bases of prehistoric Mayan social organization which allowed the development of this civilization and MS Brown's work is directly relevant to this goal. The ethnographic data she collects will be potentially valuable in the interpretation of many Mayan sites. This award will also assist in training a promising young scientist.