Dissertation: Investigations at an Olmec Community

论文：奥尔梅克社区的调查

• 批准号: 0000354
• 负责人: Kenneth Hirth
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-03-01 至 2002-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0000354&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Investigations; Olmec; Community

Under the direction of Dr. Kenneth Hirth, Mr. Carl Wendt will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct archaeological excavation at el Bajio, a small Early Formative Olmec settlement which is located in the San Lorenzo region of Veracruz, Mexico and dates to ca. 1,500-900 BC. The Olmec are well known both to researchers and non-archaeologists because of the monumental art they produced. Basalt boulders many tons in weight were transported to large sites and then carved into stylized heads. Because the Olmec constitute the earliest complex society in Middle America and provide the base from which later Mayan cultures arose, they can shed light on the processes which led to the rise of New World civilizations and thus have been the focus of considerable archaeological attention. However, as Mr. Wendt notes, while major excavation has been conducted at large central Olmec sites, very little is known about the broader social and regional context in which they were situated and only a very limited understanding of Olmec social, political and economic organization has been attained. Mr. Wendt's research will help to remedy this situation. El Bajio is bisected by an actively eroding stream which cuts across the center of the site. While water cuts away several meters each year and is rapidly leading to El Bajio's destruction, it has also offered a unique opportunity because it is possible to trace features of the settlement in the wall of the river bank and to gain insight into the spatial organization of the village most of which is buried under several meters of sediment. Mr. Wendt will first clean this cut wall and produce a horizontal map. This will provide a guide for future excavation. He will also conduct a remote survey using both auger holes and magnetometer readings to search for buried features. On this basis he will select several houses for extensive horizontal excavation. The data thus collected will allow him to reconstruct the economic and social organization of the village and determine the extent to which it was organized along hierarchical lines. He will determine the degree of status differentiation based on variation among household contents. He will also compare cultural materials excavated at el Bajio to counterparts from a larger regional center and examine the extent to which it was integrated into a larger regional network. These "bottom up" data will complement those from "top down" excavations at the more important centers.This project is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many regional archaeologists. It will shed new light on the rise of Middle American civilizations and contribute to training a promising young archaeologist.

在Kenneth Hirth博士的指导下，Carl Wendt先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将在El Bajio进行考古发掘，这是一个位于墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯州圣洛伦索地区的早期奥尔梅克人定居点，可追溯到公元前2000年。公元前1500 -900年。 奥尔梅克人因其创造的不朽艺术而为研究人员和非考古学家所熟知。重达数吨的玄武岩巨石被运到大型遗址，然后雕刻成风格化的头像。由于奥尔梅克人构成了中美洲最早的复杂社会，并为后来的玛雅文化提供了基础，他们可以揭示导致新世界文明兴起的过程，因此一直是考古学关注的焦点。然而，正如Wendt先生指出的那样，虽然在奥尔梅克中部的大型遗址进行了重大挖掘，但对这些遗址所处的更广泛的社会和区域背景知之甚少，对奥尔梅克的社会、政治和经济组织也只有非常有限的了解。温特先生的研究将有助于纠正这种情况。El Bajio被一条穿过遗址中心的侵蚀性河流一分为二。虽然水每年都会削减几米，并迅速导致El Bajio的破坏，但它也提供了一个独特的机会，因为可以在河岸的墙壁上追踪定居点的特征，并深入了解村庄的空间组织，其中大部分被埋在几米深的沉积物下。Wendt先生将首先清理这面切割的墙，并制作一张水平地图。这将为今后的挖掘工作提供指导。他还将利用螺旋钻孔和磁力计读数进行远程调查，以寻找埋藏的特征。在此基础上，他将选择几个房屋进行大规模的水平挖掘。这样收集的数据将使他能够重建村庄的经济和社会组织，并确定它在多大程度上是按照沿着等级线组织起来的。他将根据家庭内容的变化来确定地位分化的程度。他还将把在El Bajio挖掘的文化材料与来自更大区域中心的文化材料进行比较，并研究它在多大程度上融入了更大的区域网络。这些“自下而上”的数据将补充那些在更重要的中心“自上而下”的挖掘数据。它将为许多区域考古学家提供感兴趣的数据。它将为中美洲文明的崛起提供新的线索，并有助于培养一个有前途的年轻考古学家。