The Economic Foundations of Mayapan

玛雅潘的经济基础

• 批准号: 0109426
• 负责人: Marilyn Masson
• 金额: $ 26.05万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Albany
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-09-01 至 2005-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0109426&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Economic; Foundations; Mayapan

This project will document the political economy of Mayapan, the largest and most influential city in the Maya realm during the Postclassic period. Although the influence of this center throughout the Maya world achieves considerable notoriety in later retrospective mythic/historical accounts, the economic foundations of this city have never been investigated with empirical archaeological data. Without this data, the comparative analysis of complex societies in the pre-capitalist world is severely hindered. Precolumbian Maya society represents one of the most innovative civilizations of the New World. Hundreds of Maya city state centers and associated territories extended across southeast Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and western Honduras over a period of 2000 years and this society invented the most elaborate set of writing, calendrical, and astronomical notation found in the Americas.Does the degree of political centralization and scale of monument building represent the primary criteria for measuring a civilization's complexity? While these traits are a characteristic of many early states and empires, maturing complex societies often culminate in vast geographic tracts of more decentralized polities that are extensively integrated through mercantile exchange. The growth in the number of literati and merchant factions in maturing old world societies and their increase in power often eroded centralized political institutions in favor of more extensive economic interaction networks that were heavily focused on long-distance trade.This pattern points to the second important issue about Postclassic Maya society that will be addressed from the investigation of Mayapan's economy. This period has been characterized as a mercantile era, and many decentralized polities across the Yucatan peninsula relied heavily on long distance maritime trade for items used in everyday life. This pattern is documented from Spanish Colonial accounts of Maya trade at the time of European contact, as well as from archaeological investigations of small sites along the Caribbean coast that yield evidence of participation in extensive exchange. After the rise of Mayapan to power in the 13th century A.D., an amplification of local production activities geared toward this exchange is observed at distant coastal settlements. An increase in their reliance on long distance household items is also observed, along with an increase in population, ritual activities, and political hierarchical development in areas outside of Mayapan's domain. Ritual and utilitarian artifact and architectural styles at sites throughout the Maya lowlands resemble those observed at Mayapan. What is the meaning of these trends? Did the activities of Mayapan's mercantile elites stimulate this trade network and political development? A greater degree of economic and ideological integration is inferred across the lowland Maya world during Mayapan's reign than during the earlier Classic period. While most of this region was organized into modest political hierarchies, Mayapan stands out as a striking anomaly for the size and elaboration of its urban settlement. It is not possible to understand the political economy of the Postclassic period without evaluating the organization and scale of production and exchange activities at the great center itself, which was governed by merchant elites. Investigations planned by this project will document the variation of production and exchange activities within house groups of different social status across the city. This work will facilitate core-hinterland comparisons and a full reconstruction of economic relationships among Postclassic settlements across the lowlands. These investigations will contribute to the cross-cultural analysis of the development of civilizations by providing critical data from a primate city at the nucleus of a New World mercantile society.This project will document the political economy of Mayapan, the largest and most influential city in the Maya realm during the Postclassic period. Although the influence of this center throughout the Maya world achieves considerable notoriety in later retrospective mythic/historical accounts, the economic foundations of this city have never been investigated with empirical archaeological data. Without this data, the comparative analysis of complex societies in the pre-capitalist world is severely hindered. Precolumbian Maya society represents one of the most innovative civilizations of the New World. Hundreds of Maya city state centers and associated territories extended across southeast Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and western Honduras over a period of 2000 years and this society invented the most elaborate set of writing, calendrical, and astronomical notation found in the Americas.Two issues underscore the importance of reconstructing the economic systems of production and exchange at Mayapan. First, Postclassic Maya society was long interpreted by scholars as a "devolved" era, as monumental construction and hieroglyphic writing was performed on a smaller scale and of less-enduring materials than in the earlier Classic period. For this reason, little research has focused on this period. Such a deflation in monumental scale suggests that political hierarchies collapsed in many portions of the Maya area, although Mayapan stands out as an important exception. Does the degree of political centralization and scale of monument building represent the primary criteria for measuring a civilization's complexity? While these traits are a characteristic of many early states and empires, maturing complex societies often culminate in vast geographic tracts of more decentralized polities that are extensively integrated through mercantile exchange. The growth in the number of literati and merchant factions in maturing old world societies and their increase in power often eroded centralized political institutions in favor of more extensive economic interaction networks that were heavily focused on long-distance trade.This pattern points to the second important issue about Postclassic Maya society that will be addressed from the investigation of Mayapan's economy. This period has been characterized as a mercantile era, and many decentralized polities across the Yucatan peninsula relied heavily on long distance maritime trade for items used in everyday life. This pattern is documented from Spanish Colonial accounts of Maya trade at the time of European contact, as well as from archaeological investigations of small sites along the Caribbean coast that yield evidence of participation in extensive exchange. After the rise of Mayapan to power in the 13th century A.D., an amplification of local production activities geared toward this exchange is observed at distant coastal settlements. An increase in their reliance on long distance household items is also observed, along with an increase in population, ritual activities, and political hierarchical development in areas outside of Mayapan's domain. Ritual and utilitarian artifact and architectural styles at sites throughout the Maya lowlands resemble those observed at Mayapan. What is the meaning of these trends? Did the activities of Mayapan's mercantile elites stimulate this trade network and political development? A greater degree of economi

该项目将记录玛雅帝国的政治经济，玛雅帝国是后古典时期玛雅王国最大和最有影响力的城市。虽然这个中心在玛雅世界的影响在后来的神话/历史叙述中获得了相当大的恶名，但这个城市的经济基础从未被实证考古数据调查过。如果没有这些数据，对前资本主义世界复杂社会的比较分析就会受到严重阻碍。前哥伦布时代的玛雅社会代表了新世界最具创新精神的文明之一。在2000年的时间里，成百上千的玛雅城邦中心和相关领土横跨墨西哥东南部、危地马拉、伯利兹和洪都拉斯西部，这个社会发明了美洲发现的最精致的文字、历法和天文符号。政治集中化程度和纪念性建筑的规模是否代表了衡量文明复杂性的主要标准？虽然这些特征是许多早期国家和帝国的特征，但成熟的复杂社会往往在更分散的政治的广阔地理区域中达到顶峰，这些政治通过商业交换广泛地整合在一起。在成熟的旧世界社会中，文人和商人派系数量的增长及其权力的增加往往会侵蚀中央集权的政治制度，有利于更广泛的经济互动网络，这些网络主要集中在长途贸易上。这种模式指出了关于后古典玛雅社会的第二个重要问题，这将从对玛雅经济的调查中得到解决。这一时期被认为是一个商业时代，尤卡坦半岛上许多分散的政体严重依赖长途海上贸易来获取日常生活中使用的物品。这一模式被记录在西班牙殖民时期玛雅人与欧洲人接触时的贸易记录中，也被记录在对加勒比海沿岸小遗址的考古调查中，这些考古调查提供了参与广泛交换的证据。公元13世纪玛雅人崛起后，在遥远的沿海定居点，人们观察到当地生产活动的扩大，以这种交换为目标。他们对远距离家庭用品的依赖也有所增加，同时在玛雅人的领域之外的地区，人口、仪式活动和政治等级发展也有所增加。整个玛雅低地遗址的仪式和实用器物和建筑风格与在玛雅潘观察到的相似。这些趋势意味着什么？日本商业精英的活动是否刺激了这种贸易网络和政治发展？在玛雅人统治时期，整个低地玛雅世界的经济和意识形态一体化程度比早期古典时期更高。虽然该地区的大部分地区都被组织成适度的政治等级，但玛雅日本在其城市定居点的规模和精致方面表现出惊人的异常。如果不评估由商人精英统治的大中心本身的生产和交换活动的组织和规模，就不可能理解后古典时期的政治经济学。该项目计划的调查将记录整个城市不同社会地位的家庭群体的生产和交换活动的变化。这项工作将促进核心腹地的比较，并全面重建低地地区后古典定居点之间的经济关系。这些调查将通过提供新世界商业社会核心灵长类城市的关键数据，有助于对文明发展的跨文化分析。该项目将记录玛雅帝国的政治经济，玛雅帝国是后古典时期玛雅王国最大和最有影响力的城市。虽然这个中心在玛雅世界的影响在后来的神话/历史叙述中获得了相当大的恶名，但这个城市的经济基础从未被实证考古数据调查过。如果没有这些数据，对前资本主义世界复杂社会的比较分析就会受到严重阻碍。前哥伦布时代的玛雅社会代表了新世界最具创新精神的文明之一。在2000年的时间里，成百上千的玛雅城邦中心和相关领土横跨墨西哥东南部、危地马拉、伯利兹和洪都拉斯西部，这个社会发明了美洲发现的最精致的文字、历法和天文符号。有两个问题强调了重建玛雅日本的生产和交换经济体系的重要性。首先，后古典时期的玛雅社会长期以来被学者们解释为一个“退化”的时代，因为与早期的古典时期相比，纪念性建筑和象形文字的规模更小，材料也更不耐用。因此，很少有研究关注这一时期。如此大规模的通货紧缩表明，在玛雅地区的许多地方，政治等级制度崩溃了，尽管玛雅日本是一个重要的例外。政治集中化程度和纪念性建筑的规模是否代表了衡量文明复杂性的主要标准？虽然这些特征是许多早期国家和帝国的特征，但成熟的复杂社会往往在更分散的政治的广阔地理区域中达到顶峰，这些政治通过商业交换广泛地整合在一起。在成熟的旧世界社会中，文人和商人派系数量的增长及其权力的增加往往会侵蚀中央集权的政治制度，有利于更广泛的经济互动网络，这些网络主要集中在长途贸易上。这种模式指出了关于后古典玛雅社会的第二个重要问题，这将从对玛雅经济的调查中得到解决。这一时期被认为是一个商业时代，尤卡坦半岛上许多分散的政体严重依赖长途海上贸易来获取日常生活中使用的物品。这一模式被记录在西班牙殖民时期玛雅人与欧洲人接触时的贸易记录中，也被记录在对加勒比海沿岸小遗址的考古调查中，这些考古调查提供了参与广泛交换的证据。公元13世纪玛雅人崛起后，在遥远的沿海定居点，人们观察到当地生产活动的扩大，以这种交换为目标。他们对远距离家庭用品的依赖也有所增加，同时在玛雅人的领域之外的地区，人口、仪式活动和政治等级发展也有所增加。整个玛雅低地遗址的仪式和实用器物和建筑风格与在玛雅潘观察到的相似。这些趋势意味着什么？日本商业精英的活动是否刺激了这种贸易网络和政治发展？更大程度的经济