Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Archaeology and Maya Identity in the Cuchumatan Highlands of Guatemala

在Robert J. Sharer的指导下，Greg Borgstede将在危地马拉西部高地对目前居住在该地区的Huista和Acateco玛雅人进行种族考古调查。这项研究的主要目的是揭示没有文字记载的族群之间的民族身份的物质遗迹。Huista-Acateco考古项目（HAAP）将把重点放在一个相对较小的地区的两个不同的、同质的民族群体上，以确定这两个群体的民族变化是如何以及何时发生的。这个案例对于种族考古学的研究是理想的，因为惠斯塔人和阿卡特科玛雅人今天是两个不同的，同质的种族群体。他们较小的人口规模和相对较小的居住面积使得对这两个群体的考古研究成为可能。两个问题将被解决：现代民族是否可以在考古记录中被识别或与之相关？一个民族的现代处境和它的历史发展，通过考古和它的物质痕迹表现出来的关系是什么？为了回答这些问题，HAAP将包括：考古调查，主要是在以前未研究过的地区定位和绘制考古遗址；发现遗址的考古发掘；工件分析；口述历史收藏。正如许多社会科学家指出的那样，在世纪之交，文化的变化本质是朝着日益全球化、正常化和西方化的方向发展。虽然这无疑是正确的，但它掩盖了世界上许多文化日益加剧的区域化和巴尔干化：这些进程往往以种族群体和种族特性来表述。这些族群往往将政治和文化认同的主张建立在悠久的历史文化连续性之上。历史学家在有历史记录的情况下解决了这些说法，但考古学家在很大程度上忽略了这个话题。HAAP的意义在于，它将分析考古学与族群认同概念的相关性。结果将直接适用于这些群体本身，特别是他们要求在危地马拉社会中享有文化和政治代表。这些群体由于几十年的内战而被边缘化，直到最近才开始形成一种文化自决意识，并对自己的不成文历史产生兴趣。研究结果还将提供一个更广泛的框架，以了解如何通过考古学中可用的材料来追踪种族。

Under the direction of Robert J. Sharer, Greg Borgstede will conduct investigations on the archaeology of ethnicity in the western highlands of Guatemala among the Huista and Acateco Maya currently living in the area. The primary purpose of the research is to uncover the material remains of ethnic identity among groups with no written history. The Huista-Acateco Archaeological Project (HAAP) will focus on two distinct, homogenous ethnic groups, in a relatively small region, in order to ascertain how and when ethnic changes occurred in the two groups. This case is ideal for the study of the archeology of ethnicity since the Huista and Acateco Maya are today two distinct, homogenous ethnic groups. Their small population size and the relatively small area inhabited make archeological studies of both groups feasible. Two questions will be addressed: Can modern ethnic groups be identified in or correlated with the archaeological record? And what is the relation between an ethnic group's modern situation and its historical development, as shown through archaeology and its material traces? In an attempt to answer these questions, the HAAP will consist of: archaeological surveys, primarily locating and mapping archaeological sites in the previously unstudied region; archaeological excavations of the discovered sites; analysis of artifacts; and oral history collection. The changing nature of culture at the turn of the millennium, as many social scientists have pointed out, is toward increased globalization, normalization, and westernization. While this is undoubtedly true, it masks the increased regionalization and balkanization of many cultures of the world: processes that are often phrased in terms of ethnic groups and ethnic identity. These ethnic groups often base claims of political and cultural identity on long historical cultural continuity. Historians have addressed these claims in cases where historical records are available, but archaeologists have largely ignored the topic. The significance of the HAAP is that it will analyze the relevance of archaeology to conceptions of ethnic identity. The results will be directly applicable to these groups themselves, particularly in their claims to cultural and political representation in the Guatemalan society. These groups, marginalized because of decades of civil war, have only recently begun to develop a sense of cultural self-determination, and an interest in their own, unwritten history. The results will also provide a broader framework for understanding how ethnicity can be traced through the material remains available to archaeology.