Doctoral Dissertation Research: Building Negotiation: Architecture and Social Relations at Chau Hiix, Belize

在K博士的指导下。放大图片作者：Christopher R.安德烈斯将分析他在北方伯利兹的Chau Hiix玛雅遗址考古调查期间收集的数据。 Chau Hiix是一个中等规模的礼仪中心，其悠久的职业历史至少从公元前1000年延伸到公元1450年，该社区是值得注意的，因为它一直被占领到接触时期，并可能为15世纪西班牙entradas渗透该地区时流离失所的个人提供避难所。 在这段动荡时期之后，Chau Hiix不仅保持了大量的人口，而且在其建筑中反映了与早期时期不同的空间模式。 安德烈斯的项目将研究玛雅纪念性建筑在前西班牙社会中发挥的作用可能比传统上所承认的更为积极。 虽然玛雅建筑环境通常被视为人类活动的产物，但越来越多的证据表明，建筑物被系统地操纵以构建社会关系。 作为一种参与社会关系谈判的物质文化形式，Chau Hiix的建筑为不同社会群体成员之间不断变化的关系提供了洞察力。 初步调查表明，古典时期和后古典时期之间的这些变化涉及以前未开发地区的建筑活动，现有建筑的改造，以及中心区及其组成结构的可达性模式的变化。 安德烈斯的发掘将进一步记录这些建筑的变化。 将使用正式的空间分析方法对不断变化的通道和交通模式进行研究，并与伯利兹的Lamanai和Altun Ha的邻近玛雅遗址的类似数据进行比较。 这些分析将作为解释建筑变化的基础，并应有助于阐明北方伯利兹的古典和后古典时期之间的社会政治关系。 除了解决建筑师和社会科学家感兴趣的问题外，该项目还将建立在Pyburn长达十年的努力基础上，使弯曲树的伯利兹社区成员参与对过去的科学调查和保护考古资源。 透过与弯树村成员合作进行的挖掘工作、在弯树博物馆和一年一度的腰果节期间介绍研究成果，以及为前往洲喜的游客提供挖掘工作的图尔斯导游，加深公众对洲喜工作的了解。 我们将于2003年7月在伯利兹的圣伊格纳西奥举行的伯利兹考古会议上向伯利兹其他地区的居民通报我们的发现。 在美国，研究成果将在开放日（包括印第安纳州大学的年度考古日）和Chau Hiix考古项目的网站上向公众和学术界展示。 美国本科生将接受各种技能的培训，包括挖掘纪念性建筑。 作者将接受建筑分析方法的培训。 在上述分析之后，将通过会议介绍和向编辑的卷册和参考期刊投稿的方式向科学界通报研究成果。

Under the direction of Dr. K. Anne Pyburn, Christopher R. Andres will analyze data gathered during his archaeological investigations of the Maya site of Chau Hiix in northern Belize. Chau Hiix is a medium-sized ceremonial center distinguished by a lengthy occupational history extending from at least 1000 B.C. through 1450 A.D. The community is notable because it was continuously occupied into the contact period and may have provided refuge for individuals displaced when Spanish entradas penetrated the region in the 15th century. Chau Hiix not only maintained a significant population following this period of upheaval, but reflects spatial patterns in its architecture which depart from those of earlier periods. Andres' project will examine the extent to which Maya monumental architecture may have played a more active role in pre-Hispanic society than has traditionally been acknowledged. While the Maya built environment is often viewed as a product of human activity, there is growing evidence that buildings were systematically manipulated to structure social relations. As a form of material culture involved in the negotiation of social relations, architecture at Chau Hiix offers insight into changing relationships between members of different social groups. Preliminary investigations suggest these changes between the Classic and Postclassic periods involve construction activity at previously undeveloped locations, remodeling of existing buildings, and changing patterns of accessibility to the central precinct and its constituent structures. Andres' excavations will further document these architectural alterations. Changing access and traffic patterns will be examined using formal methods of spatial analysis and compared with similar data from the neighboring Maya sites of Lamanai and Altun Ha, Belize. These analyses will serve as a basis for explanations of architectural change and should help illuminate inter- and intra-site socio-political relationships in northern Belize between the Classic and Postclassic periods. Besides addressing questions of interest to architects and social scientists, this project will build on a decade-long effort by Pyburn to involve members of the Belizean community of Crooked Tree in the scientific investigation of the past and in protection of archaeological resources. Public understanding of work at Chau Hiix will be enhanced through excavations carried out collaboratively with members of Crooked Tree Village; by presentation of research findings in the Crooked Tree Museum and during the annual Cashew Festival; and through guided tours of excavations available to visitors to Chau Hiix. Communication of our findings to residents of other parts of Belize will take place at the Belize Archaeological Conference held in San Ignacio, Belize in July of 2003. In the US, research results will be presented to the general public and academic community at open houses including Indiana University's annual Archaeology Day and through the Chau Hiix Archaeological Project's website. American undergraduate students will receive training in a variety of skill sets, including excavation of monumental architecture. The author will be trained in methods of architectural analysis. Following the analyses discussed above, research results will be communicated to the scientific community through conference presentations and contributions to edited volumes and refereed journals.