Chan: The Rise and Demise of an Ancient Maya Agrarian Village

在国家科学基金会的支持下，辛西娅·罗宾博士和她的同事们将在中美洲伯利兹的古代玛雅农业村庄Chan进行三个野外季节(2004-2006)的考古发掘。禅宗的古代居民在禅宗的丘陵地带建造了一个富有成效的农业梯田景观，从玛雅文明的中古古典期到末期古典时期，这个农业村庄占据了大约1800年(公元前900年-公元890年)。Chan的研究将汇集一个由考古学家、植物学家和地貌学家组成的团队，对古代玛雅人农业生活的性质和复杂性进行协调调查。最重要的是，考虑到在禅宗的长期占领，研究人员将能够记录下古典玛雅文明兴衰时期村庄生活的变化，并研究普通村庄生活的变化如何影响和受到玛雅社会更广泛的社会政治变化的影响。研究农村生产者，如禅宗居民，对于理解古代复杂的社会至关重要。在像古代玛雅人这样以农业为基础的复杂社会中，情况尤其如此。Chan的调查提供了一个理想的案例研究，以探索在一个复杂的社会中，乡村生活的变化如何与更广泛的社会、政治和经济变化有关。在玛雅地区的一个省地区最初占领了1500年后，成龙被并入了侵扰和后期繁荣的Xunantunich政体。在Xunantunich政体扩张的短暂时期，成龙的占领急剧增加。随着政治首都Xunantunich的废弃，长寿的陈家村也被遗弃了。Chan和Xunantunich的平行轨迹表明，Chan的当地乡村生活动态与以Xunantunich为中心的政治经济制度之间存在关系。Chan的研究人员将挖掘一个具有代表性的农业家庭、农田和梯田样本，以记录Chan如何通过与Xunantunich中心的互动而改变，以及Xunantunich中心可能不得不适应Chan村原有的社会和经济网络。Chan的研究具有重要意义，原因有几个。在最基本的层面上，这项以村庄为中心的研究将记录一个农业村庄的发展和消亡。由于陈的长期职业，研究人员还将能够调查乡村生活对玛雅社会更大的社会政治变化的影响，反之亦然。在考古方法方面，Chan的研究扩展了考古数据的传统范围，考古学家通常通过将植物学和地貌学研究纳入协调的考古调查来检查这些数据，以评估古代生命。在更广泛的层面上，美国和伯利兹考古学的学生将参与到陈可辛研究的每一步，这将为年轻的考古学家提供一个充满活力的培训场所。由于陈冯富珍项目的研究将引起从考古学家到更广泛公众的广泛关注，因此，一个网站将尽可能广泛地向更广泛的受众传播项目成果。

With National Science Foundation support Dr. Cynthia Robin and her colleagues will conduct three field seasons (2004-2006) of archaeological excavations at the ancient Maya agrarian village of Chan in Belize, Central America. The ancient inhabitants of Chan constructed a productive landscape of agricultural terraces across Chan's hilly terrain and occupied this agrarian village for around 1800 years (900 B.C.-A.D. 890) from the Middle Preclassic to Terminal Classic periods of Maya civilization. Research at Chan will bring together a team of archaeologists, botanists, and geomorphologists to conduct a coordinated investigation into the nature and complexities of ancient Maya agrarian life. Most significantly, given the longevity of occupation at Chan, researchers will be able to document changes in village life across the period of the rise and decline of Classic Maya civilization and examine how changes in ordinary village life affected and were affected by broader socio-political changes in Maya society.Studies of rural producers, such as the inhabitants of Chan, are critical for understanding ancient complex societies. This is particularly the case in agrarian-based complex societies like the ancient Maya. Investigations at Chan provide an ideal case study to explore how changes in village life relate to broader social, political, and economic changes in a complex society. After an initial 1500-year occupation in a provincial region of the Maya area, Chan is incorporated into the intrusive and late-flourishing Xunantunich polity. During the short-lived period of Xunantunich polity expansion, Chan's occupation increases dramatically. Then alongside the abandonment of the polity-capital of Xunantunich, the long-lived village of Chan is abandoned. The parallel trajectories of Chan and Xunantunich suggest a relationship between the local dynamics of village life at Chan and the political-economic system centered at Xunantunich. Researchers at Chan will excavate a representative sample of agrarian households and agricultural fields and terraces to document how Chan was transformed through its interaction with the center of Xunantunich and how the center of Xunantunich may have had to accommodate to preexisting social and economic networks in the village of Chan.Research at Chan is important for several reasons. At a most basic level this village-focused study will document the development and demise of an agrarian village. Due to Chan's long occupation, researchers will also be able to investigate the impact that village life had on larger socio-political changes in Maya society and vice versa. In terms of archaeological methods, research at Chan expands upon the traditional range of archaeological data that archaeologists typically examine to assess ancient life by incorporating botanical and geomorphological studies into a coordinated archaeological investigation. On a broader level US and Belizean archaeology students will be involved in each step of the Chan research which will provide a dynamic training ground for young archaeologists. As the research of the Chan project will be of interest to a wide range of persons from archaeologists to the broader public, a web site will disseminate project results to as wide an audience as possible.