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将在中美洲伯利兹的古玛雅农业村庄陈进行三个实地季节（2004-2006年）的考古发掘。 陈的古代居民在陈的丘陵地形上建造了一个富有成效的农业梯田景观，并占据了这个农业村庄约1800年（公元前900年-公元前1800年）。公元890年），从中前古典时期到玛雅文明的终端古典时期。 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，对古代玛雅农业生活的性质和复杂性进行协调调查。 最重要的是，鉴于占城居民的长期居住，研究人员将能够记录古典玛雅文明兴起和衰落期间村庄生活的变化，并研究普通村庄生活的变化如何影响玛雅社会更广泛的社会政治变化。对农村生产者（如占城居民）的研究对于理解古代复杂社会至关重要。 在以农业为基础的复杂社会中，如古玛雅，情况尤其如此。 在陈的调查提供了一个理想的案例研究，探讨如何在农村生活的变化涉及到更广泛的社会，政治和经济变化在一个复杂的社会。 在玛雅地区的一个省级地区最初的1500年占领后，Chan被纳入侵入和后期繁荣的Xunantunich政体。 在徐南土尼期短暂的政治扩张时期，陈的职业急剧增加。 随着政治资本Xunantunich的放弃，长寿的Chan村也被遗弃了。 Chan和Xunantunich的平行轨迹表明Chan的乡村生活的当地动态与以Xunantunich为中心的政治经济体系之间的关系。 Chan的研究人员将挖掘农业家庭和农田和梯田的代表性样本，以记录Chan如何通过与Xunantunich中心的互动而改变，以及Xunantunich中心如何不得不适应Chan村先前存在的社会和经济网络。Chan的研究很重要，原因有几个。 在最基本的层面上，这项以村庄为重点的研究将记录一个农业村庄的发展和消亡。 由于Chan的长期职业，研究人员也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的研究扩展了考古学家通常检查的传统考古数据范围，通过将植物学和地貌学研究纳入协调的考古调查来评估古代生活。 在更广泛的层面上，美国和伯利兹考古学的学生将参与Chan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基地。 由于Chan项目的研究将引起从考古学家到广大公众的广泛兴趣，因此将建立一个网站，向尽可能广泛的受众传播项目结果。

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.