Migration and Ethnic Identity: The Archaeology of the Nahua/Pipil of Postclassic Pacific Guatemala

在美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）的支持下，弗雷德里克·博夫博士（Frederick Bove）和一个由同事组成的国际团队将在危地马拉太平洋中部海岸进行一季的考古和民族历史研究。该团队汇集了美国、荷兰和危地马拉的考古学、民族史和语言学专家，在卡罗莱纳-戈梅拉的主要遗址群（据信是Pipil的主要区域中心），研究移民理论与纳华/Pipil种族的考古鉴定之间的联系。随着墨西哥和危地马拉古典时期政治的崩溃，中美洲的后古典时期以大规模的社会、政治、经济和人口动荡为标志。虽然这些灾难性事件的原因尚不清楚，但一个突出的事实是纳瓦人从墨西哥中部和墨西哥湾沿岸向太平洋危地马拉和中美洲下游的迁徙，据信发生在公元800年至1350年的一系列运动中。讲纳华语的群体从墨西哥向中美洲的迁移是新世界文化史上大规模人口流动的最重要例子之一。最近在危地马拉中部太平洋海岸发现的大型后古典晚期区域中心最有可能是Pipil，这是该项目的基础，并提供了将文献和考古研究结合起来的难得机会。目标是发展对Pipil迁移过程的一般理解，这与Pipil种族的考古鉴定密切相关。研究问题的性质主要需要居民区的基本数据，以便确定Pipil族裔群体。一旦完成这一任务，与Pipil迁移过程本身相关的时间问题就可以与他们的定居系统、社会分化和家庭经济的重建一起得到解决。具体任务是：1)绘制卡罗莱纳、戈梅拉和所有周边乡村中心的完整地图；2)完成对同一中心及其周围地表材料的广泛调查和收集；3)在所有地点对天井组的分层样本进行测试挖掘，并对这些样本进行横向暴露；4)完成对所有收集到的文物的分析；5)将文献数据与调查和挖掘数据相结合。后期后古典项目将在理论和实务层面提供急需的信息。这项研究的智力价值在于测试移民模型和识别种族的方法，这是当代考古学面临的两个最具争议的问题。这项研究的更广泛影响在于，它将在一个不为人知的时期提供重要的信息，而且由于没有任何项目关注该地区的后古典晚期，因此知识的大幅增加将为对这一动态地区的史前史的科学理解提供重大修订的基础。危地马拉和美国的学生将参加该项目，以加强他们的培训，并增加他们对太平洋危地马拉史前历史重要性的认识。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Frederick Bove and an international team of colleagues will conduct one field season of archaeological and ethnohistoric research on the Guatemala central Pacific Coast. The team brings together U.S., Dutch, and Guatemala specialists in archaeology, ethnohistory, and linguistics to examine the interface between migration theory and the archaeological identification of Nahua/Pipil ethnicity at the major site complex of Carolina-Gomera believed to be a major Pipil regional center. The Postclassic period in Mesoamerica was marked by massive social, political, economic, and demographic upheaval following the collapse of Classic period polities in Mexico and Guatemala. While the causes of these cataclysmic events are obscure one salient fact is the Nahua migrations from central Mexico and the Gulf Coast to Pacific Guatemala and lower Central America that are believed to have occurred in a series of movements from about A.D. 800 to A.D. 1350. The migrations of Nahua-speaking groups from Mexico to Central America constitute one of the most important examples of large-scale population movements in New World culture history. The recent discovery of large Late Postclassic regional centers that are most likely Pipil on the central Guatemala Pacific Coast are the basis for the project and present a rare opportunity to combine both documentary and archaeological research in a conjunctive approach. The goal is to develop a general understanding of the Pipil migratory process that is closely interrelated with the archaeological identification of Pipil ethnicity. The nature of the research questions require basic data principally in residential areas that allow the identification of Pipil ethnic groups. Once this accomplished the chronological problems associated with the Pipil migrational process itself can be approached together with the reconstruction of their settlement system, social differentiation, and household economy. Specific tasks are 1) completely map Carolina, Gomera, and all surrounding rural centers, 2) complete the extensive survey and collection of surface materials in and around the same centers, 3) conduct test excavations of a stratified sample of patio groups at all sites and the lateral exposure of a sample of these, 4) complete the analysis of all collected artifacts, 5) to integrate the documentary data with the survey and excavation data. The Late Postclassic project will provide much needed information at both theoretical and substantive levels. The intellectual merit of the research will be to test models of migration and methods of identifying ethnicity, two of the most contentious issues confronting contemporary archaeology. The broader impacts of the study are that it will contribute significant information during an obscure period and since no project has ever focused on the Late Postclassic period in the region, the substantial increase in knowledge will provide the basis for major revisions in the scientific understanding of the prehistory of this dynamic region. Guatemala and U.S. students will participate in the project to enhance their training and increase their knowledge of the importance of Pacific Guatemala's prehistory.