Re-evaluation of the Earthworks at Tikal, Guatemala, Phase 2

危地马拉蒂卡尔土方工程第二阶段的重新评估

• 批准号: 0443820
• 负责人: David Webster
• 金额: $ 17.25万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-02-15 至 2007-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0443820&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Re; evaluation; Earthworks; Tikal; Guatemala

War is so widespread that it is, for all practical purposes, a universal human behavior, especially among complex societies. Until quite recently the Classic Lowland Maya (AD. 250-900) were perceived to be an exception to this rule. A major blow to the "peaceful Maya" perspective was the 1966 discovery of impressive earthworks associated with the huge center of Tikal, located in the forests of northeastern Guatemala. These earthworks were many kilometers in length, and along with flanking swamps were interpreted as fortifications that defended an agricultural hinterland some 120 sq km in area. More importantly, they represented a blatant (and unique) statement by the Maya themselves concerning what parts of the ancient environment were important to them.Inscriptions and art have since confirmed that intense forms of Maya warfare existed, and archaeologists have documented many other defensive systems. For almost 40 years, however, the Tikal earthworks were ignored. Much was assumed about them and their significance, but very little was known. Generous NSF support enabled Dr. David Webster and colleagues to return to Tikal in 2003 to properly map the earthworks and search for missing sections. They discovered new parts of the system, which now is almost 26 km long and forms a rough polygon that plausibly encloses at least 200 sq km. The team also mapped a 250 m wide and 12.8 km long corridor of ancient settlement associated with the earthwork. The research in part constituted a test of new GIS/GPS technologies and their usefulness in rugged tropical forest conditions, where they worked extremely well.The current 2005 project will build on these discoveries by mapping large blocks of settlement associated with the new earthwork segments, as well the earthwork itself. The work will extend the eastern side of the perimeter, and find the hitherto missing southern boundary. In all, it is suspected that the earthwork system might be 50-60 km long---one of the biggest single construction projects ever undertaken by ancient Mesoamericans. Of critical importance is dating this system, which was likely built in the mid-6th century. Detailed mapping will allow assessment of suggestions that the earthwork had non-defensive functions (such as an irrigation channel) and will also increase understanding of how such a perimeter could have been built and defended by a local population that probably numbered only 20,000-30,000 people. Innovative methods of soils analysis will provide chemical signatures of the agricultural production used in and near Tikal. The research will also constitute a purely archaeological test of Tikal's dynastic and military history as recorded in inscriptions.This project has both culture-historical and theoretical implications. It will allow construction of labor estimates that contribute to an understanding of the scale of political centralization of a major Maya polity. If the earthworks are in fact fortifications, they will reveal much about ancient Maya military strategies and tactics. The research will integrate recent remote sensing imagery produced by a joint NASA/NSF (AIRSAR) project. The imagery will be used to search for missing parts of the earthwork, but the results will test the potential of such remote sensing in forested tropical environments. The ultimate payoff, once the chronology is secure, will be the ability to apply GIS models of land use, agricultural production, and demography as a new generation of remote sensing provides unparalleled topographic and environmental information.

战争是如此普遍，以至于它实际上是一种普遍的人类行为，特别是在复杂的社会中。 直到最近，经典的低地玛雅（公元。250-900）被认为是这一规则的例外。 对“和平的玛雅”观点的一个重大打击是1966年发现的与位于危地马拉东北部森林中的蒂卡尔巨大中心有关的令人印象深刻的土方工程。 这些土方工程长达数公里，沿着两侧的沼泽被解释为防御工事，保卫面积约120平方公里的农业腹地。 更重要的是，它们代表了玛雅人自己关于古代环境的哪些部分对他们来说是重要的一个公然（和独特）的声明。从那时起，文物和艺术证实了玛雅人存在激烈的战争形式，考古学家记录了许多其他防御系统。 然而，近40年来，蒂卡尔的土方工程被忽视了。 人们对它们及其意义作了很多假设，但所知甚少。 美国国家科学基金会的慷慨支持使大卫韦伯斯特博士和他的同事们能够在2003年回到蒂卡尔，正确地绘制土方工程图，并寻找丢失的部分。 他们发现了该系统的新部分，现在几乎有26公里长，形成了一个粗略的多边形，可以覆盖至少200平方公里。 该团队还绘制了一条250米宽，12.8公里长的古代定居点走廊，与该地区有关。 这项研究在一定程度上是对地理信息系统/全球定位系统新技术及其在崎岖的热带森林条件下的效用的测试，在这些条件下，这些技术的效果非常好，目前的2005年项目将在这些发现的基础上，绘制与新的南极洲部分有关的大片定居点以及南极洲本身的地图。 这项工作将扩大边界的东侧，并找到迄今失踪的南部边界。 总的来说，它被怀疑可能是50-60公里长-古代中美洲人有史以来最大的单一建设项目之一。 至关重要的是确定这个系统的年代，它可能建于世纪中期。详细的地图绘制将有助于评估关于这一边界具有非防御功能（如灌溉渠道）的建议，也将有助于了解当地人口可能只有20，000 - 30，000人，如何建造和保卫这样一个边界。 创新的土壤分析方法将提供蒂卡尔及其附近地区农业生产的化学特征。 这项研究也将构成一个纯粹的考古测试蒂卡尔的王朝和军事历史记录在铭文。这个项目既有文化历史和理论的影响。 它将允许构建劳动力估计，有助于理解主要玛雅政体的政治集中化规模。 如果土方工程实际上是防御工事，它们将揭示许多关于古代玛雅军事战略和战术的信息。 这项研究将综合美国航天局/国家科学基金会（AIRSAR）联合项目最近制作的遥感图像。 这些图像将用于搜索热带雨林的缺失部分，但结果将测试这种遥感在热带森林环境中的潜力。一旦年表确定，最终的回报将是能够应用土地利用、农业生产和人口统计的地理信息系统模型，因为新一代遥感提供了无与伦比的地形和环境信息。