Implications of Volcanic Ash in the Maya lowlands: Glass Shards in the Pottery Sherds

该奖项为考古学家阿纳贝尔福特博士和火山学家弗兰克·斯佩拉博士领导的合作项目提供支持。通过联合学科来解决考古学问题，他们将确定火山灰（玻璃）的来源，这些火山灰（玻璃）在古典时期晚期的古玛雅日常陶器中用作陶瓷回火。新鲜火山灰的存在超过350公里的任何火山，一贯发现陶器碎片（碎片）从石灰岩玛雅低地是意想不到的。 然而，自20世纪30年代以来，当安娜O。谢泼德在鉴定火山灰中的玛雅陶器时，已经意识到考古学家的异常。火山灰来源的正确识别将使这些学者能够恢复文化，生态和环境影响的关键证据，这些影响促成了玛雅文明的兴起和衰落。当所有的运输都是靠人力时，相对大量的火山灰是如何用于陶瓷生产的？ 这个问题从来没有得到过解答，其意义是重大的。本项目将使用地球化学和火山学工具来研究古玛雅陶器碎片中火山玻璃碎片的运输、扩散和鉴定。 测试将包括1）监测烧制对陶瓷碎片中玻璃碎片成分的影响; 2）评估元素（主要、次要和痕量）和同位素比率（锶和铅）的玻璃碎片在陶器碎片的指纹火山;第三章将陶器碎片中的玻璃碎片和伴生矿物质的元素组成与中美洲高地和墨西哥的候选火山相匹配火山带; 4）模拟火山灰散布到石灰岩低地的模式，以寻找候选火山; 5）探索火山灰进入玛雅低地土壤、植物和动物生活的后果。 这些数据将使研究小组能够解决火山灰对玛雅文化发展和完善低地玛雅年代学的影响。虽然人们普遍认为火山灰不是本地的，但原始的新鲜火山灰的异常存在从未得到解释。既然最好的答案是来自遥远火山的火山灰，那么这个问题的解决就需要考古学和火山学的知识。这种合作的智力价值在于，它将NSF在不同领域的资助所产生的知识带到了联合解决方案中。火山学解决方案的考古学意义对于理解陶瓷生产的经济以及火山远离的玛雅森林的生态具有重要意义。研究结果的广泛影响促进了以问题为导向的科学的创新方法，需要不同领域的充分参与。火山被普遍认为是危险，但在一定程度上，它们可以提供一些好处，如陶器的回火和土壤的改良。因此，这一考古问题的解决将扩大我们对社会与其不断变化的环境的相互作用的理解。

This award provides support for collaborativeproject led by archaeologist Dr. Anabel Ford and volcanologist Dr. Frank Spera. By uniting disciplines to address an archaeological problem, they will identifythe source(s) of volcanic ash (glass) used as ceramic temper in everyday potteryof the ancient Maya in the Late Classic Period. The presence of fresh volcanicash more than 350 km from any volcano that is consistently discovered inpottery fragments (sherds) from the limestone Maya lowlands is unexpected. Yet,since the 1930s, when Anna O. Sheppard identified volcanic ash in Maya pottery,archaeologists have been aware of the anomaly. The correct identification of thevolcanic ash source(s) will enable these scholars to recover critical evidenceof the cultural, ecological, and environmental influences that contributed tothe rise and fall of the Maya civilization. How did relatively large volumes ofvolcanic ash become available for manufacturing ceramic production when alltransport was with human effort? This question has never been answered and theimplications are significant.This project will use geochemical and volcanological tools to studythe transport, dispersal, and identification of the volcanic glass shards in theancient Maya pottery sherds. Examination will include 1) monitoring the effects of firing on the composition of the glass shards inthe pottery sherds; 2) assessment of the elements (major, minor, and trace) and isotopic ratios(strontium and lead) of glass shards in pottery fragments for fingerprintingvolcanoes; 3) matching the elemental composition of glass shards and associated minerals inpottery sherds to candidate volcanoes in the Central American Highlands andMexican Volcanic Belt; 4) simulating patterns of ashfall dispersal to the limestone lowlands forcandidate volcanoes; and 5) exploring the consequences of volcanic ashfall into the Maya lowland soil,plant, and animal life. These data will permit the team to address the implications of volcanic ash onthe cultural development of the Maya and on refining lowland Maya chronology.While it has been generally accepted that volcanic ash was of non-local origin,the anomaly of the presence of pristine, fresh volcanic ash has never beenexplained. Since the best answer is volcanic ashfall from distant volcanoes, thesolution to the problem requires knowledge of both archaeology and volcanology. The intellectual merit of this collaboration is that it brings knowledgegenerated from NSF funding in distinct fields to a joint solution. Thearchaeological implications of the volcanological solution has consequences forunderstanding the economy of ceramic production as well as the ecology of theMaya forest where volcanoes are at a distance.The broad impacts of the research results promote an innovative approach toproblem-oriented science requiring the full involvement of distinct fields.Volcanoes are universally recognized as hazards, but at a distance they canprovide benefits such as temper for pottery and amendments for soil. Thus, theresolution of this archaeological issue will expand our understanding ofsociety's interaction with their changing environment.