CHACOAN EXPANSION OR EMULATION OF THE CHACOAN SYSTEM? THE EMERGENCE OF AZTEC, SALMON, AND OTHER GREAT HOUSE COMMUNITIES IN THE MIDDLE SAN JUAN

在美国国家科学基金会（NSF）的支持下，沙漠考古中心（CDA）组建的一个研究小组将调查新墨西哥州西北部中圣胡安地区的阿兹特克和萨尔蒙的古老普韦布洛城镇。在11世纪末和12世纪初，阿兹特克和萨尔蒙迅速崛起，成为查科统治末期的重要地区中心。这些社区是如何发展起来的？哪些因素导致了查科人对中圣胡安地区的影响？这些数据是否支持查科人的迁移，或者更确切地说，支持当地群体交换和模仿查科人的特征？近世纪来，这些问题一直是考古学家们研究的课题。20世纪早期在阿兹特克遗址工作的莫里斯伯爵认识到它对了解大圣胡安地区普韦布洛人历史的重要性。20世纪70年代，辛西娅·欧文-威廉姆斯和她的同事们在鲑鱼遗址探索了查科人的殖民和移民，并为这些问题提供了初步的答案。然而，这些考古先驱们才刚刚开始解决这些复杂的问题。CDA团队的研究表明，到世纪末，查科人对中圣胡安地区的影响，最初定居在鲑鱼普韦布洛，后来更大的群体定居在阿兹特克社区的大房子里。 除了这些大型遗址，该地区的一些较小的社区也显示出查科人影响的证据，包括Jaquez，植物群Vista和Holmes Group。NSF资助的研究小组成员将集中在建筑，陶瓷，纺织品，编织，和其他易腐文物从阿兹特克，鲑鱼，和较小的社区在该地区。利用最近的方法学进步，使用低和高可见性的属性的架构和不同的工件类，迁移和仿真过程中的中间圣胡安将被识别。项目小组成员将分析来自各博物馆的相关藏品，并进行新的实地考察，以：1）检查两个过程中的哪一个解释了查科特征的存在：来自查科峡谷的群体的迁移;或当地中部圣胡安群体对查科建筑和其他物质文化的模仿;或这些过程的某种组合;以及2）追踪随着查科系统的衰落，阿兹特克和鲑鱼发展成为经济和仪式中心。最近关于移民的研究扩大了我们对古代美国西南部人口流动的理解。阿兹特克和鲑鱼的出现项目将是这项研究的重要补充，在一个尚未系统研究移民的地区实施一种改进的方法。此外，该项目将对查科考古学做出重大贡献，并有助于实现Earl Morris和Cynthia Irwin-Williams早期关键研究的潜力。查科人对中圣胡安影响的研究将对公众了解新墨西哥州西北部和四角地区的古代普韦布洛考古学和历史产生广泛影响。先前对阿兹特克和萨蒙（以及周围的中圣胡安地区）的古代社区的解释强调了人的浪潮：首先来自查科峡谷，后来来自科罗拉多西南部的梅萨维德地区。新的研究对这些长期存在的假设提出了质疑，并表明当地人在这些社区的发展中发挥了重要作用。目前的建议汇集了最先进的研究和现有收藏的研究，以调查查科人在阿兹特克和鲑鱼普韦布洛的起源中所发挥的作用。

With National Science Foundation (NSF) support, a team of researchers assembled by the Center for Desert Archaeology (CDA) will investigate the ancient pueblo towns of Aztec and Salmon in the Middle San Juan region of northwest New Mexico. In the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, Aztec and Salmon rapidly emerged as important regional centers near the end of Chaco's ascendancy. How did these communities develop? What factors account for Chacoan influence in the Middle San Juan region? Do the data support Chacoan migration or , rather, exchange and emulation of Chacoan traits by local groups? These questions have been the subject of inquiry for nearly a century by archaeologists. Earl Morris, working at Aztec Ruins in the early part of the 20th century, recognized its importance for understanding Puebloan history of the greater San Juan region. Cynthia Irwin-Williams and her colleagues in the 1970s explored Chacoan colonization and migration at Salmon Ruins, and provided preliminary answers to these questions. Yet, these archaeological pioneers only began to tackle these complex issues.Research by the CDA team indicates Chacoan influence in the Middle San Juan region by the late 11th century, with initial settlement at Salmon Pueblo, and later settlement of a larger group at great houses in the Aztec Community. In addition to these large sites, a number of smaller communities in the region exhibit evidence of Chacoan influence, including Jaquez, Flora Vista, and the Holmes Group. NSF-funded research by team members will focus on architecture, ceramics, textiles, basketry, and other perishable artifacts from Aztec, Salmon, and smaller communities in the region. Drawing upon recent methodological advances using low- and high-visibility attributes of architecture and different artifact classes, processes of migration and emulation in the Middle San Juan will be discerned. Project team members will analyze relevant collections from various museums and conduct new fieldwork to: 1) examine which of two processes account for the presence of Chacoan traits: migration by groups from Chaco Canyon; or emulation of Chacoan architecture and other material culture by local Middle San Juan group; or some combination of these processes; and 2) track the development of Aztec and Salmon into economic and ritual centers as the Chacoan system declined.Recent research on migration has expanded our understanding of population movements in the ancient American Southwest. The Emergence of Aztec and Salmon project will be an important addition to this research, implementing a refined methodology in an area in which migration has not been systematically studied. In addition, the project will make a significant contribution to Chacoan archaeology, and help realize the potential of the earlier, pivotal research of Earl Morris and Cynthia Irwin-Williams.The study of Chacoan influence in the Middle San Juan will have a broad impact on the public's understanding of ancient Puebloan archaeology and history in the northwest New Mexico and across the Four Corners region. Prior interpretation of the ancient communities of Aztec and Salmon (and the surrounding Middle San Juan area) has emphasized waves of people: first from Chaco Canyon, and later, from the Mesa Verde area in southwest Colorado. New research has questioned these long-standing assumptions and suggests that local people played an important role in the development of these communities. The current proposal brings together state-of-the-art research and study of existing collections to investigate the role played by the Chacoans in the origins of the Aztec and Salmon pueblos.