Collaborative Proposal: Elite Strategies and Political Change in Xaltocan, Mexico

这个考古项目将研究土著精英如何在墨西哥Xaltocan面临政治统治条件的变化时构成他们的权力。 Xaltocan位于墨西哥城以北约50公里处，曾经是一个独立的地区首府。 它被阿兹特克人征服，后来被并入西班牙帝国。从该遗址独立到被阿兹特克帝国统治，再到被西班牙控制，沙尔托坎的精英们是如何形成他们的权力的？ 在Xaltocan的这三个政治变革时期，精英和平民的消费模式之间是否有明显的区别？ 这个项目将研究精英们是否将他们的社会地位要求建立在当地或区域的权力来源之上，这反映在他们对当地或区域物质文化和象征的使用上。 由于罕见的情况组合，在18年的实地考察中，首次有可能在Xaltocan的核心区域进行挖掘，以研究这些问题。 活动将包括在Xaltocan中心挖掘一个5 x 10米的单元，并分析挖掘过程中恢复的所有材料和建筑。 分析的三个主要目标是：1）为挖掘的背景制定一个年表，2）确定哪些材料是当地制造的，哪些是进口到现场的，以及3）将不同的材料与遗址内的其他挖掘区域进行比较，以确定遗址的核心和周边地区之间的消费模式是否存在显着差异。 这种对精英战略的长期考古学将与阿兹特克帝国主义的学术研究相关，并将研究中美洲以外的帝国和精英。 历史编年史可以提供阿兹特克精英在城市中心的看法，但他们提供的农村网站的信息很少。 此外，历史编年史提供了一种关于精英战略的非历史观。 这个项目将提供一个长期的观点，精英战略在农村网站，这将有助于超越静态的观点，精英战略捕捉到的历史编年史。 这项研究将有助于最近的帝国，国家和合法化战略的比较和区域研究。 通过与世界不同地区的类似工作进行比较，这项研究将有助于澄清国家和帝国如何随着时间的推移而变化，以及这些帝国内的精英如何改变他们的权力基础。该项目的更广泛影响包括将学生融入实地调查和分析的不同方面，向广泛的非学术受众传播知识，以及少数民族（特别是西班牙裔）和妇女在该项目中的参与，这两者在学术考古学中的代表性都不足。 该项目将整合来自德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校和西北大学的本科生和研究生进入该项目的实地考察，分析和写作阶段。 该项目还将向Xaltocan当地人展示和传播知识，他们对自己的历史和考古学感到非常自豪，部分原因是他们在镇上进行的实地考察。

This archaeological project will examine how indigenous elites constituted their power in Xaltocan, Mexico when faced with changes in the conditions of political domination. Xaltocan, located approximately 50 km north of Mexico City, was once an independent regional capital. It was conquered by the Aztec, and it was later incorporated into the Spanish Empire. How did elites in Xaltocan, from the period of the site's independence, through domination by the Aztec Empire, and then under Spanish control, constitute their power? Are there clear distinctions between the patterns of consumption of elites and those of commoners during these three periods of political change in Xaltocan? This project will examine whether elites based their claims of social status upon local or upon regional sources of power, as reflected in their use of local or regional material culture and symbols. Due to a rare combination of circumstances, for the first time in 18 years of fieldwork it will be possible to excavate in the core area of Xaltocan to examine these questions. Activities will include excavation of a 5 x 10m unit in the center of Xaltocan, and analysis of all the materials and architecture recovered during excavation. The three main goals of the analysis will be: 1) to formulate a chronology for the excavated contexts, 2) to determine which materials were made locally, and which were imported to the site, and 3) to compare the different materials to other areas excavated within the site to determine whether there were significant differences in patterns of consumption between the site's core and peripheral areas. This long-term archaeology of elite strategies will be relevant to scholarship on Aztec imperialism, and to work on empires and elites beyond Mesoamerica. Historical chronicles can provide a view of Aztec elites in urban centers, but they provide little information on rural sites. Furthermore, historical chronicles provide an ahistorical view of elite strategies. This project will provide a long-term view of elite strategies in a rural site, which will help move beyond the static view of elite strategies captured in historical chronicles. This study will contribute to recent comparative and regional studies on empires, states, and strategies of legitimation. By comparison with similar work in different world regions, the study will help clarify how states and empires change over time, and how elites within those empires transform their basis of power.The broader impacts of the project include the integration of students in different aspects of fieldwork and analysis, the dissemination of knowledge to a broad non-academic audience, and the participation of ethnic minorities (specifically Hispanic) and women in the project, both of which are underrepresented in academic archaeology. The project will integrate undergraduate and graduate students from both the University of Texas at Austin and Northwestern University into the fieldwork, analysis, and write-up stages of the project. The project will also result in exhibits and dissemination of knowledge to locals in Xaltocan, who have developed great pride in their history and archaeology in part as a result of ongoing fieldwork in their town.