The Great Ballcourt at Nixtun-Ch'ich', Guatemala: The Terminal Classic "Collapse" and Relations with Chich'en Itza

危地马拉 Nixtun-Chich 的大球场：最后的经典“崩溃”以及与奇琴伊察的关系

• 批准号: 0742295
• 负责人: Prudence Rice
• 金额: $ 2.69万
• 依托单位: Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-02-01 至 2011-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0742295&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Great; Ballcourt; Nixtun; Ch; ich

Prudence M. Rice and a team of American and Guatemalan archaeologists will examine processes of societal survival and regeneration through the famous Classic southern lowland Maya civilizational "collapse." Investigations focus on the Great Ballcourt at the site of Nixtun-Ch'ich', on the western edge of Lake Peten Itza, Peten, Guatemala, which thrived from the late Early Preclassic (ca. 1000-800 B.C.) into the Postclassic and historic period (early 18th century). Societal survival through collapse depends on many factors, one being mechanisms that enhance socio-political integration and group solidarity. In Mesoamerica, the ballgame is one such mechanism; with deep mythological significance, its earliest formal court of play dates to 1400 B.C. Nixtun-Ch'ich's Great Ballcourt architectural complex boasts a playing alley 100 m long and 30 m wide, the largest ballcourt in the southern lowlands, and it resembles in size and plan the Great Ballcourt at Chich'en Itza (to the north in Yucatan, Mexico). Nixtun-Ch'ich's ballcourt is hypothesized to have been a key setting for public rituals of integration, accompanied by displays of competition and feasting. It is proposed that these, together with yet-unknown politico-economic ties to Chich'en Itza in the north, furthered the site's survival during the Maya "collapse." Project objectives include: (1) dating the construction of Nixtun Ch'ich's Great Ballcourt complex; (2) examining the complex's use in public ritual through evidence of feasting; and (3) investigating relations with Chich'en Itza's ballcourt complex through architectural and ceramic comparisons. These objectives will be achieved through a clearing and excavation strategy that involves: (1) determining the exact dimensions of the ballcourt playing alley; (2) shallow transverse trenching across one of the ballcourt's structures; (3) deep test-pitting to investigate construction history; (4) identifying archaeological deposits (middens) behind (exterior to) the court, as evidence of feasting; and (5) testing ancillary structures for evidence of superstructural remains comparable to those at Chich'en Itza. The intellectual merit of the project lies in answering questions about why some societies collapse and others continue, and what conditions result in irreversible declines while others permit continuity or regeneration. In studying one large Maya center that forestalled decline while others succumbed to "collapse," seeds of continuity can be examined through the integrative mechanism of public ritual and feasting associated with the ballgame. Relations with Chich'en Itza, a large, distant site with a similar ballcourt complex, will also be explored. This research contributes to general questions of societal collapse and regeneration, deepening understanding of the role of public ritual as a socio-political integrative mechanism. It provides a better understanding of the complex mosaic of the southern lowland Classic Maya "collapse" and the role of the Mesoamerican ballgame. The project contributes to the history of the Itza Maya, whose descendants still reside on the shores of Lake Peten Itza, and returns to them their Classic-period history of survival through collapse. In addition, Guatemalan students will be trained in archaeological field and lab techniques and the results of the work will incorporated into a local museum that is focused on the archaeological history of the region.

普鲁登斯·M赖斯和一个由美国和危地马拉考古学家组成的团队将通过著名的经典南方低地玛雅文明的“崩溃”来研究社会生存和再生的过程。“调查集中在大球场在网站的Nixtun-Ch'ich'，在湖Peten Itza，Peten，危地马拉，从早期前古典晚期繁荣的西部边缘。公元前1000-800年）进入后古典和历史时期（世纪初）。 社会在崩溃中的生存取决于许多因素，其中之一是加强社会政治融合和群体团结的机制。在中美洲，球类运动就是这样一种机制;具有深刻的神话意义，其最早的正式比赛场地可以追溯到公元前1400年Nixtun-Chich的大球场建筑群拥有一条长100米，宽30米的比赛通道，是南部低地最大的球场，它的大小和计划类似于Chich'en Itza的大球场（位于墨西哥尤卡坦半岛北部）。尼克斯顿-奇奇的球场被假设为是一个关键的设置为公共仪式的融合，伴随着显示的竞争和盛宴。有人认为，这些因素，再加上与北部奇琴伊察之间未知的政治经济联系，在玛雅崩溃期间促进了遗址的生存。" 项目目标包括：（1）确定尼克斯顿·契奇大球场建筑群的建造年代;（2）通过宴会的证据考察该建筑群在公共仪式中的用途;（3）通过建筑和陶瓷的比较研究与契奇恩·伊察球场建筑群的关系。这些目标将通过清理和挖掘策略来实现，包括：（1）确定球场球道的确切尺寸;（2）在球场结构之一上进行浅横向挖掘;（3）进行深测试坑，以调查施工历史;（4）确定后面的考古沉积物（贝登）。（外部）法院，作为宴会的证据;和（5）测试辅助结构的上层建筑仍然与那些在奇琴伊察的证据相媲美。 该项目的学术价值在于回答了为什么有些社会崩溃而另一些社会继续存在的问题，以及什么条件导致不可逆转的衰退，而其他条件允许连续性或再生。在研究一个大型玛雅中心时，它阻止了衰落，而其他中心则屈服于“崩溃”，通过与球赛相关的公共仪式和盛宴的整合机制，可以检查连续性的种子。还将探讨与Chich'en Itza的关系，这是一个大型的、遥远的场地，有一个类似的球场。 这项研究有助于社会崩溃和再生的一般性问题，加深对公共仪式作为社会政治整合机制的作用的理解。它提供了一个更好的了解复杂的马赛克南部低地经典玛雅“崩溃”和中美洲球赛的作用。该项目为Itza玛雅人的历史做出了贡献，他们的后代仍然居住在Peten Itza湖的岸边，并向他们归还了他们在崩溃中生存的古典时期历史。 此外，危地马拉学生将接受考古现场和实验室技术培训，工作成果将纳入当地博物馆，重点是该地区的考古历史。