The Urban Economy of Aztec-Period Calixtlahuaca, Mexico

在美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）的支持下，迈克尔·e·史密斯博士（Michael E. Smith）和一个由同事组成的国际团队将对卡利克斯特拉瓦卡阿兹特克遗址出土的考古文物和沉积物进行一系列技术分析。美国国家科学基金会支持的发掘工作发现了一系列房屋和露台，为回答有关古代城市中心的重要问题提供了独特的机会。就像今天许多拉丁美洲城市周围的棚户区一样，卡利克斯特拉瓦卡的住宅区沿着陡峭的山坡延伸，房屋建在石头露台上。然而，这座阿兹特克城市的居民并不是贫穷的农村移民；相反，他们的房屋和文物表明，他们创造了一种繁荣的生活方式。许多家庭从事纺织品、石器和其他工艺品的生产，大多数房屋都有从遥远地区进口的陶瓷器皿、石器和青铜首饰。一个偏远地区的山顶城市是如何为其居民实现如此高和可持续的生活水平的？这些分析将有助于回答这个问题。NSF基金将用于三种主要类型的研究。首先，需要对出土文物进行计数、分类和描述。来自美国、墨西哥、欧洲和加拿大的专业人士和学生将在未来三年里每年花两个月的时间来做这项工作。研究结果将揭示卡利克斯特拉瓦卡城市居民的生活方式、活动和社会状况。所有这些研究都将在墨西哥托卢卡的一个实验室设施中进行。第二种类型的研究将是对人工制品的技术科学分析。化学分析和其他技术将使研究人员能够确定进口物品的原产地，重建当地物品的制造过程，并通过放射性碳定年法确定房屋的年龄和遗址的特征。第三组分析将是对在梯田和其他沉积物中挖掘的土壤和植物遗骸进行科学研究。这项工作将揭示阿兹特克独特的成功农业形式：城市梯田种植。了解这种古老的可持续农业系统可以帮助农学家为今天的墨西哥丘陵地区设计适当的小规模农业战略。分析完成后，史密斯博士将把结果与他之前在墨西哥中部另一个地区莫雷洛斯州的挖掘结果进行比较。两者都是繁荣的地区，阿兹特克帝国因其资源而征服了它们。这两组结果将共同阐明古代帝国扩张的过程及其对城市、农业和社会的影响。许多美国、墨西哥和欧洲的研究生和本科生将在这个项目中接受实验室培训和经验。美国和墨西哥之间的国际合作将通过几位墨西哥合作者的工作，以及通过与在托卢卡地区工作的当地考古学家和历史学家的互动来促进。史密斯博士在托卢卡大学的实验室设施有助于改善这个墨西哥城市的科学基础设施。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Michael E. Smith and an international team of colleagues will conduct a series of technical analyses of archaeological artifacts and deposits excavated at the Aztec site of Calixtlahuaca. NSF-supported excavations uncovered a series of houses and terraces that present a unique opportunity to answer important questions about ancient urban centers. Like the shantytown areas that surround many Latin American cities today, the residential zones at Calixtlahuaca extended up steep slopes, with houses built on stone terraces. Yet the residents of this Aztec city were not poor rural immigrants; instead, their houses and artifacts reveal that they forged a prosperous way of life. Many families engaged in the production of textiles, stone tools and other craft items, and most houses contained ceramic vessels, stone tools, and bronze jewelry imported from distant zones. How did a hilltop city in a provincial area achieve such a high and sustainable standard of living for its residents? The analyses will help answer this question.The NSF funds will be used for three major types of study. First, the excavated artifacts need to be counted, classified, and described. Professionals and students from the U.S., Mexico, Europe, and Canada will spend two months in each of the next three years doing this work. The results will shed light on the lifestyles, activities, and social conditions of the urban residents of Calixtlahuaca. All such research will take place in a laboratory facility in Toluca, Mexico. The second type of study will be technical scientific analyses of artifacts. Chemical analysis and other techniques will allow researchers to determine the places of origin of imported objects, to reconstruct the procedures of manufacture of local items, and to determine the ages of the houses and features of the sites through radiocarbon dating. The third group of analyses will be scientific studies of the soils and plant remains excavated in terraces and other deposits. This work will shed light on a unique Aztec form of successful agriculture: urban terraced cultivation. An understanding of this ancient sustainable farming system may help agronomists design appropriate small-scale agricultural strategies for the hilly areas of Mexico today.When the analyses are completed, Dr. Smith will compare the results to his former excavations in Morelos, another region of central Mexico. Both were prosperous areas conquered by the Aztec Empire for their resources. Together, the two sets of results will clarify the processes of ancient imperial expansion and its impact on cities, farming, and society.Numerous graduate and undergraduate students - U.S., Mexican, and European -will receive laboratory training and experience on this project. International cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico will be promoted through the work of several Mexican collaborators as well as through interactions with local archaeologists and historians working in the Toluca area. Dr. Smith's laboratory facility at the Colegio Mexiquense in Toluca contributes to an improved scientific infrastructure in this Mexican city.