Doctoral Dissertation Research: Monitoring the Development of Early Kingship at El Achiotal, a Preclassic (800BCE-200CE) Maya Frontier Royal Center in Northwestern Peten, Guatemala

玛丽·简·阿库纳将在大卫·弗赖德尔博士和马塞洛·卡努托博士的监督下，在危地马拉佩廷西北部的南部玛雅低地El Achiotal遗址进行考古研究。该遗址的主要居住地似乎是在公元前400年至公元前550年之间，即前经典时代晚期，可能始于中前经典时期更早的时期，即公元前800年至公元前400年之间。阿库纳女士在2009年进行的初步探索显示，在该遗址的寺庙遗址上出现了一系列建筑建造事件，反映了随着时间的推移，该中心的社会和政治地位发生了重大变化，包括建立了一个王朝。王室的证据被绘制在一幅壁画上，壁画以一种在Petén低地其他地方尚不为人所知的风格描绘了神圣国王的皇家徽章。此外，肖像的表现表明了与墨西哥湾沿岸较早的奥尔梅克文明有关的意象的联系。El Achiotal位于Petén核心区以西，非常适合了解早期核心玛雅中心与连接该地区与西部低地和墨西哥湾沿岸的前沿地点之间的关系。前经典中期和晚期是玛雅低地新兴城邦历史上的关键时期，而El Achiotal可能会揭示关于较小的边疆遗址在这些变化中所扮演的角色的令人兴奋的新数据。关于前古典主义政治组织及其出现，我们需要另一种解释。像El Achiotal这样的小遗址的存在，以及早期王权的证据，位于一条重要的贸易路线上的战略位置，为阐明政治经济在巩固王权中的重要性提供了一个独特的机会。凭借其位于核心地区以西的战略位置和不同寻常的特点，El Achiotal提供了一个在地方和区域层面探索早期玛雅社会政治融合的机会。阿库纳女士的研究将有助于建立解释玛雅地区社会政治复杂性上升的理论模型，并有助于阐明地区间关系如何影响后来在玛雅地区广泛传播的艺术经典和政治意识形态。外国和危地马拉的研究生和本科生都将接受实地方法和该地区考古史方面的培训。除了这个项目的考古意义外，这项工作还直接关系到保护该地区热带雨林的努力。由于现代定居点和东部的入侵，位于阿基奥塔尔以西的老虎湖国家公园迅速恶化，这使得这个项目变得恰到好处。与当地居民的考古合作将促进成果的传播，并突出文化价值和保护文化和自然遗产的重要性，从而阻止抢劫和砍伐森林。

Mary Jane Acuna will conduct archaeological research at the southern Maya lowland site of El Achiotal located in northwestern Petén, Guatemala, under the supervision of Dr. David Freidel and Dr. Marcello Canuto. The site's primary occupation appears to have been between 400 BCE and 550 CE, the Late Preclassic period, and perhaps beginning earlier in the Middle Preclassic, between 800 and 400 BCE. Preliminary explorations by Ms Acuna in 2009 revealed the presence of a sequence of architectural construction episodes in the temple locus of the site that reflect significant changes through time in the social and political status of the center, including the establishment of a royal dynasty. Evidence for royalty is painted on a mural that depicts royal insignia of divine kingship in a style yet unknown elsewhere in the Petén lowlands. Moreover, the iconographic representation suggests an affiliation with imagery associated with the earlier Olmec civilization of the Gulf Coast. El Achiotal's location to the west of the core area of Petén is perfect for understanding what relationship existed between early core Maya centers and frontier sites connecting the region with the western lowlands and the Gulf Coast. The Middle and Late Preclassic are critical periods in the history of emerging city-states in the Maya lowlands, and El Achiotal is likely to reveal exciting new data about the role that smaller frontier sites played during these changes. Alternative explanations about Preclassic political organization and its emergence are needed. The presence of a small site like El Achiotal with evidence for early kingship located in a strategic location along an important trade route provides a unique opportunity to elucidate the importance of the political economy in the consolidation of kingship. With its strategic location west of the core region and its unusual features, El Achiotal provides an opportunity to explore early Maya socio-political integration at a local and regional level. Ms Acuna's research will contribute to the theoretical models explaining the rise of socio-political complexity in the Maya area and help clarify how interregional relations influenced the artistic canons and political ideology that subsequently became widespread in the Maya region.Both foreign and Guatemalan graduate and undergraduate students, will receive training in field methods and in the archaeological history of the region. In addition to the archaeological significance of this project, the work bears directly on the efforts to protect the rainforest in the region. The rapid deterioration of the Laguna del Tigre National Park, west of El Achiotal, resulting from modern settlement and eastern encroachment makes this project opportune. Archaeological collaboration with local populations will facilitate the dissemination of results and highlight the importance of cultural value and protection of cultural and natural patrimony, thus discouraging looting and deforestation.