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

玛丽阿库纳将进行考古研究在南部玛雅低地网站埃尔Achiotal位于西北佩滕，危地马拉的监督下，博士大卫Freidel和博士马塞洛卡努托。 该遗址的主要使用时间似乎是在公元前400年至公元550年之间，即前古典晚期，也许在前古典中期更早，即公元前800年至公元前400年之间。2009年，Acuna女士的初步探索揭示了该遗址寺庙所在地的一系列建筑施工事件，这些事件反映了该中心社会和政治地位的重大变化，包括皇家王朝的建立。 王室的证据被画在一幅壁画上，描绘了神圣王权的皇家徽章，其风格在佩滕低地的其他地方还不为人所知。 此外，图像表示表明与墨西哥湾沿岸早期奥尔梅克文明有关的图像的联系。El Achiotal位于佩滕核心区以西，非常适合了解早期玛雅核心中心与连接该地区与西部低地和墨西哥湾沿岸的边境遗址之间存在的关系。 中晚期前古典时期是玛雅低地新兴城邦历史上的关键时期，El Achiotal可能会揭示有关较小的边境遗址在这些变化中所扮演的角色的令人兴奋的新数据。关于前古典政治组织及其出现，需要有其他的解释。 像El Achiotal这样的小遗址位于一条重要的贸易路线沿着的战略位置，有早期王权的证据，这为阐明政治经济在巩固王权方面的重要性提供了一个独特的机会。凭借其核心区域以西的战略位置及其不寻常的特征，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。Acuna女士的研究将有助于解释玛雅地区社会政治复杂性的理论模型，并有助于澄清区域间关系如何影响随后在玛雅地区广泛传播的艺术规范和政治意识形态。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历史的培训。 除了该项目的考古意义外，这项工作还直接关系到保护该地区雨林的努力。 由于现代定居和东部的侵占，El Achiotal西部的拉古纳del Tigre国家公园迅速恶化，使该项目成为一个时机。 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.