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·弗里德尔博士和马塞洛·卡努托博士的监督下，在危地马拉佩特海姆西北部的玛雅南部低地埃尔阿奇奥塔尔进行考古研究。该遗址的主要活动时间似乎在公元前400年至550年之间，即前古典时期晚期，也可能开始于公元前800年至400年的前古典中期。Acuna女士在2009年的初步探索揭示了该遗址寺庙所在地一系列建筑施工事件的存在，这些事件反映了该中心随着时间的推移在社会和政治地位上的重大变化，包括皇室的建立。王室的证据被画在一幅壁画上，壁画上描绘了神圣王权的王室徽章，这种风格在佩特海姆低地的其他地方还不为人知。此外，图像的表现表明与墨西哥湾沿岸早期奥尔梅克文明有关的图像有联系。El Achiotal位于petn核心区的西部，对于理解早期玛雅核心中心与连接西部低地和墨西哥湾沿岸的边境遗址之间存在的关系是完美的。前古典中期和晚期是玛雅低地新兴城邦历史的关键时期，而El Achiotal可能会揭示令人兴奋的新数据，说明较小的边境遗址在这些变化中所起的作用。我们需要对前古典政治组织及其出现的其他解释。像El Achiotal这样的小遗址的存在，提供了早期王权的证据，它位于重要贸易路线的战略位置，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。由于其位于核心地区西部的战略位置和不同寻常的特征，埃尔阿奇奥塔尔提供了一个探索早期玛雅社会政治整合在地方和区域层面的机会。Acuna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将接受实地方法和该地区考古历史方面的培训。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雨林的努力。位于El Achiotal以西的Laguna del Tigre国家公园因现代定居和东部侵占而迅速恶化，这使得该项目成为一个合适的时机。与当地居民的考古合作将促进成果的传播，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.