Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: An Ethnoarchaeological and Experimental Approach to Understanding the Role of Root and Tuber Crops in Ancient Lowland Maya Subsistence

博士论文改进补助金：一种民族考古学和实验方法来了解块根作物和块茎作物在古代低地玛雅生存中的作用

• 批准号: 1032475
• 负责人: Scott Fedick
• 金额: $ 1.28万
• 依托单位: University of California-Riverside
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-08-01 至 2012-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1032475&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Ethnoarchaeological

Under the supervision of Dr. Scott L. Fedick, Lucia Gudiel will examine the presence and significance of root-crops for the ancient lowland Maya. While much is known about the ancient Maya's accomplishments in art, architecture, astronomy, and mathematics, the basic question of how they fed their large populations is not as well understood. Recent paleoethnobotanical research has demonstrated that ancient Maya diet included a wide array of plant foods but due to tropical conditions, such as high humidity and deleterious soil chemistry, the recovery of plant remains is difficult thus leaving gaps in knowledge of ancient Maya subsistence. One such gap is the significance of root-crops in ancient Maya diet. While the delicate tissue of root crops is rarely recovered from archaeological deposits, evidence of their presence has been found in the form of microscopic starch grains. Starch grains are bodies that serve as the primary form of energy for plants. Starch grain development and morphology are under genetic control, thus starch grains differ between plant families, genera and oftentimes species allowing the identification of starch from different plants. Due to its ubiquity in plants, its varied morphology, its resistance to grinding, drying and sometimes carbonization, starch has become a significant means for documenting ancient plant-use and cultivation in tropical areas. There are currently very few studies focused on recovering starch in the lowland Maya region and this study will be one of the first to study the implications of starch for documenting the presence of root-crops in the region. This study focuses on starch grain analysis and data garnered from ethnographic observation, sampling of modern-day houselots, and from experimental and replicative studies. Cultural processes, such as the location, preparation, and disposal of food, and natural processes, such temperature and moisture, alter material remains morphologically, quantitatively, spatially and relationally, thereby transforming the archaeological record. In order to understand how to acquire evidence of root-crops in the archaeological record it is important to account for how root-crops are culturally processed, how these processes affect their starch grains, and in what conditions starch is preserved. Observing modern-day Maya use-history of root-crops will provide an understanding of the relationship between cultural behaviors and the location, condition, and how the physical evidence of the plant (starch) might enter the archaeological record. Broader impacts of this study are the contribution of live specimens of wild and domesticated varieties of indigenous root-crops to botanic gardens at Mexican institutions for study, in situ conservation, and the maintenance of biodiversity. One of the primary objectives of the Alfredo Barrera Marin Botanic Garden in Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo is to educate the public to understand and respect traditional Maya lifeways, and the contribution of root-crop specimens and data will add to this goal. Research results will be used to develop projects with the local Mexican university, Universidad Autonoma de Yucatan located in Merida, Yucatan and with local Maya communities that seek to document and conserve traditional Maya foodways and develop sustainability programs in local communities. Although root and tuber crops are the second most important set of food crops in developing countries and are staples in many tropical areas, these crops are under-researched. This study will yield insight into the history and modern-day practices concerning a currently under-researched, under-valued yet very important resource in tropical America.

在斯科特·l·费迪克博士的指导下，露西娅·古迪尔将研究古低地玛雅地区块根作物的存在及其意义。虽然人们对古代玛雅人在艺术、建筑、天文学和数学方面的成就了解很多，但他们如何养活庞大人口的基本问题却没有得到很好的理解。最近的古民族植物学研究表明，古玛雅人的饮食包括各种各样的植物食物，但由于热带条件，如高湿度和有害的土壤化学，植物遗骸的恢复是困难的，因此留下了古玛雅人生存知识的空白。其中一个差距就是根类作物在古玛雅饮食中的重要性。虽然从考古沉积物中很少找到根茎作物的精致组织，但在微观淀粉颗粒的形式中发现了它们存在的证据。淀粉粒是植物的主要能量来源。淀粉粒的发育和形态受遗传控制，因此淀粉粒在植物科、属和物种之间存在差异，从而可以识别来自不同植物的淀粉。由于淀粉在植物中的普遍存在，其形态多样，耐研磨，耐干燥，有时耐碳化，淀粉已成为记录热带地区古代植物利用和栽培的重要手段。目前很少有研究集中在玛雅低地地区恢复淀粉，这项研究将是第一个研究淀粉对记录该地区块根作物存在的影响的研究之一。本研究的重点是淀粉粒分析和从人种学观察、现代家奴抽样以及实验和复制研究中获得的数据。文化过程，如食物的位置、准备和处理，以及自然过程，如温度和湿度，在形态上、数量上、空间上和关系上改变了物质遗骸，从而改变了考古记录。为了了解如何从考古记录中获取块根作物的证据，重要的是要考虑块根作物是如何被文化加工的，这些过程如何影响它们的淀粉粒，以及淀粉在什么条件下被保存。观察现代玛雅人对块根作物的使用历史，将有助于理解文化行为与地点、条件之间的关系，以及植物（淀粉）的实物证据如何进入考古记录。本研究的更广泛的影响是将野生和驯化的本地块根作物品种的活标本提供给墨西哥各机构的植物园，用于研究、就地保护和维持生物多样性。位于金塔纳罗奥州莫雷洛斯州的Alfredo Barrera Marin植物园的主要目标之一是教育公众了解和尊重传统的玛雅生活方式，而根系作物标本和数据的贡献将有助于实现这一目标。研究成果将用于与墨西哥当地大学（位于尤卡坦梅里达的尤卡坦自治大学）以及当地玛雅社区合作开发项目，这些项目寻求记录和保护传统的玛雅食物方式，并在当地社区开发可持续发展项目。虽然块根和块茎作物是发展中国家第二重要的粮食作物，也是许多热带地区的主要作物，但对这些作物的研究不足。这项研究将深入了解美洲热带地区一种目前研究不足、价值被低估但非常重要的资源的历史和现代实践。