Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Maya Luxury Goods at Contact: Transformation of Value in a Hybrid Economy

在Timothy W.Pugh博士的监督下，Yuko Shiratori将调查接触前奢侈品的分布情况，以考察接触期间(公元1525-1697年)危地马拉Petén Lake地区几个地点土著贸易和传统价值观的变化。Shiratori将检查由Timothy Pugh导演的Proyecto Arqueológico Tayasal在佩特恩伊塔湖半岛东部边缘的Tayasal遗址发现的文物，以及最近挖掘的弗洛雷斯遗址，弗洛雷斯位于湖中的一个岛屿上。弗洛雷斯曾是伊扎玛雅的首都，但在接触时期占领该遗址的后经典在很大程度上受到了现代城市的干扰。塔亚萨尔包含从后经典时期到殖民时期的核心伊特萨定居点现存最实质性的原址遗迹。结合历史和考古证据，将阐明影响内陆玛雅社会的文化变迁过程。本研究侧重于不同社会、政治和经济需求下物品价值的转变，为长期考察文化变迁与世界经济在文化接触中的交集提供了重要机会。最近关于接触中的文化变化的后果的理论辩论强调了价值体系被破坏的过程。该项目将有助于在历史文献和考古数据的框架内，全面了解世界各地的文化变化，特别是变革、抵抗和殖民的过程。这项研究将揭示在欧洲陶瓷、金属和玻璃引入之前一直享有盛名的本土材料。在接触时期，传统奢侈品的价值随着社会、经济和政治需求的变化而发生变化。本研究采用历时的方法测量奢侈品的价值，揭示在接触情境中价值的建构和解构的细节。此外，通过将文化变迁与物质对象联系起来，本研究将有助于最近关于接触期间世界体系经济的理论讨论。通过重建奢侈品在礼仪和住宅区的分布，这个项目将检查奢侈品在社会、政治和家庭背景下出现的频率；从而阐明它们的限制程度。拟议的项目将使当地中央大学(CUDEP)的危地马拉考古学学生受益。它将为这些学生提供一个机会，让他们接受考古学实验室方法的培训，并了解他们的文化史。在更广泛的层面上，该项目将通过一个基于网络的公共数据库向公众提供数据。这些数据的可获得性将对更广泛的受众产生广泛影响，特别是研究全球文化接触的学者。

Under the supervision of Dr. Timothy W. Pugh, Yuko Shiratori will investigate distributions of pre-Contact luxury items in order to examine changes in indigenous trade and traditional values during the Contact period (A.D. 1525-1697) at several sites in the Petén lakes region of Guatemala. Shiratori will examine artifacts recovered by Proyecto Arqueológico Tayasal, directed by Timothy Pugh, at Tayasal, a site on the eastern edge of a peninsula in Lake Petén Itzá, and from recently excavated Flores, which rests on an island in the lake. Flores was once the capital of the Itza Maya, but the Postclassic through Contact period occupation of the site has been largely disturbed by the modern city. Tayasal contains the most substantial extant in situ remains of a core Itza settlement from the Postclassic through the Colonial period. Combining historical and archaeological evidence will illuminate the processes of culture change that affected the inland Maya societies.This research focuses on the transformation of values of objects under different social, political, and economic demands, providing a significant opportunity to examine the intersection between culture change and world economy at culture contact on a long-term basis. Recent theoretical debates on the consequences of the culture change at contact emphasize the processes involved in the disruption of value systems. This project will contribute to the general understanding of culture change around the world, especially the processes of transformation, resistance, and colonization within the framework of both historical documents and archaeological data. This research will shed light on indigenous materials that were prestigious until the introduction of European ceramics, metal, and glass. The values of traditional luxury objects were changed by the social, economic, and political demand from the Postclassic through the Contact period. Employing a diachronic approach in measuring values of luxury goods, this study will reveal details about the construction and deconstruction of value in situations of contact. Moreover, this research will contribute to the recent theoretical discussions on world-system economy during the contact period by contextualizing cultural change with material objects. By reconstructing the distribution of luxury goods in ceremonial and residential areas, this project will examine the degree of frequencies that luxury goods occurred in social, political, and domestic contexts; thereby, illuminating their degree of restrictiveness.The proposed project will benefit Guatemalan archaeology students at the local university of Centro Universitario de El Petén (CUDEP). It will provide an opportunity for these students to be trained in laboratory methods in archaeology and to learn about their culture history. At the broader level, this project will provide data available to the public through a web-based public database. The availability of these data will have a broad impact on a wider audience, particularly scholars who study culture contact around the globe.