HRRPAA: Development of Underwater Archaeology Techniques

HRRPAA：水下考古技术的发展

• 批准号: 1110005
• 负责人: Lisa Lucero
• 金额: $ 1.76万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-04-15 至 2012-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1110005&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: HRRPAA; Development; Underwater; Archaeology; Techniques

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Lisa J. Lucero and an international team of freshwater divers will conduct a diving expedition to explore cenotes (sinkholes fed by the water table) for ancient Maya offerings at Cara Blanca, Belize May 1-20, 2011. The research is important because it has the potential to shed new light on the processes which allowed prehistoric Mayans to survive and adapt successfully for centuries in a forested lowland environment. While many Mayan archaeological sites have been excavated, this project has the potential to provide a unique type of data. One goal of the project is to assess the impact of climate change on society. The Maya lived successfully in the semi-tropics for millennia, and the challenges they faced at the end of the Classic period are the same ones that today's societies are struggling to address in dealing with accelerating global climate change.The team brings together U.S., Belizean, and Mexican specialists in deep diving and underwater archaeology to assess ritual intensification in the face of a series of droughts that struck the Maya lowlands between c. A.D. 800 and A.D. 900. This period witnessed tumultuous events in Maya history, ultimately resulting in the Maya abandoning their kings and centers in the southern lowlands by the early 10th century. Several of the 25 Cara Blanca pools have ceremonial architecture with specialized artifact assemblages indicating that they served not only as portals to the underworld or Xibalba, but as places for pilgrimage. Cenotes are expected to yield Maya offerings including ceramic vessels, stone items and sacrificial victims as found in northern lowland cenotes and caves, another type of portal. While caves have been the focus of much research, less work has been done on southern lowland cenotes for two reasons: 1) the majority of cenotes are found in the northern lowlands; and 2) underwater explorations require specialized equipment, expertise, and time (divers can only stay in the water a limited amount of time each dive). One major goal of the proposed research is to assess the feasibility of conducting archaeology underwater at depths of at least 60 m. Two of the eight pools explored in 2010, Pools 1 and 20, have associated specialized settlement and are quite deep (over 35 m and over 60 m). These dives will require the use of mixed gases (trimix, including helium) and possibly the use of closed circuit re-breathers. The feasibility will be determined based on the determination of an artifact layer and the volume that would need to be excavated versus the time necessary to perform this work at such depths. The proposed investigation sets the stage for a long-term project on sacred landscapes, including further diving and excavating Cara Blanca's unique structures. Once a foundation is set, undergraduate and graduate students will be included as they have been in previous field seasons.

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，丽莎J卢塞罗博士和一个国际淡水潜水员团队将于2011年5月1日至20日在伯利兹的卡拉布兰卡进行一次潜水探险，探索古玛雅人的纪念品。这项研究很重要，因为它有可能揭示史前玛雅人在森林覆盖的低地环境中成功生存和适应几个世纪的过程。虽然许多玛雅考古遗址已被挖掘，但该项目有可能提供独特类型的数据。该项目的一个目标是评估气候变化对社会的影响。玛雅人在半热带地区成功地生活了数千年，他们在古典时期结束时面临的挑战与当今社会在应对加速的全球气候变化方面所面临的挑战是一样的。伯利兹和墨西哥的深潜和水下考古专家，以评估在公元前2000年至公元前3000年之间袭击玛雅低地的一系列干旱面前仪式的强化。公元800年和900年。这一时期见证了玛雅历史上的动荡事件，最终导致玛雅人在世纪早期放弃了他们在南部低地的国王和中心。25个卡拉布兰卡池中有几个有专门的手工艺品组合的仪式建筑，表明它们不仅是通往冥界或Xibalba的门户，而且是朝圣的地方。在北方低地的天然井和洞穴中发现的另一种入口，预计天然井将产生玛雅祭品，包括陶瓷器皿、石头物品和牺牲品。虽然洞穴一直是许多研究的焦点，但由于两个原因，南部低地的洞穴研究较少：1）大多数洞穴发现于北方低地; 2）水下探索需要专门的设备，专业知识和时间（潜水员每次潜水只能在水中停留有限的时间）。 拟议研究的一个主要目标是评估在至少60米深的水下进行考古的可行性。2010年勘探的八个矿池中有两个，即2011年和20年，与专门的定居点有关，而且相当深（超过35米和60米）。 这些潜水将需要使用混合气体（三元混合气体，包括氦气），并可能使用闭路再呼吸器。可行性将根据人工产物层的确定以及需要挖掘的体积与在该深度进行这项工作所需的时间来确定。拟议中的调查为一个关于神圣景观的长期项目奠定了基础，包括进一步潜水和挖掘卡拉布兰卡的独特结构。一旦建立了基础，本科生和研究生将被包括在内，因为他们已经在以前的领域赛季。