HRRPAA: Development of Underwater Archaeology Techniques

2011年5月1日至20日，在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，Lisa J. Lucero博士和一支由淡水潜水员组成的国际团队将在伯利兹卡拉布兰卡进行一次潜水探险，探索古玛雅文物的天然井（由地下水位提供的天坑）。这项研究很重要，因为它有可能为史前玛雅人在森林低地环境中成功生存和适应几个世纪的过程提供新的线索。虽然许多玛雅考古遗址已经被挖掘出来，但这个项目有可能提供一种独特的数据类型。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几千年，他们在古典时期末期面临的挑战与当今社会在应对全球气候变化加速方面所面临的挑战是一样的。该团队汇集了美国、伯利兹和墨西哥的深潜和水下考古专家，评估了玛雅低地在公元800年至900年间遭遇的一系列干旱中仪式的强化。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10世纪初放弃了他们在南部低地的国王和中心。卡拉布兰卡的25个游泳池中有几个有仪式建筑，上面有专门的人工制品组合，表明它们不仅是通往冥界或西巴尔巴的门户，也是朝圣的地方。天然井中预计会有陶器、石制物品和在北部低地天然井和洞穴中发现的牺牲者等玛雅祭品，这是另一种类型的入口。虽然洞穴一直是许多研究的焦点，但对南部低地天然井的研究较少，原因有两个：1)大多数天然井位于北部低地；2)水下探险需要专门的设备、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8个池中的2个，池1和池20，有专门的沉降，并且相当深（超过35米和超过60米）。这些潜水将需要使用混合气体（三混合气，包括氦气），并可能使用闭路换气器。可行性将根据人工制品层的确定和需要挖掘的体积以及在这种深度执行这项工作所需的时间来确定。拟议的调查为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，就像他们在以前的野外季节一样。

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.