HRRPAA: Development of Underwater Archaeology Techniques

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Lisa J.Lucero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Cara Blanca进行一次潜水探险，探索古玛雅祭品的天坑(由地下水位供应的天坑)。这项研究很重要，因为它有可能为史前玛雅人在森林覆盖的低地环境中成功生存和适应数百年的过程提供新的线索。虽然许多玛雅考古遗址已经被挖掘，但这个项目有可能提供一种独特的数据类型。该项目的目标之一是评估气候变化对社会的影响。玛雅人成功地在亚热带地区生活了数千年，他们在古典时期结束时所面临的挑战，与当今社会在应对不断加速的全球气候变化方面所面临的挑战是相同的。该团队汇集了美国、伯利兹和墨西哥的深潜水和水下考古专家，评估在公元800年至公元900年之间袭击玛雅低地的一系列干旱面前，仪式的强化程度。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。在25个Cara Blanca游泳池中，有几个具有专门的文物组合的仪式建筑，这表明它们不仅是通往冥界或西巴尔巴的门户，而且是朝圣的地方。墓穴预计将产生玛雅祭品，包括陶瓷器皿、石器和祭祀牺牲品，如在北部低地墓穴和洞穴中发现的，这是另一种类型的门户。虽然洞穴一直是许多研究的焦点，但对南部低地洞穴的研究较少，原因有两个：1)大部分洞穴集中在北部低地；2)水下勘探需要专门的设备、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水下至少60米深处进行考古的可行性。2010年勘探的八个水池中有两个，即水池1和20，都有相关的专门沉降点，而且相当深(超过35米和超过60米)。这些潜水将需要使用混合气体(三元混合气体，包括氦)，并可能使用闭路再呼吸器。可行性将根据人工物层的确定和需要挖掘的体积与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，本科生和研究生将包括在内，就像他们在前几个实地考察季节一样。

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.