Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Identifying activity areas at ancient Maya salt works, Belize

在Heather McKillop博士的监督下，E. Cory Sills将进行论文研究，以澄清在伯利兹Paynes Creek国家公园的一个早期经典（公元300-600年）和一个晚期经典（公元600-900年）古玛雅盐工作的工艺生产组织。希尔斯女士试图找出盐生产和/或其他活动的证据。这些地点是专门用于单一活动，家庭作坊，还是用于“手工艺”？作为美国国家科学基金会正在进行的“古代玛雅木制建筑和盐业”项目的一部分，希尔斯女士进行了她的论文实地考察，该项目由麦基洛普博士指导。在佩恩斯溪盐厂的海底泥炭沼泽中，木结构建筑和陶瓷被保存了下来。泥炭中保存了木材、植物残骸和大型陶瓷容器，但没有骨头。正在进行的研究表明，这些遗址是从大量的压型煤中发现的盐厂，压型煤是用来在火上煮沸盐水制作盐的陶器。这一证据表明，盐场可能是专门的，与家庭无关，这一解释将为研究古玛雅和其他古代文明的经济生产和分配增加一个新的方面。在更广泛的背景下，这项研究意义重大，因为它将深入了解传统社会中经济和社会领域的交集，以及这些领域如何随着时间的推移而变化。考古学提供了考察长时间尺度——几个世纪和几千年——的变化的能力，从而辨别出可能不可见的模式。在当今世界的许多传统社会中，生产是在家庭背景下进行的，这项研究的结果可能会增进对这种情况的了解。盐生产在古玛雅经济中的重要性是众所周知的。为了评估生产组织，Sills女士于2010年6月在Paynes Creek的两个盐厂进行了样带挖掘。在美国国家科学基金会的资助下，希尔斯女士将对挖掘的样带沿线的海洋沉积物进行化学分析，以检测是否有证据表明生活垃圾没有保存在泥炭中。中子活化分析将确定陶器是本地制造还是非本地制造。陶瓷成分分析的结果将有助于确定盐厂是当地组织的还是集成到一个更大的生产和交换系统中。陶器碎片的三维成像将有助于确定容器的形状和大小。来自两个地点的木桩群将进行放射性碳定年，以确定地点的年代，因为压坯对时间不敏感。更广泛的影响是多方面的。项目参与者将在美国国内和国际上推广项目成果。研究人员将在他们的项目中获得的报告和数据发布给各种感兴趣的利益相关者，包括公众和专业观众。伯利兹的公共宣传工作将包括制作文物复制品，在伯利兹的蓬塔戈尔达展出，这是美国考古研究所向麦基洛普博士提供的遗址保护补助金的一部分。这些努力将寻求通过科学、考古学和人类学的发展来提高公众对古玛雅的理解。该项目将进一步指导路易斯安那州立大学考古实验室和考古数字成像和可视化实验室的本科生和研究生，并对他们进行科学培训，让他们参与伯利兹南部的文物分析和公共宣传发展。

Under the supervision of Dr. Heather McKillop, E. Cory Sills will conduct dissertation research to clarify the organization of craft production at one Early Classic (A.D. 300-600) and one Late Classic (A.D. 600-900) ancient Maya salt work in Paynes Creek National Park, Belize. Ms. Sills seeks to identify evidence of salt production and/or other activities. Were the sites dedicated to a single activity, household workshops, or used in "multicrafting"? Ms. Sills conducted her dissertation fieldwork as part of the ongoing NSF "Ancient Maya Wooden Architecture and the Salt Industry" project directed by Dr. McKillop. Wooden architecture and ceramics are preserved underwater on the sea floor in a peat bog at the Paynes Creek salt works. The peat has preserved wood, botanical remains, and large ceramic vessels, but not bone. Ongoing research indicates the sites were salt works identified from the large quantities of briquetage - pottery used to boil brine over fires to make salt. This evidence suggests that the salt works may be specialized and not associated with households, an interpretation that will add a new aspect to the study of economic production and distribution for the ancient Maya and other ancient civilizations. In a broader context the research is significant because it will provide insight into the intersection of economic and social realms in a traditional society and how these changed over time. Archaeology provides the ability to examine change over long time scales - centuries and millennia - and thus discern patterns which might otherwise be invisible. In many traditional societies in the world today, production proceeds in a family context and the results of this research may provide increased understanding of such situations. The importance of salt production in the ancient Maya economy is known. In order to evaluate the organization of production, transect excavations were conducted at two of the Paynes Creek salt works by Ms. Sills in June of 2010. In this NSF grant, Ms. Sills will use chemical analysis of marine sediment along excavated transects to detect if there is evidence of household waste not preserved in the peat. Neutron activation analysis will identify if the pottery is of local or non-local manufacture. The results of the compositional analysis of ceramics will aid in determining if the salt works were organized locally or integrated into a larger production and exchange system. The 3D imaging of pottery sherds will help to define the shapes and sizes of containers. Clusters of wooden posts from both sites will be radiocarbon dated to refine site chronology since the briquetage is not temporally sensitive.The broader impacts are multiple. Project participants will promote the results of the project within the United States and internationally. The researchers will publish reports and data obtained in their project to a diverse array of interested stakeholders including both public and professional audiences. Public outreach efforts in Belize will include producing replicas of artifacts for displays in Punta Gorda, Belize as part of an Archaeological Institute of America Site Preservation Grant to Dr. McKillop. These efforts will seek to improve public understanding of the ancient Maya through the development of science, archaeology, and anthropology. This project will further the mentorship and scientific training of undergraduate and graduate students working in the archaeological lab and Digital Imaging and Visualization in Archaeology (DIVA) lab at Louisiana State University by involving them in the analysis of artifacts and development of public outreach in southern Belize.