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

博士论文改进补助金：确定伯利兹古代玛雅盐场的活动区域

• 批准号: 1139178
• 负责人: Heather McKillop
• 金额: $ 1.28万
• 依托单位: Louisiana State University
• 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: 2011-09-01 至 2013-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1139178&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Identifying

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.

在Heather McKillop博士的指导下，E.Cory Sills将进行论文研究，以阐明伯利兹佩恩斯克里克国家公园一项早期经典(公元300-600)和一项晚期经典(公元600-900)古代玛雅盐厂的工艺生产组织。Sills女士试图找出食盐生产和/或其他活动的证据。这些网站是专门用于单一活动、家庭研讨会，还是用于“多人漂流”？作为麦基洛普博士指导的美国国家科学基金会正在进行的“古代玛雅木质建筑和盐业”项目的一部分，希尔斯女士进行了她的论文实地考察。在Paynes Creek盐厂的泥炭沼泽中，木制建筑和陶瓷被保存在海底的水下。泥炭保存了木材、植物遗骸和大型陶瓷器皿，但没有保存骨骼。正在进行的研究表明，这些地点是盐厂，从大量的成型陶器中确定-陶器用于在火上煮沸盐水来制盐。这一证据表明，盐制品可能是专门的，与家庭无关，这一解释将为研究古代玛雅人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，这项研究具有重要意义，因为它将提供对传统社会中经济和社会领域的交叉以及这些领域如何随着时间的变化而发生变化的洞察。考古学提供了研究长时间尺度--数百年和数千年--的变化的能力，从而辨别出原本可能看不见的模式。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加对这种情况的理解。盐生产在古代玛雅经济中的重要性是众所周知的。为了评估生产的组织情况，希尔斯女士于2010年6月对佩恩斯克里克盐厂的两个盐厂进行了横断面挖掘。在NSF的这笔拨款中，希尔斯将对挖掘的横断面上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。中子活化分析将识别陶器是本地还是非本地制造的。陶瓷成分分析的结果将有助于确定盐厂是在当地组织的，还是整合到一个更大的生产和交易系统中。陶器碎片的3D成像将有助于确定容器的形状和大小。由于压块在时间上不敏感，两个地点的一簇簇木桩将进行放射性碳年代测定，以完善地点年代学。项目参与者将在美国国内和国际上宣传该项目的成果。研究人员将把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攸关方，包括公众和专业受众。伯利兹的公众宣传工作将包括制作文物复制品，用于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赠款的一部分。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代玛雅人的理解。该项目将通过让路易斯安那州立大学考古实验室和考古数字成像与可视化(DIVA)实验室的本科生和研究生参与文物分析和开展伯利兹南部的公共宣传活动，促进对他们的指导和科学培训。