Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Environmental Variability, Settlement and Status Differentiation at Uxbenka

博士论文改进补助金：乌克斯本卡的环境变化、定居和地位分化

• 批准号: 1139754
• 负责人: Keith Prufer
• 金额: $ 1.98万
• 依托单位: University of New Mexico
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-01-15 至 2014-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1139754&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Environmental

Under the supervision of Dr. Keith M. Prufer, Mr. Ethan K. Kalosky will conduct a study of household decision-making strategies and the origins of wealth/status inequalities at the Classic Period (ca. AD 250 -900) Maya site of Uxbenká. Located in southern Belize, Uxbenká is an ideal site to undertake this study. Ongoing research at Uxbenká has revealed that the site possesses the oldest and longest occupational history in the region. Most settlements consist of small rubble mounds that are the household remains of Uxbenká's agricultural populous. Mr. Kalosky has spent a number of field seasons surveying the landscape at Uxbenká to produce a more detailed understanding of the spatial distribution and extent of settlement at this site. His dissertation will examine social and ecological variables that may have influenced household decisions regarding where to settle on the landscape, the potential impact of those decisions on status and wealth differences that are evident between households.The intellectual merit of this project resides in its contribution to ongoing discourse regarding the origins of social complexity in the Maya Lowlands and throughout the world. Furthermore, the resulting model may prove to have utility for similar environmental-settlement studies conducted elsewhere. The work can provide insight and place in deep chronological context patterns observed in small scale village organization in a contemporary context in many regions of the developing world.Previous research on the origins of social complexity in the Maya Lowlands has often taken a top-down approach, focusing on the role of elite political actors in shaping the fabric of society. More contemporary research, however, suggests that societal organization may in fact be more influenced by the aggregate decisions of individuals and households who make up the majority of a society's populous. This project will employ a combination of continued archaeological and landscape survey, excavation of household remains, and chronology building to generate a predictive model for the most suitable areas for habitation on the Uxbenká landscape. The model will in turn allow one to better understand factors that influenced household decisions regarding where to settle on the landscape across space and time. Consequently, one can then begin to explore how settlement location acted as a potential source for variation in household organization and status in the context of demographic expansion throughout the Classic Period occupation of the site. It is suspected that in-filling of the landscape generated new opportunities for previously equitable households to differentiate their status, leading to more hierarchical and heterarchical forms of social organization throughout Uxbenká's Classic Period growth. One of the primary hypotheses is that established occupation and use of highly valued settlement locations provided one means by which households could achieve increased status in a dynamic social environment. Determining how certain variables influenced the values placed on different settlement locations is a critical component for better understanding the circumstances in which social complexity emerges and is maintained.The broader impacts involve aiding in the intellectual and professional development of young scholar. Additionally, this project places emphasis on collaboration with modern descendants of the ancestral Maya to directly engage in educational programs related to their own cultural heritage. Results will be disseminated to broader audiences via peer-reviewed journal publications, and presentations at public forums in the US and abroad.

在 Keith M. Prufer 博士的指导下，Ethan K. Kalosky 先生将在古典时期（约公元 250 -900 年）乌克斯本卡玛雅遗址开展家庭决策策略和财富/地位不平等的起源研究。乌克斯本卡位于伯利兹南部，是进行这项研究的理想地点。乌克斯本卡正在进行的研究表明，该遗址拥有该地区最古老、最长的职业历史。大多数定居点由小瓦砾堆组成，是乌克斯本卡农业人口的家庭遗迹。卡洛斯基先生花费了多个实地季节来调查乌克斯本卡的景观，以便更详细地了解该地点的空间分布和定居范围。他的论文将研究可能影响家庭在何处定居的决定的社会和生态变量，以及这些决定对家庭之间明显的地位和财富差异的潜在影响。该项目的智力价值在于它对有关玛雅低地和全世界社会复杂性起源的持续讨论做出了贡献。此外，由此产生的模型可能被证明对其他地方进行的类似环境沉降研究具有实用性。这项工作可以提供在发展中国家许多地区的当代背景下小规模村庄组织中观察到的深层时间背景模式的见解和位置。先前对玛雅低地社会复杂性起源的研究通常采取自上而下的方法，重点关注精英政治行为者在塑造社会结构中的作用。然而，更现代的研究表明，社会组织实际上可能更多地受到占社会人口大多数的个人和家庭的总体决策的影响。该项目将结合持续的考古和景观调查、家庭遗迹挖掘和年代学构建，为乌克斯本卡景观上最适合居住的区域生成预测模型。反过来，该模型将使人们能够更好地了解影响家庭决定在空间和时间上在哪里定居的因素。因此，人们可以开始探索在整个古典时期占据该地点的人口扩张的背景下，定居点位置如何成为家庭组织和地位变化的潜在来源。人们怀疑，景观的填充为以前公平的家庭提供了区分其地位的新机会，从而在乌克斯本卡的古典时期的增长过程中导致了更加等级化和异质化的社会组织形式。主要假设之一是，对高价值定居点的既定占领和使用提供了一种手段，使家庭可以在动态的社会环境中提高地位。确定某些变量如何影响不同定居点的价值观是更好地理解社会复杂性出现和维持的环境的关键组成部分。更广泛的影响涉及帮助年轻学者的智力和专业发展。此外，该项目强调与玛雅祖先的现代后裔合作，直接参与与其自身文化遗产相关的教育项目。结果将通过同行评审的期刊出版物以及在美国和国外公共论坛上的演讲向更广泛的受众传播。