Socio-political Complexity, Interaction, and Community Ritual at Formative Etlatongo, Oaxaca, Mexico

墨西哥瓦哈卡州 Formative Etlatongo 的社会政治复杂性、互动和社区仪式

• 批准号: 1156373
• 负责人: Jeffrey Blomster
• 金额: $ 26.76万
• 依托单位: George Washington University
• 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: 2012-09-01 至 2017-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1156373&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Socio; political; Complexity; Interaction; Community

The origin of complex societies--the change from egalitarian to early ranked (or chiefdom level) societies-- is a fundamental transformation explored by social scientists. Due to its diachronic nature, archaeology is particularly well suited to explore the dramatic changes in power and status relationships attendant with complex societies. In ancient Mexico, socio-politically complex societies first appear between 1500 and 850 BC. Substantial debate has centered on the role of political integration, differences in domestic economies and access to exotic materials, interregional interaction, and public ceremony in this major social transition. In order to contribute to this debate, Dr. Blomster will conduct archaeological research at the Nochixtlán Valley site of Etlatongo, in the Mixteca Alta of Oaxaca, Mexico. His research will explore the emergence and dynamics of early ranked society through variation in archaeological correlates including: household assemblages, architecture, craft production, community ritual, access to exotic goods, and interregional interaction. The Mixteca has been characterized as exhibiting less precocious developments in socio-political complexity and interregional interaction than their contemporaries in the nearby Valley of Oaxaca, which provides substantial comparative data.Through three years of excavation and laboratory analyses at Etlatongo, the researcher will generate multiple lines of data to explore the emergence and dynamics of early ranked society in the Nochixtlán Valley. The researcher's hypothesis is that Etlatongo developed rapidly into a large center circa 1150 BC due to the confluence of the development of public ritual and greater access to exotic symbols and materials through interregional interaction. He will explore this central hypothesis through two main anthropological questions. The first question is: did Etlatongo, circa 1150 BC, become a ranked society, comparable to the similarly-sized contemporaneous chiefly center of San José Mogote in the Valley of Oaxaca? This issue will be assessed by exploring comparative differences in household architecture, crafting activities, material culture, and participation in feasting. The second question is: if present, what were the key factors in the emergence of socio-political complexity at Etlatongo? This issue will be examined through analysis of public space, ritual, and interregional interaction (including with the Olmec of Mexico's Gulf Coast), to determine if they are associated with nascent leaders both spatially and through their restricted access to ritual paraphernalia and/or exotic materials. By documenting Etlatongo's early political history, this research will have a broader impact by increasing awareness of Mixtecs' unique contributions to local and national cultural heritage. Based on the interests of local stakeholders, Dr. Blomster will collaborate in development projects, including a proposed community museum at Etlatongo. Research results will be disseminated to the public through a bilingual English/Spanish project website. The project will also train students from both Mexico and the United States, promoting international collaboration, and will generate dissertation and thesis projects.

复杂社会的起源--从平等主义到早期等级(或酋长级别)社会的变化--是社会科学家探索的一个根本性转变。由于其历时性，考古学特别适合于探索伴随着复杂社会而来的权力和地位关系的戏剧性变化。在古代墨西哥，社会政治复杂的社会最早出现在公元前1500年到850年之间。在这场重大的社会转型中，围绕政治一体化、国内经济差异和获取外来材料的机会、地区间互动和公共仪式的作用展开了大量辩论。为了对这场辩论做出贡献，布隆斯特博士将在墨西哥瓦哈卡州米克特卡阿尔塔的埃特拉通戈诺希克特兰山谷遗址进行考古研究。他的研究将通过考古相关因素的变化来探索早期等级社会的出现和动态，这些相关因素包括：家庭聚集、建筑、手工艺品生产、社区仪式、获取外来商品的途径以及区域间的互动。与附近瓦哈卡谷的同龄人相比，Mixteca人在社会政治复杂性和地区间互动方面表现出不那么早熟的发展，这提供了大量的比较数据。通过在Etlatongo的三年挖掘和实验室分析，研究人员将产生多条线的数据，以探索Nochixtlán山谷早期社会的出现和动态。研究人员的假设是，由于公共仪式的发展以及通过地区间互动更多地获得外来符号和材料，埃特拉通戈在公元前1150年左右迅速发展成为一个大型中心。他将通过两个主要的人类学问题来探索这一中心假说。第一个问题是：大约在公元前1150年，埃特拉通戈成为了一个等级社会，可以与瓦哈卡谷的圣何塞·莫戈特(San JoséMogote)同等大小的主要中心相媲美？这个问题将通过探索家庭建筑、手工艺活动、物质文化和参与宴会的比较差异来评估。第二个问题是：如果存在的话，埃特拉通戈出现社会政治复杂性的关键因素是什么？将通过对公共空间、仪式和区域间互动(包括与墨西哥湾沿岸的奥尔梅克)的分析来审查这一问题，以确定他们是否在空间上以及通过限制他们获得仪式用具和/或外来材料与新领导人有关。通过记录Etlatongo的早期政治史，这项研究将产生更广泛的影响，提高人们对Mixtecs对地方和国家文化遗产的独特贡献的认识。根据当地利益相关者的利益，布隆斯特博士将在开发项目中进行合作，包括在埃特拉通戈拟建一个社区博物馆。研究成果将通过英文/西班牙文双语项目网站向公众传播。该项目还将培训来自墨西哥和美国的学生，促进国际合作，并将产生论文和论文项目。