CNH-Ex: Land, Water, and Territory: A 3,000-Year Study of Niche Construction and Cultural Evolution in the Tikal National Park, Guatemala

CNH-Ex：土地、水和领土：危地马拉蒂卡尔国家公园 3,000 年的生态位建设和文化演变研究

• 批准号: 1211809
• 负责人: Timothy Murtha
• 金额: $ 24.99万
• 依托单位: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park
• 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 2016-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1211809&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CNH; Ex; Land; Water; Territory

This project will focus on the long-term spatial and temporal dynamics of land-use management, agricultural decision making, and patterns of resource availability in the tropical lowlands of Central America. The project will combine diachronic environmental simulation with analysis of historic settlement patterns and environmental surveys to address a series of long-standing questions about the coupled natural and human history in the Central Maya lowlands, with special emphasis given to the UNESCO world heritage site of Tikal in the Maya Biosphere Reserve. The researchers will examine changing patterns of land, water, population, settlement, and political history for a 3,000-year period using climate, soil, and hydrologic modeling and time-series spatial analysis of population and settlement. The critical period of the study, 1000 BC to AD 2000, begins with dispersed settlements accompanied by widespread deforestation and soil erosion. Population size and density grew rapidly for 800 years, while deforestation and erosion rates declined. This period was also characterized by striking evidence of political evolution, including the construction of monumental architecture, hieroglyphic carvings detailing wars and alliances, and the construction of a defensive earthwork feature that signaled political territories, and possibly delineated natural resource boundaries. Population decline and steady reforestation followed until modern migration into the region. Building on previous research by these and other researchers in the region and comparative research completed at Palenque, Mexico, these researchers will model the 3,000-year history of the region, comparing land and water availability to population distributions and examining what is known about political history. The researchers also will analyze the spatial patterns of land and water availability under simulated conditions of drought, thereby addressing modern issues of migration and water availability as they studying the possible impact of climate events on the cultural history of the Ancient Maya.This project will contribute to understanding long-term environmental change, agrarian decision making, settlement patterns, and critical issues facing smallholder agrarian communities. The project will enhance understanding of one of the most compelling landscape narratives of coupled human and natural history, the rise and fall of the Maya in the lowland tropical forest of Central America. The project will explore a new approach for studying these issues by integrating coupled climate, soil, and hydrologic modeling with traditional anthropological research methods. The project also will provide excellent field and laboratory education and training opportunities for postgraduate, graduate, and undergraduate students from anthropology, engineering, soil science, and landscape architecture. This project is supported by the NSF Dynamics of Coupled Natural and Human Systems (CNH) Program.

该项目将侧重于中美洲热带低地土地使用管理、农业决策和资源可利用模式的长期时空动态。该项目将结合历时环境模拟、历史聚落模式分析和环境调查，解决一系列关于中玛雅低地自然和人类历史耦合的长期问题，并特别强调玛雅生物圈保护区的联合国教科文组织世界遗产蒂卡尔。研究人员将利用气候、土壤和水文模型以及人口和定居点的时序空间分析，研究3000年期间土地、水、人口、定居点和政治历史的变化模式。该研究的关键时期是公元前1000年至公元2000年，开始于分散的定居点，伴随着广泛的森林砍伐和土壤侵蚀。800年来，人口规模和密度迅速增长，而森林砍伐和侵蚀率却在下降。这一时期还以政治演变的惊人证据为特征，包括建造纪念性建筑，描绘战争和联盟的象形文字雕刻，以及建造防御土方工程，标志着政治领土，并可能划定自然资源边界。人口下降和稳定的重新造林，直到现代移民进入该地区。在这些研究人员和其他研究人员之前在该地区的研究以及在墨西哥帕伦克完成的比较研究的基础上，这些研究人员将建立该地区3000年历史的模型，将土地和水的可用性与人口分布进行比较，并检查已知的政治历史。研究人员还将在模拟干旱条件下分析土地和水资源的空间格局，从而在研究气候事件对古玛雅文化历史可能产生的影响时，解决移民和水资源供应的现代问题。该项目将有助于了解长期环境变化、农业决策、定居模式以及小农农业社区面临的关键问题。该项目将加强对人类与自然历史结合的最引人注目的景观叙事之一的理解，即中美洲低地热带森林中玛雅文明的兴衰。该项目将通过将气候、土壤和水文耦合模型与传统人类学研究方法相结合，探索研究这些问题的新途径。该项目还将为人类学、工程学、土壤科学和景观建筑学的研究生、研究生和本科生提供优秀的实地和实验室教育和培训机会。本项目由美国国家科学基金会自然与人类系统耦合动力学（CNH）项目资助。