Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The La Consentida Archaeological Project

在亚瑟乔伊斯博士的指导下，盖伊赫普先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他的研究将调查sedentism的起源，向依赖农业的过渡，并在最初的早期形成时期中美洲等级社会不平等的起源。他将在墨西哥瓦哈卡沿海的La Consentida考古遗址进行地表勘测、绘图和挖掘。La Consentida提供了一个很有希望的机会，以促进对中美洲文化在一个地区和生态环境中诞生的新认识，这一地区和生态环境以前从未被列入中美洲学术的经典，这是一个重要的早期时期。该项目将采用尖端考古技术来实现其研究目标，包括使用发光测绘站进行地形测绘，中子活化分析以确定调动陶瓷和社会互动的交换网络，分析稳定的碳和氮同位素以重建古代饮食，AMS碳测年以控制挖掘环境的年代，和大型植物学发现的分析，以确定生活垃圾沉积物中的食物残留。公元前1900年-公元250年），这是在La Consentida代表被广泛认为是一个重要的过渡阶段之间的游牧园艺的中世纪时期（公元前9000 - 1900年）和复杂的中美洲社会繁荣，独立于旧世界的影响，直到西班牙征服者在16世纪世纪的到来。尽管形成期的重要性得到普遍承认，但关键的学术辩论涉及这一时期家庭实践，生存和社会组织之间的相互关系。早期形成时期（Early Formative Period）1900-1500 BCE）尤其似乎是一个有前途的研究场所，为这些对话提供有关中美洲社会变革的信息。除了与中美洲学者的相关性外，La Consentida考古项目为美国提供了一个机会，的学者与墨西哥考古学学生合作，并与瓦哈卡当地社区接触，他们有兴趣更多地了解他们地区的古老的过去与当地社区的外联活动将包括拟议为当地社区博物馆举办的教育展览和拟议为当地社区周年纪念节举办的公开讲座。该项目的美国学生志愿者将接受各种标准考古现场技术的宝贵培训。该项目的成果将在一份报告中向墨西哥联邦政府监督考古研究的分支-国家人类学和历史研究所（INAH）传播。研究成果还将在英文和西班牙文的同行评审期刊上，在编辑的书籍章节中，以及以双语（西班牙文/英文）网页内容的形式呈现，旨在展示在该地区工作的各种学者的考古研究。

Under the direction of Dr. Arthur Joyce, Mr. Guy Hepp will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. His research will investigate the origins of sedentism, the transition toward reliance upon agriculture, and the origins of hierarchical social inequality in initial Early Formative period Mesoamerica. He will undertake surface survey, mapping, and excavations at the archaeological site of La Consentida in coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. La Consentida offers a promising opportunity to promote new understandings of the birth of Mesoamerican culture in a region and ecological setting never previously included in the canon of Mesoamerican scholarship for this important early time period. The project will employ cutting-edge archaeological techniques to address its research objectives, including topographic mapping using a light-emitting mapping station, neutron activation analysis to identify exchange networks that mobilized ceramics and social interaction, analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes to reconstruct ancient diet, AMS carbon dating for chronological control of excavated contexts, and analysis of macrobotanical finds to identify the food remains in domestic garbage deposits.The Mesoamerican Formative or Preclassic period (c.a. 1900 BCE - 250 CE) which is represented at La Consentida is widely regarded as an important transitional phase between the nomadic horticulture of the Archaic period (9000 - 1900 BCE) and the complex Mesoamerican societies that flourished, independent of influence from the Old World, until the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century. Despite the general recognition of the significance of the Formative period, key scholarly debates concern the interrelatedness between transitions in domestic practices, subsistence, and social organization during this time. The archaeology of the initial Early Formative period (c.a. 1900-1500 BCE) in particular appears to be a promising venue of research for informing these dialogues regarding Mesoamerican social change.In addition to its relevance for Mesoamericanist scholarship, the La Consentida Archaeological Project offers an opportunity for United States-based scholars to collaborate with Mexican archaeology students and to engage with local communities in Oaxaca who are interested in learning more about their region's ancient past. Outreach with local communities will include an educational display proposed for a local community museum and a public talk proposed for a local community anniversary festival. US-based student volunteers on the project will receive valuable training in a variety of standard archaeological field techniques. The results of the project will be disseminated in a report to the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), the branch of the Mexican federal government overseeing archaeological research. Research results will also be presented in peer-reviewed journals in both English and Spanish, in edited book chapters, and in the form of bilingual (Spanish/English) webpage content designed to showcase archaeological research by various scholars working in the region.