Regional Survey and the Trajectory of Complexity in the Magdalena Lake Basin, Jalisco, Mexico

墨西哥哈利斯科州马格达莱纳湖盆地的区域调查和复杂性轨迹

• 批准号: 1219619
• 负责人: Christopher Beekman
• 金额: $ 20.15万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Denver-Downtown Campus
• 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 2016-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1219619&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Regional; Survey; Trajectory; Complexity; Magdalena

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Christopher Beekman and Dr. Verenice Heredia will use modified regional archaeological survey methods to investigate the emergence of social and political complexity in the central valleys of Jalisco, Mexico. There are relatively few areas in the world in which complex sociopolitical systems emerged independently and established themselves as regional powers. Archaeologists and other social scientists are extremely dependent upon these examples for developing broader theories about the origins of politics. The Teuchitlán culture of western Mexico is one of the most recent case studies to be identified, and it contradicts many of the assumptions about how these processes begin. It therefore provides a counter-example to the comparative literature that will allow archaeologists to critically evaluate existing models in ancient Mexico and beyond. Prior research has documented a political system in which power was shared by elite families (ca. 300 BC - AD 500) instead of being concentrated in the hands of a single quasi-divine ruler, as known elsewhere in ancient Mexico and many other areas of the ancient world. The valleys of central Jalisco therefore provide a fresh point of comparison outside the canon of better studied trajectories from highland Mexico and the tropical lowlands of eastern Mesoamerica. The project examines the independent emergence, expansion, collapse, and reorganization of social complexity in a corner of Mesoamerica that has received comparatively little attention despite its potential for filling a gap in known variations on social complexity. The project is co-directed by American and Mexican archaeologists, and joins their independent and ongoing research lines within this new and important zone. This research will be conducted through integrated archaeological and geomorphological survey of the Magdalena lake basin of highland Jalisco. The archaeological survey will establish the location and chronological sequence of settlements from the Early Formative period through the Spanish Conquest (1500 BC - AD 1600). A geomorphological survey by Dr. Kirk Anderson will evaluate the fluctuations of Lake Magdalena over time, providing an integrated assessment of climatic changes and the ancient use of lake resources. Project members will map the internal organization and architectural forms of sites located, a procedure which allows an analysis of the specific political institutions present and the degree of centralization that occurred. This project continues international collaborations with researchers from the Colegio de Michoacán, and builds a framework within which graduate students from both the United States and Mexico will receive training in laboratory and field methods. The project takes a long term view towards archaeological conservation, by raising community awareness of cultural remains and training graduate students. The greatest threat to archaeological sites is lack of interest, and project members will give talks at the local level to raise community awareness and appreciation for archaeology. Training graduate students produces archaeologists who are capable of carrying out future studies that will aid in data and site conservation, which the western Mexican states as a whole sorely need.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，克里斯托弗·比克曼博士和韦雷尼斯·埃雷迪亚博士将使用修改后的区域考古调查方法，调查墨西哥哈利斯科中央山谷中社会和政治复杂性的出现。在世界上，复杂的社会政治体系独立出现并成为区域强国的地区相对较少。考古学家和其他社会科学家非常依赖这些例子来发展更广泛的政治起源理论。墨西哥西部的Teuchitlán文化是最近确定的案例研究之一，它与许多关于这些过程开始的假设相矛盾。因此，它为比较文学提供了一个反例，使考古学家能够批判性地评估古墨西哥及其他地区的现有模型。先前的研究已经记录了一个政治制度，其中权力由精英家庭分享（约200万美元）。公元前300年-公元500年），而不是集中在一个准神圣的统治者手中，如在古代墨西哥和古代世界的许多其他地区所知。因此，在墨西哥高原和中美洲东部热带低地更好研究的轨道之外，哈利斯科中部的山谷提供了一个新的比较点。该项目研究了中美洲一个角落的社会复杂性的独立出现、扩张、崩溃和重组，尽管它有可能填补社会复杂性已知变化的空白，但相对而言，它受到的关注较少。该项目由美国和墨西哥考古学家共同指导，并在这个新的重要区域内加入他们独立和正在进行的研究。这项研究将通过对哈利斯科高原马格达莱纳湖盆地进行综合考古和地貌调查来进行。考古调查将确定从早期形成时期到西班牙征服（公元前1500年-公元1600年）定居点的位置和时间顺序。柯克安德森博士的一项地貌调查将评估马格达莱纳湖随时间的波动，提供对气候变化和湖泊资源古代使用的综合评估。项目成员将绘制所找到地点的内部组织和建筑形式，这一程序可以分析现有的具体政治机构和发生的中央集权程度。 该项目继续与米却肯学院的研究人员进行国际合作，并建立了一个框架，来自美国和墨西哥的研究生将在该框架内接受实验室和实地方法的培训。该项目通过提高社区对文化遗迹的认识和培训研究生，对考古保护采取长期观点。对考古遗址的最大威胁是缺乏兴趣，项目成员将在地方一级举办讲座，以提高社区对考古学的认识和欣赏。培养研究生培养考古学家，他们能够进行未来的研究，这将有助于墨西哥西部各州作为一个整体迫切需要的数据和遗址保护。