Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Precarious Power: Ritual, refuse, and reuse at El Zotz, Peten, Guatemala

在史蒂芬·休斯顿博士的指导下，萨拉·纽曼将在危地马拉现代佩滕省蒂卡尔大城市附近的古老玛雅遗址El Zotz调查仪式和垃圾之间的关系。这个项目的焦点是在El Zotz的宫殿建筑群中发现的一个神秘的“有问题的矿床”，可以追溯到末期古典时期(公元850-1000)。这个大规模的沉积物代表了一种不寻常的、变化很大的人类、动物、陶瓷和石器遗骸的组合，质疑仪式和世俗、精英和平民、浪费和价值之间的传统二分法。为了更好地了解造成这一复杂的考古组合的人类活动，该项目采用了创新的方法来检查沉积和沉积后的过程，这些过程来自骨学研究，但在本研究中扩展到所有文物类别。该项目中采用的详细的组装和挖掘分析将有助于澄清通过考古记录中的痕迹来定义和研究沉积行为。这项研究的主要目的是检查特定的材料及其沉积历史如何在不同类型的考古遗弃中变化，从而识别仪式和垃圾堆积的“签名”。这些将提供具体的标准，帮助考古学家解释困难的沉积物，减少忽视或过度识别仪式遗迹的可能性，并能够在考古沉积物之间进行站点间和站点内的比较，这些比较不仅仅依赖于定性假设或直觉。此外，该项目突出了考古学家经常未充分利用的方法，包括在组合规模上的分析，以及将挖掘技术应用于骨学遗骸以外的人工制品类型。因此，这个项目将提供一种重新评估当前类别的方法，也许允许对纠缠在过去的物体、人和地方的日常和仪式行为的连续体有一个更有见地的看法。该项目将调查三个主要假设：(1)El Zotz的终端经典“问题沉积”是由家庭或仪式垃圾的结构化堆积以及物体和建筑的故意终止产生的；(2)这种沉积代表了一种独特的和中间类型的古代丢弃(垃圾的仪式重复使用)；以及(3)在El Zotz对仪式实践进行大规模投资的这个例子被用来在潜在的不稳定时期(无论是实际的还是感知的)重新确立政治权威和社会融合。为了验证这些假设，纽曼将使用考古学和挖掘学分析来评估El Zotz地区的垃圾和仪式沉积物所代表的特定物质和沉积历史，以便与相关沉积物进行比较。单个标本的属性，包括沉积前的磨损、碎裂、风化和其他自然和文化变化，将被用来识别具有明确行为相关性的集合的“特征”(例如，蚂蚁或藏匿)，并将这些与不那么直接的沉积进行比较，从而能够评估其在古代玛雅供奉、丢弃和仪式实践中的作用。还将探讨仪式存款的更广泛背景，以评估它们在不稳定时期重新确立政治权威和维持社会融合方面的作用。国际合作是这项研究的主要组成部分，在田野调查、分析和出版方面，以及为美国和危地马拉考古学学生提供的培训。该项目还代表El Zotz考古项目参与了强有力的公共宣传和教育工作，包括为Cruce Dos Aguadas当地社区的成员提供El Zotz废墟的导游，以及培训课程和解说标志，向当地导游和游客介绍该遗址及其在玛雅历史上的地位。由于El Zotz地区的遗址长期遭受严重抢劫，发生的事件直到2010年才为人所知，地方社区在遗址管理中的作用促进了考古资源的管理，并通过生态旅游促进了废墟的可持续利用。最后，重新考虑从拒绝到仪式的沉积行为的范围，迫使我们重新评估垃圾作为一个文化范畴，无论是在过去还是现在。这些问题不仅与当前对废物管理和环境意识的担忧产生了深刻的共鸣，而且还突显了垃圾的隐藏潜力，以提供对具有意义和价值的文化系统的洞察。

Under the guidance of Dr. Stephen Houston, Sarah Newman will investigate the relationship between ritual and refuse at the ancient Maya site of El Zotz, located near the large city of Tikal in the modern Department of Peten, Guatemala. The focal point of this project is an enigmatic "problematic deposit" found in the palace complex at El Zotz and dating to the Terminal Classic period (AD 850-1000). This large-scale deposit represents an unusual and widely variable combination of human, faunal, ceramic, and lithic remains, questioning traditional dichotomies between ritual and secular, elite and commoner, and waste and value. In order to gain a better understanding of the human actions responsible for this complex archaeological assemblage, this project employs innovative methods for the examination of depositional and post-depositional processes, drawn from osteological studies but extended to all artifact categories in this research. The detailed assemblage and taphonomic analyses employed in this project will contribute to clarifications in defining and studying depositional behaviors through their traces in the archaeological record. The major aims of this research are to examine how specific materials and their depositional histories vary among types of archaeological discard and thereby recognize "signatures" of ritual and refuse deposits. These will provide concrete criteria that can aid archaeologists in interpreting difficult deposits, decrease the likelihood of either ignoring or over-identifying the remains of ritual practices, and enable inter- and intrasite comparisons between archaeological deposits that rely on more than qualitative assumptions or intuition. Moreover, this project highlights methods that have often been under-utilized by archaeologists, including analysis at the scale of the assemblage and the application of taphonomic techniques to artifact types beyond osteological remains. As such, this project will offer a means by which current categories may be reevaluated, perhaps allowing for a more informed view of the continuum of quotidian and ritual actions that entangles past objects, people, and places.The project will investigate three main hypotheses: (1) that the Terminal Classic "problematic deposit" at El Zotz was produced by the structured deposition of domestic or ceremonial refuse and intentional terminations of objects and architecture; (2) that this deposit represents a unique and intermediary type of ancient discard (the ritual reuse of refuse); and (3) that this example of large-scale investment in ritual practice at El Zotz was employed to reassert political authority and social integration during periods of potential instability (whether real or perceived). In order to test these hypotheses, Newman will use archaeological and taphonomic analyses to evaluate specific materials and depositional histories represented by refuse and ritual deposits in the El Zotz region, for comparison with the deposit in question. Attributes of individual specimens, including pre-depositional wear, fragmentation, weathering, and other natural and cultural modifications, will be used to identify the "signatures" of assemblages with clear behavioral correlates (such as middens or caches) and compare these with the less straightforward deposit, enabling an evaluation of its role in ancient Maya offering, discard, and ritual practices. The broader contexts of ritual deposits will also be explored to assess their role in reasserting political authority and maintaining social integration during periods of instability.International cooperation represents a major component of this research, in terms of fieldwork, analysis, and publications, as well as training provided for both American and Guatemalan archaeology students. This project also plays a part in strong public outreach and education efforts on behalf of the El Zotz Archaeological Project, including guided tours of the ruins of El Zotz for members from the local community of Cruce Dos Aguadas and training sessions and interpretive signs to inform local tour guides and visitors about the site and its place in Maya history. As the sites in the El Zotz region have suffered a long history of heavy looting, with incidents known from as recently as 2010, embracing the role of local communities in site management promotes stewardship of archaeological resources and the sustainable use of the ruins through eco-tourism. Finally, reconsidering the spectrum of depositional behaviors from refuse to ritual forces a reevaluation of trash as a cultural category, in both the past and the present. These issues not only resonate deeply with current concerns over waste management and environmental awareness, but also highlight the hidden potential of trash to offer insight into cultural systems of meaning and value.