Classic Maya Political Dynamics at Motul de San Jose, Guatemala

危地马拉圣何塞莫图尔的经典玛雅政治动态

• 批准号: 1250035
• 负责人: Antonia Foias
• 金额: $ 28.62万
• 依托单位: Williams College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-06-01 至 2017-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1250035&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Classic; Maya; Political; Dynamics; Motul

With NSF support, Drs. Antonia Foias and Kitty Emery together with an international team from the USA, Canada, and Guatemala will carry out two field seasons of archaeological excavations and environmental studies in the periphery of Motul de San José, the capital of a small Classic Maya state in northern Guatemala. The project brings together specialists in archaeology, soil studies, chemistry, ecology, zooarchaeology, and archaeobotany to explore the causes of the political dynamism of Maya states during the Late Classic period (A.D.600-830). The recent consensus that Maya political organization was highly dynamic with different states having variable sizes, scales, and developmental trajectories has been well received, but this recent scholarship has not been able to explain the causes of this dynamism. The traditional focus on major centers has also not shed sufficient light on how subsidiary settlements engaged with political power. But this dialectic between the rulers and the ruled lies at the heart of political dynamics in all complex societies. Furthermore, political decision-making occurs within an environmental landscape that offers both context and resources directly relevant to politics, economics, and ritual.The goal of this project is to investigate the factors governing political dynamics by tracking how Motul de San José (MSJ) controlled and/or interacted with its periphery, specifically with two of its satellite centers (Chachaklu'um and K'ante'tuul). The MSJ polity provides an ideal situation for the proposed research because it is small enough to allow one to understand political relationships at low costs and because it is located in a highly heterogeneous environmental zone that offers a diversity of resources to different sites within the polity. Furthermore, a decade of archaeological work at Motul by the Co-PIs has provided a broad overview of its cultural history and environmental context. Investigations at each site will include: (1) complete mapping; (2) environmental surveys; (3) horizontally extensive excavations in 3 households of different socioeconomic status; (4) stratigraphic test pitting and excavations of refuse deposits at an additional 8 households and the largest public plaza; and (5) analysis of all ancient remains. Finally, all these datasets will be integrated into a single GIS database to understand the changing relationships between all components through time. These studies will chart changing household construction and activities as well as the extent and nature of the exploitation of environmental resources (e.g., soils, water, animals, chert, clay) through the Late Classic to understand if Motul ruled its peripheries through alliances with local groups, or through conquest and territorial annexation. This research will contribute to our understanding of the political structure of Classic Maya polities from the perspective of small communities which negotiate, resist or support political domination. Ultimately how political agency is combined with environmental exploitation at multiple levels within a polity determines the stability and longevity of that particular state, or its collapse, offering us lessons for the present time. The project will enhance opportunities for work, education, research and cooperation for local communities, archaeology students and professionals in Guatemala, Canada and USA. The project will also promote sustainable stewardship and ecotourism in this important area of northern Guatemala.

在NSF的支持下，Antonia FOIAs博士和Kitty Emery博士将与来自美国、加拿大和危地马拉的国际团队一起，在危地马拉北部一个传统玛雅小州的首府Motul de San José的外围进行两个实地考古发掘和环境研究。该项目汇集了考古学、土壤研究、化学、生态学、动物考古学和考古植物学的专家，以探索古典晚期(公元600-830)玛雅国家政治活力的原因。最近的共识是，玛雅政治组织是高度动态的，不同的国家具有不同的大小、规模和发展轨迹，这一共识得到了很好的接受，但最近的这一学术未能解释这种动态的原因。对主要中心的传统关注也没有充分说明附属定居点是如何与政治权力接触的。但在所有复杂的社会中，尺子和被统治者之间的这种辩证处于政治动态的核心。此外，政治决策发生在提供与政治、经济和仪式直接相关的背景和资源的环境景观中。该项目的目标是通过跟踪Motul de San José(MSJ)如何控制和/或与其外围地区，特别是其两个卫星中心(Chachaklu‘um和K’Ante‘tuul)控制和/或互动，来调查控制政治动态的因素。MSJ政体为拟议的研究提供了一个理想的环境，因为它足够小，可以让人以低成本了解政治关系，而且因为它位于高度不同的环境地带，为政体内的不同地点提供了多样化的资源。此外，联合PIS在莫图尔进行了十年的考古工作，使人们对其文化历史和环境背景有了广泛的了解。每个遗址的调查将包括：(1)完整的测绘；(2)环境调查；(3)对3个不同社会经济地位的家庭进行横向广泛的挖掘；(4)对另外8个家庭和最大的公共广场的垃圾堆积物进行地层测试和挖掘；以及(5)对所有古代遗迹进行分析。最后，将所有这些数据集集成到一个单一的地理信息系统数据库中，以了解所有组件之间随时间变化的关系。这些研究将通过古典晚期绘制不断变化的家庭建筑和活动以及环境资源(例如土壤、水、动物、硅石、粘土)开发的程度和性质，以了解莫图尔人是通过与当地群体结盟还是通过征服和领土吞并来统治其外围地区。这一研究将有助于我们从谈判、抵抗或支持政治统治的小社区的角度来理解古典玛雅政治的政治结构。归根结底，政治机构如何与一个政体内多个层面的环境开发相结合，决定着这个特定国家的稳定和长寿，或者它的崩溃，为我们提供了当今的教训。该项目将为危地马拉、加拿大和美国的当地社区、考古学学生和专业人员提供更多的工作、教育、研究和合作机会。该项目还将促进危地马拉北部这一重要地区的可持续管理和生态旅游。