Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Ancient Maya Ideology and the Human Body: Materializing Power among Mid-Level Leaders in the Belize River Valley, Belize

在简·E·别克斯特拉博士的指导下，安娜·诺沃特尼将分析来自伯利兹西北部伯利兹河谷的古代玛雅人的人类考古遗迹。诺沃特尼女士的研究将使用生物考古方法，以一种新颖的方法来调查公元前800年至公元1000年期间居住在那里的非王室玛雅人的领导策略。在此期间，伯利兹河谷(BRV)是生产力丰富的农业社区的所在地，以及从内陆城市到海岸的内河贸易路线。来自BRV的考古遗迹构成了关于古代玛雅普通人的最大潜在数据集。因为BRV从来不是政治上统一的，所以它是研究各种非王室领导人的领导战略的绝佳场所。BRV占领的2000年也提供了一个独特的机会，来评估复杂社会中的社会机构如何随着时间的推移而变化。仪式在古代社会中被认为是一种领导工具和权力源泉，探索仪式在各个等级层面上的表现，对于彻底理解社会复杂性的动态是至关重要的。这个项目将评估玛雅平民社区的领导人使用政治上强大的仪式的程度，这些仪式涉及他们血统中的已故个人。为了做到这一点，诺沃特尼将调查中层领导人的祖先的坟墓，以评估哪些祖先被选为祭祀对象，并指出领导人之间以及其他社区成员在生物学上是否有血缘关系，领导人是否在BRV出生和长大，以及他们的遗体是否后来被选为公共葬礼后的仪式。该项目将调查从前经典晚期到经典晚期(公元前800年-公元1000年)的遗骸。记录伯利兹河谷内的非王室领导人如何控制仪式知识以创造权力，对于完善社会复杂性和社会政治权力的全球模型具有直接意义。该项目将整合和传播从未被正式比较和/或传播的BRV生物考古数据集。该项目汇编的所有文献和数据集将被纳入亚利桑那州立大学的数字考古记录(TDAR)，以便供公众使用。出版的专著以及在美国和伯利兹考古会议上的介绍也将有助于数据的传播。此外，该项目还将促进美国与伯利兹考古学家和学生之间的研究合作。诺沃特尼女士将作为伯利兹河谷考古侦察野外学校的一部分，通过对他们进行生物考古研究方法培训，为伯利兹和美国本科生的科学教育做出贡献。拨款用于收藏BRV的考古材料，以便为未来的研究保存大量的古代玛雅遗骸。伯利兹考古研究所的设施将提供精选材料。

Under the guidance of Dr. Jane E. Buikstra, Anna Novotny will analyze human archaeological remains of the ancient Maya from the Belize River Valley in northwestern Belize. Ms. Novotny's research will use bioarchaeological methods in a novel approach to investigating leadership strategies of non-royal Maya who lived there between 800 BC and 1000AD.During this period the Belize River Valley (BRV) was home to productive agricultural communities and river trade routes from inland cities to the coast. Archaeological remains from the BRV comprise the largest potential data set on ancient Maya commoners. Because the BRV was never politically unified, it is an excellent place to study leadership strategies of a variety of non-royal leaders. The 2000-year span of BRV occupation also provides a unique opportunity to assess how social institutions in complex societies change over time. Ceremony is recognized as a leadership tool and source of power in ancient societies, and exploring ceremony at all hierarchical levels is crucial to thoroughly understanding the dynamics of social complexity. This project will assess the degree to which leaders at Maya commoner communities used politically powerful rituals that involved deceased individuals of their lineage. To accomplish this Ms. Novotny will investigate the graves of the ancestors of mid-level leaders to assess which ancestors were chosen for veneration, noting whether leaders were biologically related to each other and other community members, whether leaders were born and raised in the BRV, and whether their bodies were later chosen for public, post-burial rituals. The project will investigate remains from the Late Preclassic through Late Classic periods (800 BC - 1000 A.D.). Documenting how non-royal leaders within the Belize Valley controlled ritual knowledge to create power has direct implications for refining global models of social complexity and sociopolitical power. This project will integrate and disseminate bioarchaeological data sets from the BRV that have never been formally compared and/or disseminated. All literature and datasets compiled by this project will be ingested into to the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) at Arizona State University so they will be available for public use. A published monograph as well as presentations at both American and Belizean archaeological conferences will also aid in data dissemination. In addition, the project will foster research collaboration between the United States and Belizean archaeologists and students. Ms. Novotny will contribute to the science education of Belizean and American undergraduates by training them in bioarchaeological research methods as part of the Belize River Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance field school. Funds are allocated for curation of archaeological materials from the BRV so this large collection of ancient Maya remains can be preserved for future studies. Curated material will be made available at Belize Institute of Archaeology facilities.