Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Maya Community Production and Consumption Practices

该项目的中心目标是了解当地小规模社区如何融入全球经济和社会系统。这一问题在当今世界具有现实意义，因为在许多地区，包括这项研究所在的中美洲，缺乏成功的融合是社会动荡的一个原因。考古学有可能展示融合过程可能会随着时间的推移而展开。在Barbara Voss博士的指导下，Guido Pezzarossi将分析2011年在San Pedro Aguacatepeque挖掘中发现的陶瓷文物和植物花粉遗骸，San Pedro Aguacatepeque位于危地马拉太平洋山前地区，是古典晚期至殖民晚期(公元900-1800年)的Kaqchikel玛雅遗址。阿瓜卡特佩克社区毗邻一条连接高地和沿海市场的重要商业路线，并且位于有利于可可和甘蔗种植的小气候内。这两种珍贵的经济作物成为阿瓜卡特佩克殖民时期农业生产的焦点。佩扎罗西将分析阿瓜卡特佩克的植物花粉遗骸和陶器文物，以确定该社区劳动和消费实践的变化。这项研究的目的是确定玛雅社区感受到的西班牙殖民和发展中的资本主义世界经济的影响。这项工作有助于更好地理解过去和现在参与全球经济对土著人民日常生活和传统的影响。西班牙殖民计划和全球资本主义经济在现代拉丁美洲的发展和其仍然庞大的土著人口(如玛雅人)的生活中所发挥的核心作用是毋庸置疑的。然而，在殖民时期玛雅遗址上进行的考古研究很少，目的是确切地了解在殖民和融入全球经济之后玛雅人的日常生活是如何改变的。这项考古研究跟踪殖民之前、期间和之后日常生活、劳动、消费和经济实践的具体变化，提供了关于殖民前环境如何影响殖民形式和结果的关键洞察。这项研究还追踪了土著人口在全球经济网络中的作用，以及殖民和全球经济纠葛对既定生活方式的影响。该项目分析了阿瓜卡特佩克殖民前和殖民占领时期的植物花粉，以确定农业劳动力、生存和环境以及经济作物种植的变化。此外，陶瓷制品将使用仪器中子活化分析和陶瓷岩相学进行分析。这将决定哪些陶瓷是在当地生产的，哪些是通过市场交换获得的。本地陶瓷向外地陶瓷比例的转变将跟踪市场依赖和消费实践的变化。该项目的更广泛影响包括支持研究生培训以及技术材料科学分析方面的专门培训，这将使Pezzarossi先生完成他的博士论文。该项目还促进了危地马拉和美国研究人员和学生之间的合作，以及Pezzarossi先生和美国各大学和实验室之间的合作。这一项目的成果将通过美国和危地马拉的会议报告、同行评议的出版物和项目网站进行传播。所有原始数据都将被储存起来，并通过斯坦福数字仓库向公众开放。最后，该项目正在与危地马拉安提瓜的一家当地非营利组织合作，为玛雅农村社区开发社区外联考古讲习班和课程。

The central goal of this project is to gain understanding of how local small-scale communities are incorporated into global economic and social systems. This issue is of relevance in the world today since in many regions, including Middle America where this research is situated, lack of successful integration is a cause of social unrest. Archaeology has the potential to show how the integration process may unfold over time. Under the guidance of Dr. Barbara Voss, Guido Pezzarossi will analyze ceramic artifacts and plant pollen remains recovered during 2011 excavations at San Pedro Aguacatepeque, a Late Classic to Late Colonial period (900-1800 AD) Kaqchikel Maya site located in the Pacific piedmont region of Guatemala. The community of Aguacatepeque was adjacent to an important commercial route that connected highland and coastal markets, as well as being located within microclimate favorable for the cultivation of cacao and sugar cane. These two prized cash crops became a focal point for Aguacatepeque's agricultural production in the colonial period. Mr. Pezzarossi will analyze plant pollen remains and ceramic artifacts from Aguacatepeque in order to identify changes in the community's labor and consumption practices. The goal of this research is to identify the impacts of Spanish colonization and the developing capitalist world economy as felt by Maya communities. This work contributes to a better understanding of the effects of participation in the global economy on the daily life and traditions of indigenous populations in the past and present.The central role that Spanish colonial projects and the global capitalist economy played in the development of modern Latin America and in the lives of its still sizable indigenous populations (such as the Maya) is without question. However, little archaeological research has been conducted on Colonial period Maya sites with the intention of understanding exactly how daily life changed for Maya people in the wake of colonization and integration into the global economy. This archaeological research tracks specific changes in daily life, labor, consumption and economic practice prior to, during and after colonization, providing key insight into how precolonial contexts influenced the form and outcomes of colonization. This study also traces the role of indigenous populations within global economic networks and the effects of colonization and global economic entanglement on established ways of life. This project analyzes plant pollen recovered from pre-colonial and colonial occupation periods at Aguacatepeque, in order to identify changes in agricultural labor, subsistence and environment, and cash crop cultivation. In addition, ceramic artifacts will be analyzed using instrumental neutron activation analysis and ceramic petrography. This will determine which ceramics were produced locally, and which were acquired through market exchange. The shifting ratio of local to non-local ceramics will track changes in market dependence and consumption practices.This broader impacts of this project include support of graduate student training as well as specialized training in technical material science analyses that will allow Mr. Pezzarossi to complete his doctoral dissertation. This project also fosters collaboration between Guatemalan and US-based researchers and students, as well as between Mr. Pezzarossi and various US-based universities and laboratories. The results of this project will be disseminated through US and Guatemalan conference presentations, peer-reviewed publications and through the project websites. All raw data will be housed and made publically available through the Stanford Digital Repository. Finally, the project is working with a local non-profit in Antigua, Guatemala to develop a community outreach archaeology workshop and curriculum for rural Maya communities.