Collaborative Proposal: Warfare, Landscape Alteration And Social Organization

社区和国家之间暴力的历史弧线是全世界关注的问题。战争深刻影响着治理、经济、语言、技术等方面的发展，是社会科学研究的中心课题。考古学家在研究几个世纪以来战争的发展和影响方面处于独特的地位，即使在那些历史信息有限的社会中也是如此。布朗大学的Andrew Scherer博士，布兰代斯大学的Charles Golden博士和他们的危地马拉合作者将探索古典时期（公元250 - 900年）玛雅王国的战争行为和影响，提供一个历史记录补充考古学家研究的材料的案例研究。这项研究将产生重要的数据，提供与古代和历史上美洲的其他社会的丰富比较，以及欧亚大陆和非洲的国家和酋长管辖地，包括美索不达米亚，希腊和埃及，这些国家和酋长管辖地长期以来为我们提供了许多关于战争和治国方略发展的理解。这项研究的实际好处是加强了美国和危地马拉科学家之间的合作研究关系，并为美国和危地马拉的本科生和研究生提供了培训机会。此外，研究区正受到抢劫、非法伐木、刀耕火种农业、森林火灾和牧场经营的破坏。这项工作将为政府当局、土地使用管理者和当地社区提供详细的考古遗址位置和范围的数据，并扩大基础设施支持，以帮助打击这种破坏。该项目将为园区周边地区的贫困社区提供就业机会。因此，该项目将表明美国致力于促进知识进步，保护自然和文化资源，改善邻国和发展中经济体的生活。玛雅人曾经被认为是少数几个没有战争的古代国家之一，他们的统治者只关心宗教仪式。最近的研究表明，古代玛雅社会与其他古代和现代国家有更多的共同之处，战争是治国之道的一个悲剧性但重要的组成部分。然而，我们对玛雅战争的理解主要来自于艺术和象形文字的铭文，很少了解它是如何实际进行的，后勤支持，它如何影响社会，以及它作为政治形成和崩溃的原因和结果的作用。Scherer和Golden将以古典时期的Piedras Negras和Yaxchilan王国为案例进行研究。他们之前对这些王国边界的防御工事进行了研究，其历史可以追溯到公元8世纪。这些事件被解释为这些国家在政治崩溃之前暴力升级的迹象。为了确定战争和防御是否从这些王国的基础开始就受到关注，并在一定程度上影响了他们的政治和经济发展，Scherer、Golden和合作者将研究与Piedras Negras和Yaxchilan的政治首都直接相关的防御。共同调查人员及其当地合作者的初步观察表明，这种防御确实存在，这与大多数此类首都没有防御工事的假设相反。

The historical arc of violence between communities and states is a concern worldwide. Warfare deeply impacts the development of governance, economy, language, technology and more, and is a central topic of study in the social sciences. Archaeologists are uniquely positioned to study the development and impacts of warfare over many centuries, even in those societies for which there is limited historical information. Dr. Andrew Scherer of Brown University, Dr. Charles Golden of Brandeis University, and their Guatemalan collaborators will explore the conduct and impact of warfare among Classic period (AD 250 - 900) Maya kingdoms, offering a case study in which historical records complement the material remains studied by archaeologists. This research will produce important data providing a rich comparison with other societies in the ancient and historical Americas, as well as the states and chiefdoms in Eurasia and Africa including Mesopotamia, Greece and Egypt that have long provided much of our understandings of the development of war and statecraft. This research has the practical benefit of strengthening collaborative research ties between American and Guatemalan scientists, and provides training opportunities for American and Guatemalan undergraduate and graduate students. Further, the research zone is being devastated by looting, illegal logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, forest fires, and ranching. This work will provide government authorities, land-use managers, and local communities with data detailing the location and extent of archaeological sites and extends infrastructural support to help combat this destruction. The project will provide employment opportunities for impoverished communities in the area around the park. The project will therefore demonstrate America's commitment to the advancement of knowledge, the protection of natural and cultural resources, and the betterment of lives in neighboring countries and developing economies.The Maya were once thought to be one of the few ancient states without warfare, their rulers concerned with little more than religious rituals. More recent research has revealed that ancient Maya society had more in common with other ancient and modern states, and that warfare constituted a tragic but important component of statecraft. Yet our understanding of Maya warfare has been derived largely from art and hieroglyphic inscriptions with little understanding of how it was actually conducted, supported logistically, how it may have impacted society, and its role as a cause and effect of political formation and collapse. Scherer and Golden will use as their case study the Classic period kingdoms of Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan. They have previously conducted research on fortifications at boundaries of these kingdoms, dating to the eighth century AD. These have been interpreted as indicative of escalating violence immediately preceding the political collapse of these states. To determine whether warfare and defense were concerns from the foundation of these kingdoms, shaping in part their political and economic development, Scherer, Golden, and collaborators will study defenses associated directly with the political capitals of Piedras Negras and Yaxchilan. Preliminary observations by the co-PIs and their local collaborators suggest such defenses do exist, contrary to the assumption that most such capitals did not have fortifications.