Collaborative Proposal: Warfare, Landscape Alteration And Social Organization

社区和国家之间历史上的暴力弧线是全世界关注的问题。战争深刻地影响着统治、经济、语言、技术等的发展，是社会科学研究的中心课题。考古学家在研究许多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也是如此。布朗大学的Andrew Scherer博士、Brandeis大学的Charles Golden博士和他们的危地马拉合作者将探索经典时期(公元250-900)玛雅王国之间战争的进行和影响，提供一个案例研究，其中历史记录补充了考古学家研究的材料遗骸。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以及欧亚大陆和非洲的国家和酋长的丰富比较，包括美索不达米亚、希腊和埃及，这些国家和酋长长期以来为我们提供了对战争和治国方式发展的许多理解。这项研究具有加强美国和危地马拉科学家之间的合作研究联系的实际好处，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，研究区正在遭受抢劫、非法砍伐、刀耕火种的农业、森林大火和牧场的破坏。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，该项目将展示美国对促进知识进步、保护自然和文化资源、改善邻国和发展中经济体生活的承诺。玛雅曾被认为是少数几个没有战争的古代国家之一，他们的尺子只关心宗教仪式。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点，战争是治国方略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艺术和象形文字铭文，几乎不了解它是如何实际进行的，它是如何得到后勤支持的，它可能如何影响社会，以及它作为政治形成和崩溃的因果关系所起的作用。谢勒和戈尔登将使用皮埃德拉斯、内格拉斯和亚西奇兰等经典时期的王国作为他们的案例。他们之前对这些王国边界上的防御工事进行了研究，可以追溯到公元8世纪。这些都被解读为在这些国家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建立开始就受到关注，并在一定程度上塑造了它们的政治和经济发展，谢勒、戈登和他的合作者将研究与皮德拉斯·内格拉斯和亚西奇兰的政治首都直接相关的防御。联合PIS及其当地合作者的初步观察表明，这种防御措施确实存在，这与大多数这样的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.