Collaborative Research: The Role Of Ritual And Hierarchical Social Structure In Mediating Culture Change

韦伯州立大学的克里斯汀·德·卢西亚博士和德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的恩里克·Rodríguez-Alegría博士将进行一项研究，调查宗教和仪式在帝国发展和征服时期权力建设中的作用。人类学家长期以来一直在研究宗教在政治生活中的作用，并注意到领导人如何经常利用仪式和象征来创造一种合法性，政治团结感，并构成权力。例如，阿兹特克人将祭祀仪式作为支持征服和合法化自己统治的手段。在西班牙征服墨西哥之后，宗教仍然是殖民者使用的各种统治策略之一，与暴力、胁迫和谈判一样。这种过程不是过去所特有的，在现代世界，特别是在宗教原教旨主义的情况下也可以找到。领导者如何利用宗教来招募新的追随者？哪些策略有效，哪些无效？如果人们能更好地理解这些策略，就有可能阐明这些过程是如何塑造过去并在今天发挥作用的。考古学特别适合研究宗教对政治生活的长期影响，因为它是唯一能让我们观察长期变化的学科。这项研究也很重要，因为它将为本科生和研究生提供在考古发掘和实验室分析方面获得培训和经验的机会。研究人员还将与社区成员密切合作，加强对当地历史和考古的了解，并在成人和青年中促进科学和学习。虽然我们知道宗教在阿兹特克和后来的西班牙统治中发挥了重要作用，但对于精英如何以及何时挪用和操纵大众宇宙论，地方精英如何与首都的宗教联系在一起，以及普通人如何应对宗教变化，我们仍然知之甚少。为了更好地了解这些过程，研究人员将在墨西哥盆地的前西班牙地区中心Xaltocan进行考古研究。对Xaltocan的个案研究尤为重要，因为研究人员能够从该地点考察其跨越1100年历史的变化。它最初是一个小社区，后来发展成为一个重要的政治中心，最终被阿兹特克帝国征服，最后被西班牙帝国征服。研究小组将利用探地雷达（GPR）、大规模水平挖掘、生物表面化学分析、微型遗骸分析等严格的科学方法，挖掘西班牙殖民时期之前的仪式场所，包括可能是西班牙殖民时期之前的寺庙。这些跨学科的数据集将允许研究仪式实践的长期变化，它们将更好地理解中间精英的策略，例如那些被征服的城镇，如Xaltocan。这个项目将以对阿兹特克研究、人类学和宗教研究的学者感兴趣的方式，为有关中间精英的文献做出贡献。

Dr. Kristin De Lucia of Weber State University and Dr. Enrique Rodríguez-Alegría of the University of Texas at Austin will undertake research to investigate the roles of religion and ritual in the construction of power during the growth of empires and in situations of conquest. Anthropologists have long studied to the study of the role of religion in political life and have noted how leaders frequently appropriate rituals and symbolism to create a sense of legitimacy, political solidarity, and to constitute power. The Aztecs, for example employed ritual sacrifice as a means of supporting conquest and legitimizing their own rule. After the Spanish conquest of Mexico, religion continued to be one of the varied strategies of domination used by colonizers, along with violence, coercion, and negotiation. Such processes are not unique to the past but may also be found in the modern world, particularly in situations of religious fundamentalism. How do leaders use religion to recruit new followers? What strategies work and which ones do not? If one can better understand these tactics, it will be possible to shed light on how these processes both shaped the past and play out today. Archaeology is uniquely suited to study the long-term influences of religion on political life as it is the only discipline that allows us to look at change over long periods of time. This research is also important because it will provide undergraduate and graduate students with opportunities to gain training and experience in both archaeological excavation and laboratory analysis. The researchers will likewise work closely with community members to enhance knowledge of local history and archaeology and to promote science and learning among adults and youth.Although it is known that religion played an important role in both Aztec and later Spanish domination, there is still little understanding of how and when elites appropriated and manipulated popular cosmologies, how provincial elites related to the religion of the capital, and how ordinary people responded to religious change. In order to better understand these processes, the investigators will conduct archaeological research at the pre-Hispanic regional center of Xaltocan, in the Basin of Mexico. The case-study of Xaltocan is particularly important since researchers are able to examine change spanning its 1,100-year history from the site?s initial founding as a small community, its growth into an important political center, and its eventual conquest by the Aztec Empire, and finally, the Spanish Empire. The research team will excavate ritual sites dating to the pre-Hispanic through colonial periods, including a possible pre-Hispanic temple, using rigorous scientific methodologies including ground penetrating radar (GPR), large-scale horizontal excavation, chemical analysis of living surfaces, and the analysis of micro-remains. These interdisciplinary datasets will permit examining long-term change in ritual practice and they will provide a better understanding of the strategies of intermediate elites, such as those of conquered towns like Xaltocan. This project will contribute to the literature on intermediate elites in ways that should be of interest to scholars in Aztec studies, anthropology, and religious studies.