Doctoral Dissertation Research: Livelihood Strategies at Classic and Colonial Period Tahcabo, Yucatan, Mexico

这项研究项目将研究殖民主义等宏观治理变化对农村社区农民活动的影响。在现代农业研究中，研究人员努力了解人们如何选择生计战略，并推断他们的决定对地区政治稳定、经济安全和景观可持续性的长期影响。考古研究处于有利地位，有助于了解农村农民在这些领域可能产生的影响，因为它侧重于在更长的时间范围内发生的行为和环境变化。在这一更广泛的背景下，该项目将为研究地点编制农业历史，包括所开展的活动和一段时间以来种植的作物的情况，重点是人口密度高的时期。这项研究将为来自美国的研究生和来自墨西哥的本科生提供培训。它将促进美国、加拿大和墨西哥实验室科学家之间的合作。研究成果将通过以一种以上语文为广大受众编写的出版物传播，并在将主办研究的社区博物馆设置展览。社区居民将了解过去采用的食物生产策略，这些策略在今天可能会被证明是有用的。考古研究集中在大型政治中心，而现存的历史记录主要讲述精英的故事。最近的研究已经开始关注日常生活和家庭经济。考虑到区域限制和机会，该项目将注意力转移到农民及其战略上。它将研究在古典主义早期(公元200-500年)、古典主义晚期(公元600-900年)和殖民时期(公元1550-1800)的人口增长时期，生活在TahCabo农村社区的过去的人们是否使他们的经济活动多样化，或追求特定商品或作物的专门生产。从这些时期开始，将在房屋和花园中进行挖掘，以便找到家庭开展经济活动的证据。分析土壤样本中的微小植物遗骸将提供有关经过一段时间种植的作物的信息。通过对陶瓷风格的研究和烧焦木材的年代测定，将确定每栋房子的年代信息。利用这些证据，该项目将测试有关西班牙殖民前后农民采取的策略的命题。这一结果将为社会变革和农业变革之间的关系提供新的见解。

This research project will study the impacts of macro-governance changes such as colonialism on the activities of farmers in rural communities. In studies of contemporary agriculture, researchers strive to understand how people choose livelihood strategies and to infer the long-term implications of their decisions for regional political stability, economic security, and landscape sustainability. Archaeological research is well-positioned to contribute to knowledge about the impact rural farmers can have in these realms due to its focus on behavioral and environmental changes over extended time frames. Within this broader context, this project will generate an agricultural history for the research site, including an account of the activities pursued and crops grown through time, focusing on periods of high population density. The study will provide training to graduate-level students from the United States as well as undergraduate students from Mexico. It will generate collaborations between laboratory scientists in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Research results will be disseminated through publications written for broad audiences in more than one language and the installation of an exhibit in the museum of the community that will host the research. Community residents will be made aware of food production strategies employed in the past that could prove useful for them today.Archaeological research has focused on large political centers, while extant historical records primarily tell the stories of elites. Recent studies have begun to address daily lives and household economies. This project shifts attention to farmers and their strategies given regional constraints and opportunities. It will study whether past peoples living in the rural community of Tahcabo diversified their economic activities or pursued specialized production of particular goods or crops during times of population growth spanning the Early Classic (AD 200-500), Late Classic (AD 600-900), and Colonial (AD 1550-1800) periods. Excavations will take place in houses and gardens from these time periods in order to locate evidence for the economic activities conducted by household. Analysis of soil samples for microscopic plant remains will provide information on the crops grown through time. Chronological information about the occupation of each house will be determined through the study of ceramic styles and the dating of charred wood. Using these lines of evidence, the project will test propositions about the strategies employed by farmers before and after Spanish colonization. The results will provide new insights into the relationship between social and agricultural change.