An Examination of the Long Term Relationship between Urban Planning and Social Control

Timothy Pugh 博士和来自美国和危地马拉的学者团队将调查公元前 800 年至 400 年古代玛雅人城市的出现。目前世界上大多数人居住在城市，但人们对城市的作用及其最初形成方式知之甚少。平衡复杂的社会互动、交通和城市规划需求对于当前和过去的城市成功至关重要。然而，随着社会不平等和职业专业化的出现，这种平衡变得更加复杂。考古学可以在没有历史文献的情况下研究长期的社会现象。因此，这项研究将有助于理解中央政府与城市之间的长期关系：城市在帮助社会适应新兴​​社会复杂性方面发挥了哪些作用？中央领导的发展与城市规划有何关系？公共和私人空间之间的长期紧张关系是什么？这种动态与社会不平等的出现有何关系？该项目探索了目前已知的美洲最早的城市网格的发明，该网格位于危地马拉北部佩滕的尼克斯通-奇奇低地玛雅遗址。如此复杂的城市规划是如何在一个没有此类规划传统的地区出现的？ Nixtun-Chich 也是唯一已知拥有城市网格的玛雅城市。为什么城市网格在玛雅文明中不像在古代中国、印度河流域和希腊文明中那么成功？总之，该项目将研究城市如何作为一种行政工具来组织日益庞大且社会经济多样化的人口。这项研究将培训美国和危地马拉的学生，并将支持学生努力完成各个级别的研究实习和论文。项目结果将以英语和西班牙语出版在书籍和期刊中，并在危地马拉、美国和其他地方的会议上发表。信息将上传到一个正在进行的网站（http://www.itzaarchaeology.com/），该网站总结了项目发现。在中美洲的玛雅低地，典型的城市包括低密度的城市聚落。然而，在公元前 800 至 500 年间，尼克斯通-奇奇发展了一个由一系列垂直走廊组成的独特城市网格，并且人口稠密。该研究项目将检验这样的假设：尼克斯顿-奇奇的定居点通过网格布局合理化，以组织和管理日益庞大和复杂的人口。该项目还将调查在前古典时期中期（公元前 400/300 年）末期，私人空间是否开始侵入城市的公共空间，从而可能导致社会消散并最终导致分散。这些主张将通过在城市网格中进行广泛挖掘的多年考古计划进行检验。这项研究将产生许多更广泛的影响。关于古代城市的多样性、成功和失败的知识可以有助于现代城市化和政策制定的讨论。拟议的工作将为理解社会互动性、交通成本和居住模式之间的积极平衡的重要性增加一些历史深度，这对于明智的政策制定至关重要。因此，这项工作有可能阐明公共物品的社会功能和私有化的潜在弊端。

Dr. Timothy Pugh and a team of scholars from the United States and Guatemala will investigate the emergence of cities among the ancient Maya between 800 and 400 BC. The majority of people worldwide currently live in cities, yet little is known about what cities do or how they initially formed. Balancing complex social interactions, transportation, and urban planning needs is critical to the success of cities in the present as well as the past. However, such balancing becomes even more complex during the emergence of social inequality and occupational specialization. Archaeology allows the study of social phenomena over long periods of time and without historical documents. Thus, this research will contribute to understanding the long-term relationships between central administration and cities: What roles did cities play in helping societies adapt to emerging social complexity? How does the development of central leadership relate to urban planning? What are the long-term dynamics of tensions between public and private spaces? How do such dynamics relate to the emergence of social inequality? The project explores the invention of what is currently the earliest known urban grid in the Americas at the lowland Maya site of Nixtun-Chich in Peten, northern Guatemala. How did such complex city planning emerge in an area without a tradition of such planning? Nixtun-Chich is also the only Maya city known to have an urban grid. Why were urban grids not as successful among the Maya as they were among the ancient Chinese, Indus Valley, and Greek civilizations? In sum, the project will examine how cities can act as a sort of administrative tool to organize increasingly large and socioeconomically diverse populations. This research will train both United States and Guatemalan students and will support student efforts to complete research practicums and theses at various levels. Project results will be published in English and Spanish in books and journals, and presented at conferences in Guatemala, the United States, and elsewhere. Information will be uploaded to an ongoing website (http://www.itzaarchaeology.com/), which summarizes project findings.In the Maya lowlands of Mesoamerica, the typical city includes low-density urban settlement. However, between 800 and 500 BC, Nixtun-Chich developed a unique urban grid formed by a series of perpendicular corridors and was densely settled. This research project will test the hypothesis that the settlement of Nixtun-Chich was rationalized through a gridded layout to organize and manage an increasingly large and complex population. The project will also investigate whether private space began to impinge upon public space by the end of the Middle Preclassic period (400/300 BC) at the city, perhaps leading to social dissipation and ultimately dispersion. These propositions will be tested through a multiyear archaeological program of extensive excavations in the urban grid. This research will make a number of broader impacts. The knowledge of the diversity, successes, and failures of ancient cities can contribute to modern discussions of urbanization and policymaking. The proposed work will add some historical depth to understanding the importance of a positive balance of social interactivity, transportation costs, and settlement patterns, which is critical for sensible policymaking. Accordingly, the work has the potential to illuminate the social functions of public goods and the potential drawbacks of privatization.