Military Origins in Middle America

中美洲的军事起源

• 批准号: 1821932
• 负责人: Thomas Garrison
• 金额: $ 13.76万
• 依托单位: Ithaca College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-09-01 至 2022-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1821932&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Military; Origins; Middle; America

Dr. Thomas Garrison, of Ithaca College, together with a multidisciplinary team of American and Guatemalan scholars, will undertake archaeological field research aimed at developing a better anthropological understanding of the contexts, causes, and outcomes of intra- and intercultural conflicts. Warfare and violence between civilizations of diverse religious and cultural backgrounds continue to shape the societies immersed in these antagonistic interactions. By looking to the past, archaeology has the ability to reveal complex examples of ancient aggression, giving insight into the long-term effects of large-scale and endemic violence on human societies. While it would be easy to focus on the negative aspects of warfare, which are prevalent and varied, there are also contexts in which warfare has acted as a stimulus for cultural florescence. The present project builds upon the sensational discovery of multi thousand new ancient Maya structures in the Guatemalan jungle, detected by laser-based, lidar remote sensing technology, to investigate just such a case. The multi-layered conflicts seen between Maya city-states, as well as contemporary foreign cultures, are reminiscent of the complex conflicts that affect different areas of the globe today, and archaeology can inform upon the long-term societal impacts caused by these clashes.Dr. Garrison and his team will focus their investigations on the newly discovered, ancient fortress of La Cuernavilla. Situated between the great Maya city-state of Tikal and the smaller neighboring kingdom of El Zotz, the fortress appears to date to the late 4th century; the very beginnings of Classic Maya civilization (AD 300-900). Preliminary studies indicate a link between La Cuernavilla and the foreign, central Mexican city of Teotihuacan, which invaded and conquered Tikal in AD 378. Using a combination of archaeological, environmental, and chemical analyses the researchers will conduct field and laboratory investigations to unpack the complex cultural milieu present at La Cuernavilla and in its surrounding landscape. Studies of local environmental conditions in the past, as well as available ancient dietary resources will show to what degree the site was a true fortress, able to withstand long-term attacks and advance a political and military agenda. Archaeological investigations will discern the complex cultural sequence that involves two Maya cities at war during the time of a foreign occupation. These analyses and comparisons with other case studies will be used to interpret to what degree places like La Cuernavilla contributed to the rise of cultural complexity and the florescence of Maya civilization, hopefully serving as a model for understanding similar situations across time and space.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

伊萨卡学院的托马斯加里森博士将与一个由美国和危地马拉学者组成的多学科团队一起进行考古实地研究，旨在对内部和文化间冲突的背景、原因和结果进行更好的人类学理解。不同宗教和文化背景的文明之间的战争和暴力继续影响着处于这些敌对互动中的社会。通过回顾过去，考古学有能力揭示古代侵略的复杂例子，深入了解大规模和地方性暴力对人类社会的长期影响。虽然我们很容易把重点放在战争的消极方面，因为战争是普遍的和多样的，但在某些情况下，战争也是文化繁荣的刺激因素。目前的项目建立在危地马拉丛林中数千个新的古代玛雅建筑的轰动性发现的基础上，这些建筑是通过基于激光的激光雷达遥感技术探测到的，目的是调查这样一个案例。玛雅城邦之间以及当代外国文化之间的多层次冲突让人想起今天影响地球仪不同地区的复杂冲突，考古学可以为这些冲突造成的长期社会影响提供信息。Garrison博士和他的团队将重点调查新发现的古老堡垒La Cuernavilla。这座堡垒位于伟大的玛雅城邦蒂卡尔和较小的邻近王国El Zotz之间，似乎可以追溯到世纪晚期;古典玛雅文明的开端（公元300-900年）。初步研究表明，拉库埃纳维拉与墨西哥中部的外国城市特奥蒂瓦坎之间存在联系，特奥蒂瓦坎于公元378年入侵并征服了蒂卡尔。研究人员将结合考古、环境和化学分析，进行实地和实验室调查，以揭示La Cuernavilla及其周围景观中复杂的文化环境。对过去当地环境条件的研究，以及现有的古代饮食资源，将表明该遗址在多大程度上是一个真正的堡垒，能够承受长期的攻击，并推进政治和军事议程。考古调查将发现复杂的文化序列，涉及两个玛雅城市在外国占领期间的战争。这些分析和与其他案例研究的比较将被用来解释像拉库埃纳维拉这样的地方在多大程度上促进了文化复杂性的兴起和玛雅文明的繁荣，该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并被认为值得通过利用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响进行评估来支持审查标准。