Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: The Emergence Of Unique Regional Identity

德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的阿德里亚娜·利纳雷斯-帕尔玛将在后古典主义时期在危地马拉的圣胡安·科萨尔进行身份政治研究。她将研究为什么伊克西尔玛雅人有一个独特的地区身份，以及伊克西尔玛雅人是如何在后古典时期(公元1250-1530年)在中美洲的玛雅高地对基契玛雅扩张主义做出反应的。该项目旨在了解中美洲地区的社会政治冲突和移民对Ixil后经典社区中的人们与风景、领土和社会身份的关系产生了什么影响。为了研究Ixil身份的发展，研究将集中在Ixil的地区聚落模式、建筑和文物，并与该地区其他玛雅人的比较。通过考古、档案和人种学调查，研究人员将检查Ixil聚落模式和古代物质性，以确定Ixil人是否与世隔绝或与该地区的其他玛雅群体接触，以及他们是否在后古典时期对该地区的不同玛雅群体形成网络或保持自治。作为专业发展的一部分，利纳雷斯-帕尔马将带领一组学生对正在研究的考古遗址进行测绘。这项研究将提供有关传统社会如何在区域背景下适应以及与其他群体互动的信息。研究将在Ixil地区三个城镇之一的Quich？的San Juan Cotzal进行。研究人员和学生团队将绘制所有考古遗址的地图，以探索以下问题：Ixil聚落模式和物质性是否反映了与后古典时期K‘iche政治实体的扩张倾向的隔离？相反，它们是否反映了后古典时期与高地和低地的不同玛雅群体的接触、自治，甚至是网络？通过对Ixil建筑形态的空间分析，结合先前考古研究的背景数据，以及对陶瓷和其他文物的分析，研究人员将Ixil的特殊特征与其他玛雅高地和低地聚落进行比较。它们将纳入玛雅高地之间血统的社会政治组织，这些组织通过建筑、空间配置和聚落模式可见。通过在危地马拉基切的圣胡安·科扎尔进行考古、档案和人种学研究，研究人员将扩展关于移民的理论；区域政治和文化冲突、社会网络和身份政治。此外，研究人员将扩展先前为玛雅高地提出的分段谱系组织理论，并为完善先前对伊西尔地区的解释做出贡献。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Adriana Linares-Palma, of the University of Texas at Austin, will undertake research to study identity politics in San Juan Cotzal, Guatemala, during the Postclassic period. She will research why the Ixil Maya have a unique regional identity and how the Ixil Maya responded to K'iche' Maya expansionism during the Late Postclassic period (A.D. 1250-1530) in the Maya highlands of Mesoamerica. The project aims to understand what effect socio-political conflict and migration in the Mesoamerican region had upon people's relationship to landscape, territory, and social identities in Ixil Postclassic communities. To study the development of Ixil identity, research will focus on the regional settlement patterns, architecture, and artifacts of the Ixil, in comparison to those of other Maya groups in the region. Through archaeological, archival, and ethnographic investigation, researchers will examine Ixil settlement patterns and ancient materiality to determine if Ixil people were in isolation or in contact with other Maya groups in the area, and whether they formed networks or maintained autonomy with respect to diverse Maya groups in the area during the Postclassic Period. Linares-Palma will lead a team of students to conduct mapping of the archaeological sites under study as part of their professional development. The research will provide information into how traditional societies adapt within a regional context and interact with other groups.Research will be conducted at San Juan Cotzal, Quich?, one of three towns of the Ixil region. The researcher and team of students will map all the archaeological sites in order to explore the following questions: do Ixil settlement patterns and materiality reflect isolation from the expansionist tendency of the K'iche' political entity during the Postclassic period? Do they reflect instead contact, autonomy and perhaps even networks with diverse Maya groups of the highlands and lowlands during the Postclassic Period? Through spatial analysis of Ixil architectural configuration, incorporation of contextual data from previous archaeological research, as well as an analysis of ceramics and other artifacts, researchers will compare particular characteristics of the Ixil with other Maya highland and lowland settlements. They will incorporate socio-political organizations of lineages among the Maya highlands, which are visible through architecture, spatial configuration, and settlement patterns. Through archaeological, archival and ethnographic research at San Juan Cotzal, Quiche, Guatemala, researchers will expand on theories of migrations; regional political and cultural conflicts social networks and identity politics. Moreover, researchers will expand on theories of segmentary lineage organization previously proposed for the Maya highlands, as well as contribute to the refinement of previous interpretations of the Ixil region.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.