Dissertation Research: The Political Economy of the Northern Maya

在Gary Feinman博士的指导下，Susan Kepecs女士将在墨西哥尤卡坦半岛的Chikinchel地区进行博士论文研究。在这项考古研究中，她将进行地面调查，以确定在早期和晚期后古典时期被占用的大型遗址。将从中抽取一组进行更深入的分析。小型定居点和其他特征将被调查和绘制。精英建筑、房屋、贸易货物和其他遗迹的表面分布将被绘制出来。随后的分析将揭示社会阶层的建筑指标与经济活动遗迹之间的关系。通过对早期和后期后古典遗址的比较，将有可能确定经济和相关社会组织是如何随着时间的推移而变化的。长期以来，考古学家一直对玛雅帝国的“衰落”感兴趣。在古典时期，寺庙和其他主要纪念碑的建设以及相关的大规模仪式活动。在随后的早期和晚期后古典时期，这些大型中心被遗弃，人口分散到较小的群体中。传统上，这被解释为“衰退”。然而，另一些人则认为，这是经济组织的变化，其特点是权力下放和群体之间日益激烈的经济竞争。由于后古典时期的经济和社会组织尚未得到很好的考察，因此无法在这两种选择之间做出选择。Kepecs女士的研究将提供急需的数据。考古学的一个主要目标是了解导致复杂社会兴起和衰落的过程。玛雅人的案例为社会衰落提供了一个教科书式的例子，许多研究人员试图找出原因，并将其推广到其他社会。Kepecs女士的研究很重要，因为它将进一步阐明这个问题。

Under the direction of Dr. Gary Feinman, Ms. Susan Kepecs will conduct her doctoral dissertation research in the Chikinchel region of the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. In this archaeological research, she will conduct a surface survey to locate large sites which were occupied during Early and Late Postclassic periods. From these a group will be drawn for more intensive analysis. Small settlements and other features will be surveyed and mapped. Surface distributions of elite architecture, housemounds, trade goods, and other remains will be plotted. Subsequent analysis will reveal relationships between architectural indicators of social class and the remains of economic activities. Through a comparison of Early and succeeding Late Postclassic sites, it will be possible to determine how economic and related social organization changed over time. Archaeologists have long been interested in the "decline" of the Mayan empire. The Classic period saw the construction of temples and other major monuments and associated large scale ceremonial activity. In the succeeding Early and Late Postclassic periods, these large centers were abandoned and the population dispersed into smaller groups. Traditionally this has been interpreted as a "decline." However, others argue that what is involved is a change in economic organization characterized by decentralization and increasing economic competition between groups. Because economic and social organization during the Postclassic period have not been well examined, it is not possible to choose between these two options. Ms. Kepecs research will provide much needed data. A major goal of archaeology is to understand the processes which lead to the rise and decline of complex societies. The Mayan case has provided a textbook example of social decline and many researchers have attempted both to discover the cause and to generalize to other societies. Ms. Kepecs' research is important because it will shed additional light on this question.