Dissertation Research: Prehispanic Maya Community Organization and Settlement Hierarchy in the Chichen Itza Area

在艾伦·科拉塔博士的指导下，帕特里夏·安德森女士将进行考古研究，为她的博士论文收集数据。安德森女士将在玛雅遗址尤拉进行调查和挖掘，该遗址可以追溯到古典/后古典时期，位于墨西哥尤卡坦半岛奇琴伊萨的主要仪式中心附近。由于奇琴伊察已经做了大量工作，应该有可能将尤拉置于更广泛的区域范围内。在一个助手团队的帮助下，安德森将清理过度生长的网站，然后制作网站地图。将确定场地边界，并记录微环境和水文资源。将对建筑和其他文化遗迹进行划分，并收集非陶瓷物品。然后，将在富裕的中部地区进行试掘，以找回陶器和其他材料遗骸。在此基础上，应该可以确定社区的规模和在那里开展的活动范围。尽管在尤卡坦半岛进行了大量的考古研究，但重点几乎都集中在拥有令人印象深刻的寺庙和公共建筑的“精英遗址”上。这个项目之所以重要，是因为它对一个小型非精英聚居地进行了审查。这应该有助于形成一幅更平衡的玛雅社会图景。它还应该增加对不同规模的社区如何相互作用以及将它们联系在一起的最重要的政治和经济制度的考古理解。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。首先，它将帮助培养一位非常有前途的年轻科学家。其次，它将为复杂社会如何发展提供新的见解。关于大小以农业为基础的实体之间的经济互动以及这些互动如何随时间变化的信息可能有助于我们了解第三世界的发展进程。

Under the direction of Dr. Alan Kolata, Ms. Patricia Anderson will conduct archaeological research to collect data for her doctoral dissertation. Ms. Anderson will carry out both survey and excavation at the Mayan site of Yula which dates from the classic/post-classic period and is located near the major ceremonial center of Chichen Itza in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. Because of extensive work which has been done at Chichen Itza, it should be possible to place Yula into a broader regional context. With a team of assistants, Ms. Anderson will clear site overgrowth and then construct a site map. Site boundaries will be determined and microenvironmental and hydrological resources noted. Buildings and other cultural remains will be plotted and non-ceramic objects collected. Test excavations will then be placed in rich midden areas to retrieve pottery and other material remains. On this basis it should be possible to determine the size of the community and the range of activities conducted there. Although much archaeological research has been conducted in the Yucatan peninsula, the focus has been almost exclusively on "elite sites" with impressive temples and public buildings. What makes this project important is its examination of a small non- elite settlement. This should aid in producing a more balanced picture of Mayan society. It should also increase archaeological understanding of how communities of different sizes interacted and the over-arching political and economic system which linked them. This research is important for several reasons. First, it will assist in the training of an extremely promising young scientist. Secondly, it will provide new insight into how complex societies develop. The information on economic interactions between larger and smaller agrarian based entities and how these change over time may help us to understand processes of development in the Third World.