Dissertation Research: Maya Economic Integration: Perspectives from the Lithic Production System at El Pedernal, Guatemala

在Richard Leventhal博士的指导下，Brandon Lewis先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。在他以前在该地区进行的实地工作的基础上，他将在位于危地马拉佩滕地区东北部的El Pedernal遗址进行考古发掘。该遗址及其周边地区是蒂卡尔玛雅帝国的一部分，在古典时期早期和晚期被占领。因此，它记录了玛雅人的成就。迄今为止的工作已经证明了一些广场群和居住地点的存在。布兰登先生将在其中几处进行有限的挖掘，以收集石器遗迹。他将把这类材料的分布与它们的来源联系起来。通过对生产顺序的分析，可以从回收的副产品中重建，他将深入了解现场石材工作的组织。虽然考古学家已经追溯了玛雅帝国的兴起和随后的衰落，但仍然不确定它是如何运作的，以及有多少人被整合到这个庞大的实体中。近年来，人们把注意力集中在经济制度上，并试图理解经济专业化的程度。由于没有金属工具，石头在玛雅人的生存中发挥了重要作用，刘易斯先生将试图了解石器生产在多大程度上是集中在当地用户手中还是分散在当地用户手中。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据。它将揭示复杂社会是如何发展和维持的，并将有助于培养有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Richard Leventhal, Mr. Brandon Lewis will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. Building on previous fieldwork he carried out in the region, he will conduct archaeological excavations at the site of El Pedernal which is located in the northeastern Peten region of Guatemala. The site and its surrounding environs formed part of the Tikal Mayan empire and was occupied during Early and Late Classic periods. Thus it documents the height of Mayan achievement. Work to date has demonstrated the presence of a number of plaza groups and habitation sites. Mr. Brandon will conduct limited excavations at several of these to collect lithic remains. He will relate the distribution of such materials to the chert sources from which they are derived. Through analysis of the production sequence, which can be reconstructed from the byproducts recovered, he will gain insight into the organization of stone working at the site. While archaeologists have traced the rise and subsequent decline of the Mayan empire, it is still uncertain how it functioned and how large numbers of individuals were integrated into this large entity. In recent years attention has been focussed on the economic system and attempts made to understand the degree of economic specialization. Because metal tools were not available, stone played an important role in Mayan subsistence and Mr. Lewis will attempt to understand the degree to which stone tool production was either centralized or dispersed in the hands of local users. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will shed new light on how complex societies developed and were maintained and will assist in the training of a promising young scientist.