Archaeology of the Formative Period in Oaxaca

在国家科学基金会的支持下，查尔斯·斯宾塞博士和 艾尔莎雷德蒙将进行三季的考古调查 在今天的圣马丁镇附近的一个遗址进行挖掘 Tilcajete（SMT），位于墨西哥的瓦哈卡山谷。最终 用季节来分析收集到的材料。初步 研究表明，该遗址由17个土丘组成， 两个土墩群，它被占领从CA。公元前700-200年。Drs. 斯宾塞和雷德蒙会绘制一张详细的地图 所有的土丘、石头地基和其他文化特征。表面 将使用受控的密集表面对伪影进行采样 收藏.在第二季中， 在土墩和非土墩位置， 以表面收集的评估为指导。在第三季中 水平挖掘将在公共建筑物的样本上进行， 在国内背景下。在此基础上， 在大约500年的时间里， 人口规模和政治集中程度的变化 将受到监控。通过对物质残留物的分析， 也可以确定这个网站之间的关系 还有其他人在瓦哈卡山谷。 国家一级的组织只有少数独立出现 考古学家希望了解人类历史上 这一过程发生的机制。Zaoptec国家， 集中在瓦哈卡的阿尔班山 公元前第一个千年就是一个例子。而 这一过程的后一阶段是众所周知的， 在阿尔班山的发掘中，人们对 由于相关层仍被掩埋， 在墨西哥人重建的建筑物下， 政府的在SMT现场，这些数据很容易获得。SMT 似乎是一个区域分中心，因此将提供 从省的角度来看，这是一个独特的见解。 这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。许多考古学家 我在瓦哈卡山谷工作过，斯宾塞博士和 雷德蒙收集将填补一个主要的空白。这也将增加我们的 对导致国家发展的力量的理解 水平社会。

With National Science Foundation support Drs. Charles Spencer and Elsa Redmond will conduct three seasons of archaeological survey and excavation at a site near the present day town of San Martin Tilcajete (SMT), located in the Oaxaca Valley of Mexico. A final season with be spent analyzing the materials collected. Preliminary work indicates that the site consists of 17 mounds organized into two mound groups and that it was occupied from ca. 700-200 BC. Drs. Spencer and Redmond will make a detailed map of the site and note all mounds, stone foundations and other cultural features. Surface artifacts will be sampled with controlled intensive surface collection. In the second season, test excavations will be placed in both mound and non-mound locations with specific placements guided by an assessment of the surface collections. In season three horizontal excavation will occur on a sample of public buildings as well as in domestic contexts. On this basis it will be possible to trace changes in the site over approximately half a millennium. Variation in population size and degree of political centralization will be monitored. Through analysis of material remains it will also be possible to determine the relationships between this site and others in the Oaxaca Valley. State level organizations have independently arisen only a few times in human history and archaeologists wish to understand the mechanisms by which this process occurs. The Zaoptec state which was centered at the site of Monte Alban in Oaxaca and appeared during the first millennium BC provides one example. While the latter stage of this process is well known through extensive excavations at Monte Alban, relatively little is known about the early part of the process since the relevant layers remain buried under buildings which have been reconstructed by the Mexican government. At the SMT site, such data are readily available. SMT appears to be a regional subcenter and for this reason will provide unique insight from what is a provincial perspective. This research is important for several reasons. Many archaeologists have worked in the Oaxaca Valley and the data Drs. Spencer and Redmond collect will fill a major gap. It will also increase our understanding of the forces which led to the development of state level societies.