The Settlement Pattern of Caracol

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下。戴安·蔡斯和艾伦·蔡斯将在中美洲伯利兹的卡拉科尔遗址继续他们的考古研究。它的海拔超过500米，是玛雅低地最高的遗址之一。该遗址大约在55年前被重新发现，在蔡斯夫妇开始他们的项目之前，人们对它知之甚少。调查工作显示该遗址相当大。据保守估计，地核面积为88平方公里。它包含至少10个站点内部堤道，这些堤道像车轮的辐条一样从站点核心向外运行。有记录的建筑超过3000座，但数量远远不够完整。考古发掘提供了公元前300年至公元1150年的居住证据，很明显，卡拉科尔在该地区的玛雅史前史中发挥了重要作用。使这个遗址特别有趣的是已经恢复的雕刻的石碑或书写的石板。这些允许部分历史重建，并表明卡拉科尔在两次主要战役中取得胜利。两位首席调查员计划将他们的工作集中在城市的一个部门，进行调查工作以及试验和广泛挖掘。他们希望做的是利用这些数据，结合其他信息来重建该遗址的人口历史，并寻找建设时期和战争时期之间的关系。尽管对大型玛雅遗址进行了大量的研究，但考古学家仍然不知道它们是否作为真正的综合城市运作，它们在一个单一的时刻有多少人居住，以及它们的成长和发展是如何融入更大的区域和政治背景的。回答这些问题的唯一方法是通过大规模、长期的挖掘，蔡斯夫妇多年来一直在追求这个目标。他们计划收集的额外数据将有助于阐明这个主要玛雅遗址的历史和功能。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将提供一个主要玛雅中心的数据，并为导致城市文明兴起的因素提供新的线索。//

With National Science Foundation support Drs. Diane and Arlen Chase will continue their archaeological research at the site of Caracol located in Belize, Central America. At an altitude of over 500 meters it is among the highest sites in the Maya lowlands. The site was rediscovered approximately 55 years ago and until the Chases began their project little was known about it. Survey work has shown the site to be quite large. The core is conservatively estimated at 88 square kilometers. It contains at least 10 intra- site causeways which run outward like the spokes of a wheel from the site core. Over 3000 structures have been recorded and the number is far from complete. Excavations have provided evidence of occupation from ca 300 B.C. to ca. 1150 A.D. and it is clear that Caracol played a major role in the Mayan prehistory of the region. What makes the site especially interesting are the carved stelae or written tablets which have been recovered. These permit a partial historical reconstruction and indicate Caracol emerged victorious in two major battles. The two principal investigators plan to focus their efforts in one of the city's sectors and conduct survey work as well as both trial and extensive excavation. What they wish to do is use these data, in conjunction with other information to reconstruct the demographic history of the site and to search for relationships between periods of construction and warfare. While much work has been done on large Mayan sites, archaeologists still do not know whether they functioned as true integrated cities, how much of them were occupied at a single moment in time, and how their growth and development were integrated into a larger regional and political context. The only way to answer such questions is through large scale, long term excavation and the Chases have pursued just that goal for many years. The additional data they plan to collect will help to illumine both the history and functioning of this major Mayan site. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data about a major Mayan center and shed new light on the factors which led to the rise of urban civilization.//