Dissertation Research: An Inter-Capital Settlement Perspective on Political Control and Organization in the Northern Maya Lowlands

在奥利维尔·德·蒙莫林博士的指导下，J·格雷戈里·史密斯先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将在位于墨西哥北部北平地区的玛雅遗址Ichmul进行考古挖掘和调查。Ichmul的大小足以包括一个封闭的广场，周围环绕着拱形建筑和一个近18米高的金字塔，但从大小来看，Ichmul是一个“次要”中心。它位于两个更大的政治首都奇琴伊扎和埃克巴拉姆之间，特别有趣的是，在它的建筑、陶瓷组装和石头肖像中，它显示了两者的关系。这项研究的目的是检查Ichmul行使的独立程度，以及它与邻居互动的性质。史密斯先生描述了三种可能的关系：自治、间接控制和直接控制；将要进行的调查和挖掘将有望使人们能够识别正确的模式。该项目包括五个目标：对与民用建筑相邻的国内住区进行测绘；在广泛的聚落环境中进行测试挖掘；检查奇琴伊扎和埃克巴拉姆之间样带地区以前的遗址，以绘制地图和收集陶器和其他文化材料的表面；对这些样带遗址中的一个样本进行测试挖掘；对样带中非场地开垦的田地进行测绘和测试，以更好地了解这些农村腹地。考古学家认识到，个别玛雅遗址被整合到更大的政治网络中，通过发现每个遗址的范围并追踪它们如何随着时间的推移而变化，就有可能理解这种政治组织所依据的原则。虽然许多工作都集中在主要的中心，但人们对农村腹地以及中心如何对这些地区施加-或没有施加-控制的了解相对较少。史密斯先生的研究将直接解决这个重要问题。它还将帮助培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Olivier de Montmollin, Mr. J. Gregory Smith will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will conduct archaeological excavation and survey at the Mayan site of Ichmul which is located in the northern Peten region of Mexico. While large enough to include a closed plaza surrounded by vaulted architecture and a substantial pyramid nearly 18 meters in height, based on size, Ichmul is a `minor` center. It lies between two larger political capitals, Chichen Itza and Ek Balam and is particularly interesting because, in its architecture, ceramic assemblages and stone iconography it shows relations to both. The goal of the research is to examine the degree of independence which Ichmul exercised and the nature of its interactions with its neighbors. Mr. Smith delineates three possible relationships: autonomy, indirect control and direct control; the survey and excavation to be conducted will, hopefully, permit identification of the correct model. The project includes five goals: mapping of the domestic settlement adjacent to the civic architecture; test excavations in a wide-range of settlement contexts; examination of previously located sites in the transect area between Chichen Itza and Ek Balam to map and surface collect ceramics and other cultural materials; test excavations at a sample of these transect sites; mapping and test-pitting a sample of non-site cleared fields in the transect to better understand these rural hinterlands. Archaeologists recognize that individual Mayan sites were integrated into larger political networks and that by discovering the extent of each and tracing how they changed over time it is possible to understand the principles which underlie such political organization. While much work has focused on major centers, relatively little is known about rural hinterlands and how centers exerted - or did not exert - control over these regions. Mr. Smith's research will directly address this important question. It will also assist in training a promising young scientist.