Power, Craft Production, and Exchange in Southern Mesoamerica

在国家科学基金会的支持下，帕特里夏·厄本博士和爱德华·肖特曼博士将在洪都拉斯北部的卡考塔帕山谷进行两个季节的考古调查和挖掘。在之前的调查工作中，Schortman和Urban在现代城镇Pueblo Nuevo附近发现了一个巨大的史前中心。它被称为“La Coyota”，占地约0.75平方公里。虽然茂密的植被使人们无法对中心的形式和规模做出明确的评估，但它显然是一个重要的地点。它由位于其东北边缘的一个不朽的核心所主导，有相当数量的石面平台向南延伸。在陡峭的西北斜坡脚下，建造了几个巨大的石质梯田，以支持可能的住宅群。结构的集中意味着很大程度的政治集中，强大的精英阶层能够在近距离安置大量下属。根据洪都拉斯其他地区生态和社会结构之间的相关性，这种人口集中令人惊讶，因为支持农业的土地相对较小，分散在小块土地上，这将增加精英阶层实施直接和严格的社会控制的难度。这项研究的目的是了解导致La Coyota确实存在的成核和集中的过程。调查人员认为，正是该地点相对于河流和山口的中心地理位置以及通过其对贸易的控制，实现了政治集中化。为了评估这一假设，该团队将对所有优质农业用地进行调查，以确定其分布和史前人类在其上居住的性质。所有网站都将被记录下来，并确定其规模。将收集表面材料。将在La Coyota和一些农村居民点进行广泛的挖掘。将在天井小组内进行广泛的横向清理，以增加样本量和确定活动的空间分布。通过考察工艺生产的分布和强度，可以洞察中央控制的程度。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为社会复杂性的产生和维持提供新的线索。它将提供关于美国中部一个几乎不为人所知的地区的数据，并将帮助培训许多本科生。

With National Science Foundation support, Drs. Patricia Urban and Edward Schortman will conduct two seasons of archaeological survey and excavation in the Cacautapa Valley in Northern Honduras. In the course of previous survey work Schortman and Urban discovered a massive prehistoric center near the modern town of Pueblo Nuevo. Termed "La Coyota", it is spread over roughly .75 km square of high terrace. While dense vegetation has precluded making a clear assessment of the center's form and dimensions, it is clearly a major site. It is dominated by a monumental core located on its northeastern margin with sizable quantities of stone-faced platforms stretching out to the South. Several massive stone terraces were built to support putative residential groups against the foot of the steep northwestern slopes. The concentration of structures implies a significant degree of political concentration with a powerful elite able to settle large numbers of subordinates in close proximity. Based on correlations between ecology and social structure from other regions in Honduras, this concentration of population is surprising because supporting agricultural land is located in relatively small scattered patches which would increase the difficulty an elite would have in exercising direct and tight social control. The goal of this research is to understand the processes which led to the nucleation and centralization which La Coyota clearly indicates did exit. The investigators believe that it was the site's central geographic position in relation to rivers and mountain passes and its through control of trade that political centralization was achieved. To evaluate this hypothesis, the team will conduct a survey of all prime agricultural land to determine its distribution and the nature of prehistoric human habitation on it. All sites will be noted and their size established. Surface materials will be collected. Extensive excavation will be conducted at La Coyota and at a sample of rural settlements. Extensive lateral clearing will be conducted within patio groups both to increase sample size and to determine the spatial distribution of activities. Through examination of the distribution and intensity of craft production insight will be gained into the degree of central control. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed new light on how social complexity arises and is maintained. It will provide data on a virtually unknown region of Middle America and it will assist in training many undergraduate students.