Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Terminal Classic to Postclassic Transition in the Belize Valley

在E. wylyys Andrews博士的指导下，Jim Aimers先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将分析位于伯利兹河谷的一系列玛雅考古遗址的陶瓷，并参观多伦多、伊利诺伊州和伯利兹的博物馆，这些博物馆收藏了出土的材料。研究的目的是了解在古典晚期和后古典时期“玛雅崩溃”期间发生的聚落模式和社会组织的变化，当时玛雅文明高度特征的寺庙和纪念碑不再建造，大型遗址中心被遗弃。虽然后一个时期与前一个时期明显不同，但研究人员对社会重组的方式持不同意见。一些人认为人口显著减少，而另一些人则假设人们重新分配自己，生活在远离早期城市和仪式中心的更小的群体中。目前尚不清楚由此形成的社会在多大程度上是按等级组织起来的，也不清楚较小的定居点是否实际上相互连接成较大的功能实体。艾默斯先生将研究伯利兹河谷许多遗址的陶瓷，以解决这些问题。在古典时期，玛雅人被组织成高度分层的区域扩张群体，许多研究人员认为，陶瓷生产是由中央控制的。由于这种类型是高度标准化的，高度装饰的“精英”陶器与实用的同类产品明显不同，在单一中心制作的陶器分布在广泛的地区。因此，社会/政治组织与陶瓷容器的生产和消费之间存在着密切的关系。然而，对晚期古典和后古典陶瓷的研究相对较少，Aimers先生认为，通过这种分析，可以对社会和政治组织获得类似的见解。他将根据收集到的博物馆数据检验一系列特定的假设。玛雅人是史前新世界最著名的民族之一，他们文明的“崩溃”既令人印象深刻，又鲜为人知。艾默斯收集的数据将为这一时期提供新的线索。该项目还将帮助培训一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. E. Wyllys Andrews, Mr. Jim Aimers will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will analyze ceramics from a series of Mayan archaeological sites located in the Belize Valley and shall visit museums in Toronto, Illinois and Belize which house excavated materials. The goal of the research is to understand changes in settlement pattern and social organization which occurred during the "Maya collapse" in Late Classic and Post-Classic periods when temples and monuments characteristic of the height of Mayan civilization were no longer constructed and large site centers were abandoned. While these latter periods were clearly different from the former, researchers do not agree how society was reorganized. Some believe that population significantly decreased while others hypothesize that people redistributed themselves and lived in smaller groups away from the earlier civic and ceremonial centers. It is unclear the extent to which the resultant society was hierarchically organized and whether smaller settlements were in fact interconnected into larger functioning entities. Mr. Aimers will examine ceramics from a number of sites in the Belize Valley to address these questions. During the Classic period when Mayans were organized into highly stratified regionally expansive groups, ceramic production was, many researchers believe, centrally controlled. Because of this types were highly standardized, highly decorated "elite" wares were clearly distinct from their utilitarian counterparts and pots made in single centers were distributed over a wide area. Thus a close relationship existed between social/political organization and the production and consumption of ceramic vessels. Relatively little work however has been conducted on Late Classic and Post-Classic ceramics and Mr. Aimers believes that similar insight can be gained into social and political organization through such an analysis. He will test a series of specific hypotheses against the museum data he will collect.The Maya are one of the best known prehistoric New World peoples and the "collapse" of their civilization is both impressive and poorly understood. The data collected by Mr. Aimers will shed new light on this period. The project will also assist in training a promising young scientist.