A Re-evaluation of the Earthworks at Tikal, Guatemala

大卫韦伯斯特博士将利用国家科学基金会的资金，调查中美洲玛雅低地已知最大的古代防御工事。 当这些防御工事于1966年在危地马拉的蒂卡尔被发现时，古典玛雅人因其明显缺乏激烈的战争而被广泛认为是古代文明中的独特之处。 蒂卡尔报告的土方工程被解释为防御，不仅保护了遗址核心的纪念性建筑，而且保护了大部分人口居住的约120平方公里的更大区域。 由于在20世纪60年代中期无法阅读经典玛雅铭文，这些土方工程构成了与“和平玛雅”概念相矛盾的早期令人信服的证据。 他们也引起了考古学家的兴趣，他们面临着一个棘手的问题：如何在废墟或多或少连续延伸到广阔地区的地方检测古代玛雅定居点或政权的边界？ 在蒂卡尔，玛雅人自己就为我们提供了这样的界限。 随后的战争证据很快出现在其他古典遗址中，比如1970年由韦伯斯特挖掘的贝坎的土方工程。 更重要的是，1980年后大量破译的铭文，其中充满了对玛雅王国之间战争的提及。 来自许多中心的历史编年史现在揭示了玛雅“超级大国”（其中包括蒂卡尔）及其相关联盟之间的巨大地缘政治斗争。 具有讽刺意味的是，蒂卡尔的土方工程自首次报道以来就完全被考古学家忽视了。 这种忽视是特别严重的，因为它们最初只是以一种非常肤浅的方式被描述和绘制出来，我们对它们何时被首次建造或何时被使用的了解也非常有限。 甚至没有人证实南半球的存在，这可能更好地被称为谣言。尽管缺乏信息，但土方工程在蒂卡尔军事斗争和政体的人口和领土特征的重建中显得很重要。 我们的项目，定于2003年旱季，代表了一个更大的努力，以更好地记录这些有趣的功能的第一阶段。 我们计划绘制整个北方沼泽（约9公里长）的地图，确定它如何与东部和西部的大沼泽连接（或不连接），并记录所有相关的定居点遗迹。我们也希望找到更遥远和难以捉摸的南半球，至少验证其基本特征。 结果将为未来的挖掘工作奠定基础，以更好地揭示土方工程是如何建造的，以及它们是如何以及何时使用的。 我们特别希望最终将防御工事的使用与有记录的战争事件联系起来。我们的研究将为玛雅学者提供一个重要的测试，以检验历史和考古数据之间的一致性，以及这些数据对冲突、人口统计和政治组织的影响。 它也将使所有关心如何在史前环境中探测战争的考古学家感兴趣。 最重要的是，它将帮助我们更好地理解古代玛雅人之间的战争和冲突如何融入我们对战争在所有古代文明进化中的作用的更大比较视角。

Dr. David Webster will use National Science Foundation funding to investigate the largest known set of ancient fortifications in the Maya Lowlands of Mesoamerica. When these fortifications were discovered at Tikal, Guatemala, in 1966, the Classic Maya were widely regarded unique among ancient civilizations for their apparent lack of intense warfare. The earthworks reported at Tikal were interpreted as defenses that protected not only the monumental architecture at the site core, but also a larger region of about 120 sq km where the bulk of the sustaining population lived. Because Classic Maya inscriptions could not be read in the mid-1960s, these earthworks constituted early convincing evidence contradicting the "peaceful Maya" conception. They also intrigued archaeologists who faced a vexing problem: how can the boundaries of ancient Maya settlements or polities be detected where ruins extend more or less continuously over vast regions? At Tikal the Maya themselves provided us with just such boundaries. Subsequent evidence for warfare soon appeared at other Classic sites, such as the earthworks at Becan, excavated by Webster in 1970. Even more important was an avalanche of deciphered inscriptions after 1980, which are full of references to war between Maya kingdoms. Historical chronicles from many centers now reveal great geopolitical struggles between Maya "superpowers" (Tikal among them) and their associated coalitions. Ironically, the Tikal earthworks have been entirely neglected by archaeologists since they were first reported. Such neglect is particularly serious because they were initially described and mapped only in a very superficial way, and we have only the poorest grasp of when they were first constructed or when they were used. No one has even confirmed the existence of the southern earthwork, which might be better called a rumor. Despite this paucity of information, the earthworks loom large in reconstructions of Tikal's military struggles and the demographic and territorial character of the polity. Our project, slated for the dry season of 2003, represents the first phase of a larger effort to better document these intriguing features. We plan to map the entire northern earthwork (about 9 km long) determine how it connects (or not) with large swamps on the east and west, and also record all associated settlement remains. We also hope to locate the more distant and elusive southern earthwork, and at least verify its basic features. Results will set the stage for future excavations to better reveal how the earthworks were constructed, and how and when they were used. We especially hope to eventually associate use of the fortifications with recorded episodes of warfare. Our research will provide Mayanists with an important test of the congruence between historical and archaeological data, and the implications of these data for conflict, demography, and political organization. It will also interest all archaeologists concerned with how to detect warfare in prehistoric contexts. Most importantly, it will help us to better understand how war and conflict among the ancient Maya fits into our larger comparative perspectives about the role of warfare in the evolution of all ancient civilizations.