Doctoral Dissertation Research: Building Negotiation: Architecture and Social Relations at Chau Hiix, Belize

在K·安妮·皮伯恩博士的指导下，克里斯托弗·R·安德烈斯将分析在他对伯利兹北部的Chau Hiix玛雅遗址进行考古调查期间收集的数据。洲希克斯是一个中等规模的仪式中心，其悠久的职业历史至少可以追溯到公元前1000年到公元1450年。这个社区值得注意的是，在接触期间，它一直被占领，可能为15世纪西班牙内布拉达入侵该地区时流离失所的人提供了避难所。在这段时期的剧变之后，周西瓦不仅保持了大量的人口，而且反映了其建筑中与早期不同的空间格局。安德烈斯的项目将考察玛雅纪念碑建筑在多大程度上可能在前西班牙裔社会中发挥了比传统公认的更积极的作用。尽管玛雅建筑环境通常被视为人类活动的产物，但越来越多的证据表明，建筑被系统地操纵以构建社会关系。作为一种参与社会关系谈判的物质文化形式，洲希尔克斯的建筑提供了对不同社会群体成员之间不断变化的关系的洞察。初步调查表明，古典主义和后古典主义时期之间的这些变化涉及在以前未开发的地点进行建筑活动，对现有建筑进行改造，以及改变进入中心区及其组成结构的方式。安德烈斯的发掘将进一步记录这些建筑变化。将使用正式的空间分析方法检查不断变化的访问和交通模式，并将其与邻近的玛雅遗址--伯利兹的拉马奈和阿尔金哈--的类似数据进行比较。这些分析将作为解释建筑变化的基础，并有助于阐明伯利兹北部古典和后古典时期的场地间和场地内的社会政治关系。除了解决建筑师和社会科学家感兴趣的问题外，该项目还将建立在皮伯恩长达十年的努力的基础上，让伯利兹弯曲树社区的成员参与过去的科学调查和考古资源保护。公众将透过与弯树村成员合作进行发掘、在弯树博物馆及每年腰果节期间介绍研究成果，以及向参观人士提供有导游的发掘活动，加强公众对洲西瓦工作的认识。我们的发现将在2003年7月在伯利兹圣伊格纳西奥举行的伯利兹考古会议上传达给伯利兹其他地区的居民。在美国，研究成果将在包括印第安纳大学一年一度的考古日在内的开放日上向公众和学术界展示，并通过Chau Hiix考古项目的网站发布。美国本科生将接受各种技能的培训，包括挖掘纪念性建筑。作者将接受建筑分析方法方面的培训。在以上讨论的分析之后，研究成果将通过会议发言和对编辑的卷和参考期刊的投稿向科学界传播。

Under the direction of Dr. K. Anne Pyburn, Christopher R. Andres will analyze data gathered during his archaeological investigations of the Maya site of Chau Hiix in northern Belize. Chau Hiix is a medium-sized ceremonial center distinguished by a lengthy occupational history extending from at least 1000 B.C. through 1450 A.D. The community is notable because it was continuously occupied into the contact period and may have provided refuge for individuals displaced when Spanish entradas penetrated the region in the 15th century. Chau Hiix not only maintained a significant population following this period of upheaval, but reflects spatial patterns in its architecture which depart from those of earlier periods. Andres' project will examine the extent to which Maya monumental architecture may have played a more active role in pre-Hispanic society than has traditionally been acknowledged. While the Maya built environment is often viewed as a product of human activity, there is growing evidence that buildings were systematically manipulated to structure social relations. As a form of material culture involved in the negotiation of social relations, architecture at Chau Hiix offers insight into changing relationships between members of different social groups. Preliminary investigations suggest these changes between the Classic and Postclassic periods involve construction activity at previously undeveloped locations, remodeling of existing buildings, and changing patterns of accessibility to the central precinct and its constituent structures. Andres' excavations will further document these architectural alterations. Changing access and traffic patterns will be examined using formal methods of spatial analysis and compared with similar data from the neighboring Maya sites of Lamanai and Altun Ha, Belize. These analyses will serve as a basis for explanations of architectural change and should help illuminate inter- and intra-site socio-political relationships in northern Belize between the Classic and Postclassic periods. Besides addressing questions of interest to architects and social scientists, this project will build on a decade-long effort by Pyburn to involve members of the Belizean community of Crooked Tree in the scientific investigation of the past and in protection of archaeological resources. Public understanding of work at Chau Hiix will be enhanced through excavations carried out collaboratively with members of Crooked Tree Village; by presentation of research findings in the Crooked Tree Museum and during the annual Cashew Festival; and through guided tours of excavations available to visitors to Chau Hiix. Communication of our findings to residents of other parts of Belize will take place at the Belize Archaeological Conference held in San Ignacio, Belize in July of 2003. In the US, research results will be presented to the general public and academic community at open houses including Indiana University's annual Archaeology Day and through the Chau Hiix Archaeological Project's website. American undergraduate students will receive training in a variety of skill sets, including excavation of monumental architecture. The author will be trained in methods of architectural analysis. Following the analyses discussed above, research results will be communicated to the scientific community through conference presentations and contributions to edited volumes and refereed journals.