Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Utilitarian Plainware Ceramic Production and Exchange and the Evolution of Market Systems in the Basin of Mexico, A.D. 1200-1650

在博士的监督下。George Cowgill和Barbara Stark， Christopher Garraty将分析来自墨西哥盆地考古遗址的阿兹特克时期和早期殖民陶瓷数据，特别关注无装饰的普通陶器。Garraty先生的研究将涉及大约公元1200年至1650年间，阿兹特克市场经济在盆地（阿兹特克文明的中心地带，位于现代墨西哥城附近）的结构和演变。这个跨度包括阿兹特克帝国之前和期间，以及1519年西班牙征服之后的早期殖民时期。考古学家研究了阿兹特克装饰陶器，以重建陶器生产和市场交易，但对数量更多的普通陶器的研究要少得多。装饰陶器实际上是阿兹特克社会的“精美瓷器”，在宴会和公共仪式上自豪地展示。相比之下，普通陶器主要用于烹饪和储存等日常家务，可能被视为与装饰陶器不同的市场商品。平原陶器为重建陶器交换模式提供了一条独立的考古证据线，为解释阿兹特克市场经济的结构及其随时间的变化提供了更全面的经验基础。这项研究的一个显著优势是它所涵盖的时间跨度，这将为阿兹特克人和西班牙帝国主义对地方和区域经济以及家庭层面经济决策的影响提供新的见解。Garraty的方法包括标准化分析和粘土来源归属。标准化分析测量陶瓷容器属性的可变性程度，如容器形式、浆料和表面处理。例如，高水平的标准化意味着少数大型制造商为大量消费者服务。对数千个陶瓷边缘碎片的标准化分析将有助于通过比较更知名的装饰数据和普通陶器数据来阐明阿兹特克陶器生产的规模和组织。Garraty先生还将利用仪器中子活化分析（INAA）数据，这些数据来自大约500个陶瓷样品。INAA提取陶瓷粘土糊状物的化学成分，并可用于确定用于制造陶瓷样品的粘土来源的大致位置。因此，INAA的数据可以用来追踪古代陶器交换的模式，并大致划定商品流通的范围。除了这些科学研究问题外，该项目还将广泛地促进公众对考古学和历史的理解。这项研究使用的模型和方法将通过出版物、学术会议报告和其他公共论坛，包括网页开发，广泛传播。这个项目将提供各种科学分析的实践培训，这将有助于Garraty先生的研究生培训。在进行这个项目的过程中，Garraty先生与墨西哥和美国的考古学家以及墨西哥国家人类学和历史研究所的官员建立了密切的专业关系。该项目还将作为未来研究生和本科生研究的基础，并将为未来的研究人员提供数据。本研究采用的方法如果成功，可以作为功利主义商品交换和市场经济的类似研究的模型。

Under the supervision of Drs. George Cowgill and Barbara Stark, Christopher Garraty will analyze Aztec period and Early Colonial ceramic data from archaeological sites located throughout the Basin of Mexico, focusing specifically on non-decorated plainware pottery. Mr. Garraty's research will address the structure and evolution of the Aztec market economy in the Basin-the heartland of Aztec civilization, in the vicinity of modern-day Mexico City-from ca. A.D. 1200-1650. This span encompasses the period prior to and during the Aztec empire and the subsequent Early Colonial period following the Spanish conquest in 1519. Archaeologists have studied Aztec decorated pottery to reconstruct pottery production and market exchange, but far less research has concentrated on the more-abundant plainwares. Decorated pottery was in effect the "fine China" of Aztec society, proudly displayed at feasts and communal ceremonies. In contrast, plainwares were mainly used for everyday household tasks such as cooking and storage and were probably perceived as distinct market commodities from decorated pottery. Plainwares provide an independent line of archaeological evidence for reconstructing patterns of pottery exchange, allowing for a more comprehensive empirical basis for interpreting the structure of the Aztec market economy and how it changed through time. A notable strength of this study is the time span it encompasses, which will afford new insights into the impact of Aztec and Spanish imperialism on local and regional economies and on household-level economic decision-making.Mr. Garraty's methodology includes standardization analyses and clay source ascriptions. Standardization analyses measure the degree of variability of ceramic vessel attributes, such as vessel form, paste, and surface-treatment. High levels of standardization, for example, suggest a small number of large-scale manufacturers serving a large number of consumers. Standardization analyses of several thousand ceramic rim sherds will help illuminate the scale and organization of Aztec pottery production through comparisons of the better-known decorated data against the plainware data. Mr. Garraty will also draw on Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) data from ca. 500 plainware ceramic specimens. INAA extracts the chemical composition of ceramic clay pastes and can be used to ascribe approximate locations of the clay sources used to manufacture the ceramic specimens. INAA data can thus be used to track ancient patterns of pottery exchange and roughly demarcate spheres of commodity circulation. In addition to these scientific research questions, this project will contribute broadly to the public understanding of archaeology and history. The models and methods used for this research will be disseminated broadly through publications, presentations at scholarly conferences, and other public forums, including webpage development. This project will provide hands-on training in a variety of scientific analyses that will assist Mr. Garraty in his graduate student training. In pursuing this project, Mr. Garraty has established close professional relationships with Mexican and U.S. archaeologists and with officials of the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico. The project will also stand as a foundation for future graduate and undergraduate student research, and the data will be made available for future researchers. The methods used for this study, if successful, can stand as a model for similar research on utilitarian commodity exchange and market economies.