The Domestic Economy of El Palmillo

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，加里·费曼博士和他的合作者将继续他们长达十年的努力，揭开古典时期经济关系和社会分层的本质。公元200-800年）墨西哥瓦哈卡山谷的蒙特阿尔班州通过对古房屋的挖掘和深入研究。 两个季节的实地考察和分析计划在埃尔帕尔米洛的山顶梯田网站，在那里的房屋及其周围的横截面，定位在人造住宅梯田，以前已经检查。 先前的发掘已经说明了这个高架遗址是一个长期被占领的城镇（而不是一个堡垒），以及特定的家庭在经济活动和获得一系列当地和异国情调的商品方面是如何变化的。 在El Palmillo进行的为期六年的调查始于该网站的底部附近，暴露了社会金字塔低端的家庭单位。 随后，菲尔德博物馆的团队在几个地点挖掘房屋。 2003年，一座精致的宫殿式住宅部分暴露在山顶。 这个长期居住和经常重建的住宅与一个制作精良的地下砖石坟墓有关，其中包括具有高地位的物理表现（牙齿残缺）的个人。 这座坟墓是在阿尔班山地区中心以外发现和挖掘的最精致，最完整的坟墓之一。 然而，从坟墓和这座精心设计的住宅中发现的人工制品与下面更朴素的房屋中观察到的有所不同，尽管并不明显。 此外，不像较低的阶地，那里有石头和纤维工作的证据，没有明显的经济/工艺活动的痕迹与这个宫殿一样的结构。 目前的项目旨在完成这座宫殿结构的挖掘。 通过揭露该住宅的第二个天井和相邻的房间，挖掘工作试图更好地了解该家庭如何谋生，并更全面地衡量该住宅的居住者可以获得的物品和材料的种类和数量。 这些数据的收集将使我们能够更全面、更准确地评估居住在山顶这一住宅的居民与该地点其他住宅单元的居民在生产、消费和经济分层方面的异同。 与此同时，这些数据将与在蒙特阿尔班和瓦哈卡山谷其他同时期定居点进行的房屋挖掘进行比较，以评估古典时期蒙特阿尔班政体的经济活动性质以及财富和福祉的变化。这项调查将加深我们对支撑古代蒙特阿尔班的经济和地位关系的理解，中美洲最早的城市中心和历史最悠久的首都之一。 现存的论点假定古典时期的瓦哈卡分为两个和三个阶级。 然而，社会经济差异也可能更加多维和连续（而不是阶梯式）。 更广泛地说，这项调查也将有助于重新关注古代国家的经济关系考古研究，特别是国内经济，大多数前工业化生产发生。 同时，该项目将继续致力于培养和整合合格的研究生和本科生。 主要研究结果将通过一系列英语和西班牙语的公共和科学场所传播，包括几个博物馆项目，这些项目将科学直接和亲自从现场带到不同的公众受众。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Gary Feinman and collaborators will continue their decade-long effort to unravel the nature of economic relations and social stratification for the Classic-period (ca. A.D. 200-800) Monte Alban state in the Valley of Oaxaca, Mexico through the excavation and in-depth study of ancient houses. Two seasons of fieldwork and analysis are planned for the hilltop terrace site of El Palmillo, where a cross-section of houses and their immediate surrounds, positioned on human-made residential terraces, have previously been examined. Prior excavations have illustrated how this elevated site was a long-occupied town (and not a fortress) and how specific households varied in their economic activities and access to a range of local and exotic goods. The six-year investigation at El Palmillo began near the base of the site, exposing domestic units at the lower end of the societal pyramid. Subsequently, the Field Museum team has worked its way up the hill excavating houses in several locations. In 2003, an elaborate palace-like residence was partially exposed at the top of the hill. This long-inhabited and frequently rebuilt residence was associated with a well-made, subsurface, masonry tomb that included individuals who bore the physical manifestations (dental mutilations) of high status. This tomb was one of the most elaborate, intact tombs discovered and excavated outside of the regional center of Monte Alban. Yet the artifactual assemblage from the tomb and this elaborate residence was different, although not markedly so, from what was observed in association with more modest houses below. In addition, unlike lower terraces where stone and fiber working were evidenced, there were no clear vestiges of economic/craft activities in association with this palace-like structure. The current project is aimed at completing the excavation of this palace structure. By exposing a second patio and adjacent rooms of this residence, the excavation endeavors to gain a better understanding of how this household made a living, and also more completely gauge the kinds and quantities of goods and materials that the occupants of this residence had access to. The gathering of these data will permit a fuller and more accurate assessment of similarities and differences in production, consumption, and economic stratification between the residents who lived in this dwelling at the apex of the hill and the inhabitants of other domestic units at the site. At the same time, these data will be compared to house excavations that have been conducted at Monte Alban and other contemporaneous settlements in the Valley of Oaxaca to assess the nature of economic activities and variations in wealth and well-being across the Classic-period Monte Alban polity.This investigation will sharpen our understanding of the economic and status relations that underpinned ancient Monte Alban, one of Mesoamerica's earliest urban centers and longest standing capitals. Extant arguments postulate two- and three-class divisions for Classic-period Oaxaca. Yet socioeconomic distinctions also may have been more multi-dimensional and continuous (rather than stepped). More broadly, this investigation also will help re-focus the archaeological study of ancient states on economic relations, and specifically domestic economies where most pre-industrial production occurred. At the same time, this project will continue its commitment to the training and integration of qualified graduate and undergraduate students. Key findings will be disseminated through a range of public and scientific venues in English and Spanish, including several museum programs that bring science directly and personally from the field to diverse public audiences.