CHACOAN EXPANSION OR EMULATION OF THE CHACOAN SYSTEM? THE EMERGENCE OF AZTEC, SALMON, AND OTHER GREAT HOUSE COMMUNITIES IN THE MIDDLE SAN JUAN

在国家科学基金会(NSF)的支持下，沙漠考古中心(CDA)召集的一个研究小组将调查新墨西哥州西北部中圣胡安地区的古镇阿兹特克和萨蒙。在11世纪末和12世纪初，阿兹特克和萨蒙在查科统治末期迅速崛起，成为重要的区域中心。这些社区是如何发展起来的？什么因素影响了查科在圣胡安中部地区的影响力？这些数据是否支持查科人的迁徙，或者更确切地说，是支持当地群体交换和模仿查科人的特征？近一个世纪以来，这些问题一直是考古学家研究的主题。20世纪初在阿兹特克遗址工作的莫里斯伯爵认识到它对了解大圣胡安地区普埃布隆历史的重要性。辛西娅·欧文-威廉姆斯和她的同事在20世纪70年代探索了查科人在鲑鱼遗址的殖民和迁徙，并对这些问题提供了初步答案。然而，这些考古先驱才开始解决这些复杂的问题。CDA团队的研究表明，11世纪末，查科人在圣胡安中部地区产生了影响，最初在Salmon Pueblo定居，后来在阿兹特克社区的大房子里定居了更大的群体。除了这些大型遗址外，该地区一些较小的社区也展示了查科人影响的证据，包括贾克兹、弗洛拉·维斯塔和福尔摩斯集团。由NSF资助的研究团队成员将专注于阿兹特克、鲑鱼和该地区较小社区的建筑、陶瓷、纺织品、篮子和其他易腐烂的文物。利用最新的方法论进步，利用建筑的低可见度和高可见度属性以及不同的人工制品类别，将识别圣胡安中部的迁移和模拟过程。项目团队成员将分析来自不同博物馆的相关藏品，并进行新的田野调查：1)检查两个过程中的哪一个可以解释查科人特征的存在：从查科峡谷成群迁徙；或当地中圣胡安人模仿查科建筑和其他物质文化；或这些过程的某种组合；2)跟踪随着查科制度的衰落，阿兹特克人和鲑鱼发展成为经济和仪式中心的过程。最近关于移民的研究扩大了我们对古代美国西南部人口迁移的理解。阿兹特克和鲑鱼项目的出现将是对这项研究的一个重要补充，在一个尚未系统研究移徙的领域实施一种改进的方法。此外，该项目将对查科考古做出重大贡献，并帮助实现伯爵莫里斯和辛西亚·欧文-威廉斯早期关键研究的潜力。对查科在圣胡安中部的影响的研究将对公众对新墨西哥州西北部和四角地区古代普埃布隆考古和历史的理解产生广泛影响。先前对阿兹特克和萨蒙(以及周围的中圣胡安地区)古代社区的解释强调了一波又一波的人：首先是来自查科峡谷，后来是来自科罗拉多州西南部的梅萨维德地区。一项新的研究对这些长期存在的假设提出了质疑，并表示当地人在这些社区的发展中发挥了重要作用。目前的提案结合了最先进的研究和对现有藏品的研究，以调查查科人在阿兹特克人和鲑鱼人的起源中所起的作用。

With National Science Foundation (NSF) support, a team of researchers assembled by the Center for Desert Archaeology (CDA) will investigate the ancient pueblo towns of Aztec and Salmon in the Middle San Juan region of northwest New Mexico. In the late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, Aztec and Salmon rapidly emerged as important regional centers near the end of Chaco's ascendancy. How did these communities develop? What factors account for Chacoan influence in the Middle San Juan region? Do the data support Chacoan migration or , rather, exchange and emulation of Chacoan traits by local groups? These questions have been the subject of inquiry for nearly a century by archaeologists. Earl Morris, working at Aztec Ruins in the early part of the 20th century, recognized its importance for understanding Puebloan history of the greater San Juan region. Cynthia Irwin-Williams and her colleagues in the 1970s explored Chacoan colonization and migration at Salmon Ruins, and provided preliminary answers to these questions. Yet, these archaeological pioneers only began to tackle these complex issues.Research by the CDA team indicates Chacoan influence in the Middle San Juan region by the late 11th century, with initial settlement at Salmon Pueblo, and later settlement of a larger group at great houses in the Aztec Community. In addition to these large sites, a number of smaller communities in the region exhibit evidence of Chacoan influence, including Jaquez, Flora Vista, and the Holmes Group. NSF-funded research by team members will focus on architecture, ceramics, textiles, basketry, and other perishable artifacts from Aztec, Salmon, and smaller communities in the region. Drawing upon recent methodological advances using low- and high-visibility attributes of architecture and different artifact classes, processes of migration and emulation in the Middle San Juan will be discerned. Project team members will analyze relevant collections from various museums and conduct new fieldwork to: 1) examine which of two processes account for the presence of Chacoan traits: migration by groups from Chaco Canyon; or emulation of Chacoan architecture and other material culture by local Middle San Juan group; or some combination of these processes; and 2) track the development of Aztec and Salmon into economic and ritual centers as the Chacoan system declined.Recent research on migration has expanded our understanding of population movements in the ancient American Southwest. The Emergence of Aztec and Salmon project will be an important addition to this research, implementing a refined methodology in an area in which migration has not been systematically studied. In addition, the project will make a significant contribution to Chacoan archaeology, and help realize the potential of the earlier, pivotal research of Earl Morris and Cynthia Irwin-Williams.The study of Chacoan influence in the Middle San Juan will have a broad impact on the public's understanding of ancient Puebloan archaeology and history in the northwest New Mexico and across the Four Corners region. Prior interpretation of the ancient communities of Aztec and Salmon (and the surrounding Middle San Juan area) has emphasized waves of people: first from Chaco Canyon, and later, from the Mesa Verde area in southwest Colorado. New research has questioned these long-standing assumptions and suggests that local people played an important role in the development of these communities. The current proposal brings together state-of-the-art research and study of existing collections to investigate the role played by the Chacoans in the origins of the Aztec and Salmon pueblos.