Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Interregional Interaction and Social Identity in Mesoamerica, 1200-1000 BC: A Possible Olmec Enclave in Chiapas, Mexico

在Barbara L. Stark博士的监督下，David Cheetham将分析在奥尔梅克早期（公元前1150-1000年）殖民地Canton Corralito的挖掘中收集的数据。50多年来，考古学家一直在研究在中美洲或中美洲不同地区同时出现“奥尔梅克风格”物品背后的远距离相互作用，但没有达成共识。墨西哥韦拉克鲁斯的海湾奥尔梅克文化——以其异常巨大的石雕和先进的社会和政治结构而闻名——当然在这种独特风格的流通中发挥了作用，但其参与的规模和性质仍然是猜测和高度争议的。要解决这些问题，需要明确了解海湾奥尔梅克人与奥尔梅克风格传播之前和传播期间的遥远文化之间的社会关系。由于缺乏这一早期时代的书面记录，这一目标只能通过逐个详细比较考古材料来实现。该项目将调查墨西哥太平洋沿岸恰帕斯州的海湾奥尔梅克人和莫卡亚人之间社会关系的本质，这是一个位于韦拉克鲁斯以南450公里的考古文化。在位于莫卡亚地区中心的科拉利托州遗址的挖掘中，发现了前所未有的5- 6000件早期奥尔梅克风格的物品，比如精心制作的烧制粘土雕像和装饰有雕刻图标的陶瓷器皿。这些材料的数量和质量表明，科拉利托州是奥尔梅克人的殖民地，也许是美洲的第一个殖民地。来自科拉利托州、邻近地点和韦拉克鲁斯最大的海湾奥尔梅克遗址的500个物体将被提交进行仪器中子活化分析（INAA）。这项技术将根据化学成分区分当地生产的和进口的物品。最重要的是，它将锚定一系列的比较风格和形态（形状）分析的结果组。化学指纹图谱的结合和对几个人工制品类别的细致比较，为确定潜在飞地居住者的社会身份提供了最有力的手段，从而澄清了海湾奥尔梅克人与中美洲一个遥远地区之间早期远距离互动的本质。这个项目将增加一个详细的比较水平，这是目前早期奥尔梅克研究所缺乏的，但它的优点并不局限于直接的发现或对中美洲学者的未来价值。研究结果将对世界范围内研究物质文化中所表现出的社会身份以及在远距离风格趋同的情况下种族飞地的作用具有重要意义。这项研究在人类学和考古学上具有广泛的应用价值。研究结果将发表在学术期刊、书籍和公众容易获得的流行格式（如杂志）上。这个项目的广泛影响是多方面的，包括国际合作。墨西哥国立自治大学（UNAM）的一名研究生是现场工作人员的一员，可以接触到科拉利托州的考古材料。另一名墨西哥国立自治大学的学生可以接触到人类遗骸，进行计划中的DNA研究。这种招聘和知识产权共享将在未来加强。例如，中美洲研究进步基金会（FAMSI）的一笔赠款将使数百件来自科拉利托州的奥尔梅克风格的物品得以展示并永久张贴在他们的网站上。这将使墨西哥的研究人员和世界各地的学者在未来几年受益。

Under the supervision of Dr. Barbara L. Stark, David Cheetham will analyze data collected during excavations at a possible early Olmec period (1150-1000 BC) colony called Canton Corralito. For more than 50 years, and without reaching consensus, archaeologists have investigated the kinds of long-distance interaction underlying the simultaneous appearance of "Olmec style" objects in separate regions of Middle or Meso-America. The Gulf Olmec culture of Veracruz, Mexico-famous for its exceptionally large stone sculptures and advanced social and political structure-certainly played a role in the circulation of this distinctive style, but the magnitude and nature of its involvement remain speculative and highly contestable. Resolution of these issues demands explicit knowledge of social relations between the Gulf Olmec and distant cultures before and during the spread of the Olmec style, a goal that can only be achieved though detailed comparison of archaeological materials on a case-by-case basis since written records are lacking for this early era.This project will investigate the nature of social relations between the Gulf Olmec and Mokaya peoples of Pacific Coastal Chiapas, Mexico-an archaeological culture located 450 km south of Veracruz. Excavations at the site of Canton Corralito, located in the heart of Mokaya territory, yielded an unprecedented 5-6,000 early Olmec style objects like elaborate fired-clay figurines and ceramic vessels decorated with carved icons. The quantity and quality of this material suggest that Canton Corralito was an Olmec colony, perhaps the first colony in the Americas. Five hundred objects from Canton Corralito, neighboring sites, and the largest Gulf Olmec site in Veracruz will be submitted for Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA). This technique will separate locally produced and imported objects on the basis of chemical composition. Most important, it will anchor a series of comparative stylistic and morphological (shape) analyses of the resulting groups. The coupling of chemical fingerprinting and meticulous comparison of several artifact classes provides the most powerful means for determining the social identity of the potential enclave's occupants, thereby clarifying the nature of early long-distance interaction between the Gulf Olmec and one distant region of Meso-America.This project will add a level of detailed comparison that is currently lacking in early Olmec studies, but its merit is not limited to the immediate findings or future value to Meso-American scholars. The results will be significant to worldwide studies of social identity manifest in material culture and the role of ethnic enclaves in cases of stylistic convergence over great distances. The study will be valuable for its general anthropological and archaeological utility. The results will be published in academic journals, books, and popular formats readily accessible to the general public (e.g., magazines).The broader impacts of this project are many, including international cooperation. A graduate student from The Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) was part of the field crew and has access to archaeological materials from Canton Corralito. Another UNAM student has access to the human remains for a planned DNA study. Such recruitment and intellectual property sharing will be intensified in the future. For example, a grant from the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies (FAMSI) will enable several hundred Olmec style objects from Canton Corralito to be illustrated and permanently posted on their website. This will benefit Mexican researchers and scholars worldwide for years to come.