Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Ancient Maya Agricultural Terraces and Political Economy at Chan, Belize

在Joel W.帕尔卡，安德鲁怀亚特将挖掘农业梯田和相关的结构在现场的陈，伯利兹。 Chan遗址是一个古老的玛雅小村庄，位于伯利兹西部伯利兹河Macal和Mopan流域之间的高地。 从前古典时期中期到后古典时期早期（公元前900年-公元1200年），陈的最高人口和密集的土地使用时期是在古典时代后期（公元670-780），当时它被纳入Xunantunich政体，一个4公里外的大中心。 Chan所在的伯利兹河谷地区是玛雅社会重要的农业生产区，但Chan遗址每公里有304个梯田，是伯利兹有记录以来梯田密度最高的地方，这表明其作为农业中心的主要作用以及对集约梯田农业技术研究的重要性。由于其较晚并入Xunantunich政体，以及农业梯田的优势，它是研究农业和农业生产者在复杂社会中长期社会政治变化中的作用的理想场所。 利用考古学、古民族植物学和土壤分析，该项目将调查玛雅农业的具体情况，包括1）农业梯田是如何建造的，2）它们是如何耕种的，以及3）它们与邻近家庭的关系。 通过对这些古代农业技术的分析，我们可以了解禅遗址的农业生产者在玛雅地区政治经济中的作用。考古学家早就认识到，密集的农业战略，如梯田，高地和灌溉工程，是人们能够从土地中提取更多资源的手段。 但关于农民何时以及为什么要转向集约化的争论仍在继续。 这是对高人口的回应吗？ 政治经济学？还是从以农业为重点的家庭和社区的当地知识基础中发展而来？ 因此，农业方法和技术为解决与家庭、地方和区域经济相关的广泛问题提供了绝佳的手段。通过重点关注陈的农业生产者，该研究将有助于了解Xunantunich政体的政治经济和伯利兹河谷。 这项研究还将增加关于梯田形式的集约农业做法的详细知识，这些知识可被添加到现有的关于整个伯利兹和整个玛雅低地记录的梯田信息数据库中。 了解玛雅农民的农业实践，从早期定居的Chan网站，通过其纳入Xunantunich政体和之后，将提供一个历时的角度来看，通过社会复杂性时期的集约农业的一般发展。 在理论层面上，这项研究有助于理解社会中的农业生产者与消费者之间的关系。这项研究也可能影响玛雅地区的当代农业实践。 随着越来越多的土地被砍伐用于农业，土壤侵蚀和肥力丧失加剧，但古玛雅人能够成功地耕种他们的土地数千年，而没有严重的环境退化。 也许有可能将这些更可持续的农业实践重新引入现代世界。

Under the supervision of Joel W. Palka, Andrew Wyatt will excavate agricultural terraces and associated structures at the site of Chan, Belize. The Chan site is a small, ancient Maya farming village located in the upland terrain between the Macal and Mopan drainages of the Belize River in western Belize. Occupied from the Middle Preclassic period to the Early Postclassic period (900 B.C.-1200 A.D.), Chan's period of highest population and intensive land use was during the latter part of the Late Classic Period (A.D. 670-780) when it was incorporated into the Xunantunich polity, a large center 4km away. The Belize River Valley area, where Chan is located, is an important area of agricultural production in Maya society, but the Chan site in particular with 304 terraces per km contains the highest density of terraces recorded in Belize, suggesting its primary role as an agricultural center and its importance for the study of intensive terrace agricultural technologies.Given Chan's longevity of occupation, its late incorporation into the Xunantunich polity, and the predominance of agricultural terraces, it is an ideal place to study the role of agricultural and agrarian producers throughout long periods of socio-political changes in a complex society. Utilizing archaeological, paleoethnobotanical and soils analysis, this project will investigate the specifics of Maya agriculture, including 1) how the agricultural terraces were constructed, 2) how they were farmed, and 3) how they related to the adjacent households. Through the analysis of these ancient agricultural technologies one can understand how the agricultural producers at the Chan site functioned within the regional Maya political economy.Archaeologists have long recognized that intensive agricultural strategies, such as terracing, raised fields, and irrigation works, are means through which people are able to extract more resources from than land. But debates still continue as to when and why farmers would turn to intensification. Was it a response to high populations? Extractive political economies? Or a development from the local knowledge bases of agrarian focused households and communities? Agricultural methods and technologies, therefore, provide an excellent means to address a broad range of issues relating to household, local, and regional economy.By focusing on the agrarian producers at Chan, the research will contribute to an understanding of the political economy of the Xunantunich polity and the Belize River Valley. This research will also add detailed knowledge of intensive agricultural practices in the form of terraces which can be added to the existing database of information on terraces recorded throughout Belize and the Maya Lowlands in general. Understanding of the agricultural practices of Maya farmers from the early settlement of the Chan site through its incorporation into the Xunantunich polity and after, will provide a diachronic perspective on the general development of intensive agriculture through periods of social complexity. On a theoretical level, this study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between the agrarian producers in a society and the consumers.This research may also impact contemporary farming practices in the Maya area as well. As more and more land is deforested for agriculture, there is increased erosion and loss of soil fertility, yet the ancient Maya were able to successfully farm their land for millennia without significant degradation of the environment. It may be possible to reintroduce these more sustainable farming practices to the modern world.