Formative Period Ceramic Production and Exchange in the Central Puebla-Tiaxcala Basin, Mexico

这项拟议的研究将通过对墨西哥特帕拉镇地区的考古挖掘，以及位于华盛顿特区和马里兰州盖瑟斯堡的史密森研究所设施的陶器化学分析，调查墨西哥形成时期的陶瓷生产和分布。到16世纪初与欧洲人第一次接触时，墨西哥高地已经形成了当时世界上最复杂的文明之一。这种复杂性的两个方面是高度的职业专业化和将高地社区联系在一起形成一个大型贸易网络的复杂的市场体系。虽然目前还没有被很好地理解，但这种社会经济制度的根源可以追溯到几千年前的形成期(公元前2000年至公元300年)。由于它位于普埃布拉-特拉斯卡拉盆地，从理解恐慌时代到现在，该地区都被认为是一个重要的经济和政治上的重要地区，特帕拉地区可能是了解理解经济增长和发展的理想场所。该项目包括两个部分。第一项是将在墨西哥进行的实地工作，主要涉及挖掘一个终端形成时期(公元前150年至公元200年)的陶瓷生产中心。该遗址最初是由Acatzingo-Tepaa项目于1996年发现的，然后在2003年夏天由Tepaa窑项目进行了更深入的研究。在遗址的侵蚀区域发现了七个窑炉的遗迹和高密度的陶瓷。在中美洲考古学中，发现如此早期的陶器制造地点是罕见的，这些数据将用于解决围绕陶瓷烧制方法/技术和工艺专业化发展的问题。拟议研究的第二部分包括国家自然历史博物馆(哥伦比亚特区)的实验室工作。以及国家标准和技术研究所(马里兰州)，涉及仪器中子活化分析(INAA)和对整个特帕拉地区收集的陶片进行生产标准化研究。这些材料中的大部分将来自目前由墨西哥国家历史研究所(INAH)管理的样本。利用化学组成群的空间分析，通过评估三个交替的假设：(1)无显著交换，(2)扩散交换，(3)集中交换，来表征陶器形成期贸易。几十年来，人们一直在争论古代墨西哥市场经济的最终起源。这项研究的学术价值在于评估替代的贸易模型，以检验公元1世纪初早期区域市场体系在特佩卡地区运行的假设。此外，这项研究将广泛利用公共设施，大大增加越来越多的工作，重点是区域内和定居点一级的化学成分研究和陶瓷生产和贸易。就该项目的更广泛影响而言，研究墨西哥市场体系的发展和职业专业化不仅将增加我们对中美洲社会演变的了解，而且将增加我们对现代世界经济体系重要组成部分的发展的了解。实地和实验室工作涉及与史密森学会其他科学家的密切合作，以及INAH考古学家的合作和协助。该项目还将为美国和墨西哥的考古学学生提供教育和培训机会。

The proposed research will investigate ceramic production and distribution in Formative Period Mexico through archaeological excavation in the area of the town of Tepeaca, Mexico, and the chemical analysis of pottery at Smithsonian Institution facilities in Washington, D.C., and Gaithersburg, Maryland. By the time of first contact with Europeans early in the 16th century, the highlands of Mexico had given rise to one of the most complex civilizations in the world at that time. Two aspects of this complexity were a tremendous degree of occupational specialization and a complex market system that tied together the communities of the highlands in a large network of trade. Although not very well understood at the present time, the roots of this socioeconomic system lie thousands of years earlier in the Formative Period (2000 BC to AD 300). Because of its location in the Puebla-Tlaxcala Basin, a region known to be important economically and politically from prehispanic times up to the present day, the Tepeaca area is perhaps an ideal place to gain insight into the growth and development of the prehispanic economy.The project has two components. The first consists of fieldwork to be conducted in Mexico involving principally the excavation of a Terminal Formative Period (150 BC to AD 200) ceramic production center. The site was discovered originally by the Acatzingo-Tepeaca Project in 1996, and then more intensively studied by the Tepeaca Kiln Project during the summer of 2003. In eroded areas of the site have been found the remains of seven kilns and high densities of ceramics. The finding of such an early pottery manufacturing location is rare in Mesoamerican archaeology and the data will be used to address issues surrounding the development of ceramic firing methods/technology and craft specialization. The second component of the proposed study consists of laboratory work at the National Museum of Natural History (D.C.) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Maryland) involving the instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) and a production standardization study of potsherds collected throughout the Tepeaca area. Much of this material will come from samples currently being curated by the Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historia (INAH) of Mexico. Using the spatial analysis of chemical compositional groups, Formative Period trade in pottery will be characterized through the evaluation of three alternate hypotheses: (1) no significant exchange, (2) diffuse exchange, and (3) centralized exchange. The ultimate origin of market economics in ancient Mexico has been debated for decades. The intellectual merit of this research lies in evaluating alternate models of trade in testing the hypothesis that an early regional market system was operating in the Tepeaca area early in the first millennium AD. Furthermore, this research will make extensive use of public facilities to add significantly to a growing body of work focusing on chemical compositional studies and ceramic production and trade at the intraregional and settlement level. In terms of the project's broader impacts, studying the development of market systems and occupational specialization in prehispanic Mexico will increase our understanding not only of the evolution of Mesoamerican society, but also of the development of important components of the modern world economic system. The field and laboratory work involves close collaboration with other scientists of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as the cooperation and assistance of archaeologists of INAH. The project will also provide education and training opportunities for archaeology students of the United States and Mexico.