Isotopes and Migration in Ancient Mesoamerica II

要求提供资金，以便继续开展一项研究项目，以查明古代中美洲的人类迁徙情况。该方法使用锶、氧和铅的稳定同位素作为过去人类活动的同位素示踪剂，通过测量古代骨骼和牙齿中的这些量。在婴儿期和幼年早期，人类牙釉质中沉积了地理上独特的同位素比率，死亡后基本保持不变。如果一个人去世并被埋在他们的出生地之外，当地的同位素比率通常会与牙釉质的值不同。在过去的几年里，这一原理被用于研究人类和动物样本，构建了中美洲同位素变化的初步地图，并调查了一些考古遗址的迁徙问题，包括特奥蒂瓦坎、科潘、帕伦克、殖民地坎佩切、蒂卡尔、卡米纳尔朱尤等。该项目的研究记录了玛雅地区皇室人物和平民的流动、祭祀受害者的来源地、该地区第一批城市的大规模人口流动以及坎佩切镇殖民居民的出生地。在目前的提案中，要求为今后三年的调查提供资金，以扩大基本的基线数据，并继续调查中美洲的人类移徙情况。将从目前缺乏同位素数据的地区收集的现代和考古人类和动物样本中获得基线信息。除了通过田野工作收集样本外，研究小组还与活跃在中美洲的考古学家合作，从许多地点获取动物样本。此信息将用于帮助填充基线地图上的空白区域。将在几个地点启动新的调查。卡拉克穆尔、查克、帕伦克和特奥蒂瓦坎正在进行的调查将扩大。此外，将继续调查氧和铅同位素作为该区域移徙示踪剂的情况。使用一种以上的同位素将提供关于原产地的更多细节。该项目的目标是尽可能多地了解古代中美洲的同位素变异性和人类迁徙。这个项目提供了机会来解决关于新大陆一个主要文化区的人类流动性和迁徙的重要考古学问题，包括迁徙到城市地区的速度、个体的起源、基于年龄、性别和中美洲主要中心的地位的迁徙差异。这一信息对有关文化变化和互动的问题具有重大影响。将有关于古代中美洲不同政治和文化群体之间关系的直接证据。这项研究还将记录同位素方法在人类迁徙调查中的应用。同时，将开发新的方法来证明史前人类遗骸。这项研究将展示新的科学方法在古老的考古学问题上的应用，并将有一些年轻学者参与这一过程。该项目是资深科学家、年轻同事和研究生之间的合作项目。这是一个涉及美国和墨西哥学者的国际研究项目。这项工作还将与中美洲几个地区的当地考古学家进行接触。该项目将导致至少一篇博士论文以及在各种期刊上发表文章，包括拉丁美洲古迹和考古科学杂志等。用英文和西班牙文出版是该项目的一个重要目标。这项拟议研究产生的数据将被存档在威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校人类学系，并永久发布在互联网上考古化学实验室的网站上。

Funding is requested for the continuation of a research project concerned with the identification of human migration in ancient Mesoamerica. The method uses stable isotopes of strontium, oxygen, and lead as isotopic tracers of human movement in the past by measuring these amounts in ancient bone and teeth. Geographically distinctive isotope ratios are deposited in human tooth enamel during infancy and early childhood and remain largely unaltered after death. If an individual dies and is buried outside their place of origin, local isotope ratios usually will be different from the enamel values. This principle has been utilized for the last several years in the study of human and animal samples to construct a preliminary map of isotopic variation in Mesoamerica and to investigate questions of migration at a number of archaeological sites including Teotihuacan, Copan, Palenque, Colonial Campeche, Tikal, Kaminaljuyu, and others. The project's studies have documented the movement of royal personages and commoners in the Maya region, the place of origin of sacrificial victims, the large-scale movement of people into the first cities in this region, and the birthplace of the colonial inhabitants of the town of Campeche. In the current proposal funding is requested for another three years of investigations to expand essential baseline data and to continue investigation of human migration in Mesoamerica. Baseline information will be obtained from both modern and archaeological human and animal samples collected from areas where isotopic data is currently lacking. In addition to sample collection via fieldwork, the research team is collaborating with archaeozoologists active in Mesoamerica to obtain faunal samples from a number of sites. This information will be used to help fill in the blank areas on a baseline map. New investigations will be initiated at several sites. Ongoing investigations at Calakmul, Chac, Palenque, and Teotihuacan will be expanded. In addition the investigation of oxygen and lead isotopes as tracers of migration in this region will continue. Using more than one isotope will provide more detail on places of origin. The goal is to learn as much as possible regarding isotopic variability and human migration in ancient Mesoamerica.This project provides is opportunity to resolve important archaeological questions about human mobility and migration in a major cultural area of the New World, including the rates of migration into urban areas, the origins of individuals, differences in migration based on age, gender, and status at the major centers of Mesoamerica. This information has substantial implications for questions regarding cultural change and interaction. Direct evidence will be available on the relationships among distinct political and cultural groups in ancient Mesoamerica. The study will also document the application of isotopic methods for the investigation of human migration. At the same time new methods for the proveniencing of prehistoric human remains will be developed.The study will demonstrate the application of new scientific methods to old archaeological questions and involve a number of young scholars in the process. The project is cooperative one among senior scientists, younger colleagues, and graduate students. This is an international research project involving scholars from the US and Mexico. The work will also interface with local archaeologists in several parts of Mesoamerica. The project will result in at least one PhD dissertation as well as publications in a variety of journals including Latin American Antiquity and the Journal of Archaeological Science, among others. Publication in both English and Spanish is an important goal of the project. The data generated by the proposed research will be archived in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and permanently posted on the Internet at the website for the Laboratory for Archaeological Chemistry.