The Uxbenka Archaeological Project

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Keith Prufer博士和他的同事团队将在伯利兹南部进行三次实地考古研究。该团队汇集了考古学和铭文专家，研究了公元200年至900年间繁荣的玛雅大小城市之间的地缘政治关系。该项目将结合对象形文字的分析，以及对乌克斯本卡（Uxbenka）的密集考古调查和挖掘，乌克斯本卡是公元500年之前的一个小玛雅首都。乌克斯本卡是伯利兹南部已知最早的遗址，这是一个农业丰富的地区，靠近沿海和内陆贸易路线。它也位于几个较大的政治中心之间。来自乌克斯本卡的文字表明，它与大城市中心蒂卡尔保持着密切的政治联系，尽管他们关系的确切性质尚不清楚。了解大小中心如何相互作用将有助于了解玛雅政治和经济组织。相互竞争的模型假设，大的玛雅政治作为中心地区和首都，具有连贯的边界，对较小的中心保持统治，或者交替地，大的和小的玛雅中心虽然在经济上是一体化的，但在政治上是自治的对手。最近的研究表明，理解地缘政治联系和障碍还需要适应竞争和关系变化的历史现实，单一功能模型过于简化了史前政治景观。该项目涉及几组相关的研究问题。当乌克斯本卡最初定居时，它与其他地区有什么联系？乌克斯本卡是在蒂卡尔的影响下发展起来的，还是仅仅是模仿或纪念当地文献中提到的历史人物或王朝？随着乌克斯本卡的发展和与其他政体的互动，怀疑与蒂卡尔的关系是否继续显现？从地图、挖掘、对陶瓷和其他文物的分析，以及建筑变化的数据，结合对遗址象形文字的研究，将说明乌克斯本卡的历史，以及随着时间的推移，区域和远距离的经济和政治联系。本研究解决了关于文化接触的理论争论和区分区域间互动类型的困难。这个项目的智力价值在于它的方法，它整合了考古和历史数据，以提高我们对玛雅人定居和长期互动的理解，并且在它的理论角度上，它认识到政治和经济组织往往基于竞争群体之间不平衡和不对称的网络，随着时间的推移而变化。由此产生的数据将有助于理解玛雅地区的类似发展，以及理解早期复杂政治的发展、行为和功能。这个项目在教育和社区发展方面有更广泛的影响。该项目的成果将广泛传播给学者和公众。该项目将为研究生和本科生提供教学、培训和学习机会。由于乌克斯本卡位于现代玛雅社区，该项目将与土著团体和伯利兹政府密切合作，以确保考古研究和保护活动有利于共同管理考古遗址的可持续发展计划。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Keith Prufer and his team of colleagues will conduct three field seasons of archaeological research in southern Belize. The team brings together specialists in archaeology and epigraphy to examine geopolitical relationships between large and small Maya cities that flourished between 200 and 900 AD. The project will combine the analysis of the hieroglyphic texts with intensive archaeological survey and excavations at Uxbenka, a small Maya capital founded sometime before 500 AD. Uxbenka is the earliest known site in southern Belize, an agriculturally rich region and situated near to coastal and inland trade routes. It is also located between several larger political centers. Texts from the Uxbenka suggest that it maintained close political ties to the large urban center Tikal, though the exact nature of their relationship remains unclear. Understanding how large and small centers interacted will contribute to knowledge of Maya political and economic organization. Competing models posit that large Maya polities functioned as central places and capitals, with coherent boundaries, holding sway over smaller centers or, alternately, that large and small Maya centers were, though economically integrated, politically autonomous rivals. More recent studies suggest that understanding geopolitical links and barriers also requires accommodating historical realities of rivalry and shifting relationships, and that single function models oversimplify prehistoric political landscapes. The project addresses several related sets of research questions. When first settled, what links did Uxbenka have with other regions? Did Uxbenka develop under the sway of Tikal, or did they merely emulate or memorialize historical figures or dynasties mentioned in native texts? Did the suspected relationship with Tikal continue to manifest itself as Uxbenka grew and interacted with other polities? Data from mapping, excavations, the analysis of ceramics and other artifacts, and architectural variation, combined with the study of hieroglyphic texts from the site, will illustrate Uxbenka's history and regional and long-distance economic and political ties over time. This research addresses theoretical debates regarding culture contact and the difficulty of distinguishing between types of interregional interactions. The intellectual merit of this project is in its approach, which integrates archaeological and historical data to improve our understanding Maya settlement and interaction over time, and in its theoretical perspective, which recognizes that political and economic organization is often based on uneven and asymmetrical networks between competing groups, subject to change over time. The resulting data will have implications for understanding similar developments across the Maya area and for understanding the development, behavior, and functioning of early complex polities in general. The broader impacts of this project are in education and community development. The results of this project will be disseminated widely to both scholars and the general public. The project will provide teaching, training, and learning opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students. Because Uxbenka is located in a modern Mayan community, the project will work closely with indigenous groups and the Belize government to insure that archaeological research and preservation activities benefit plans for co-managed sustainable development of the archaeological site.