Understanding Late to Terminal Classic Political and Economic Transformations: Archaeological Investigations at Xuenkal, Yucatán, Mexico

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Kam Manahan博士和Traci Ardren博士将领导一个由专家和学生组成的国际团队，在墨西哥尤卡坦的古代玛雅中心宣加尔(Xenkal)、尤卡坦(Yucatan)和周边地区，研究家庭经济战略如何适应在古典晚期(公元600-900)到末代古典(公元900-1000)过渡期间不断增加的地区政治压力。虽然晚期经典过渡在许多地区代表着一段衰退期，但在北部低地，这一时期恰逢大型城市中心奇琴伊茨的最大区域影响力。宣加尔遗址意义重大，因为它既包含了在奇兴·伊特哈出现之前的大量占领，也包含了与后者最大的地区影响力相关的随后的定居点。通过调查家庭经济战略在晚期经典和末期经典之间的转变，该项目试图阐明不同的家庭战略是如何在更广泛的政治经济中在家庭、社区和政治层面上阐明的。该项目将通过绘制地图和对项目区三个不同社区的家庭样本进行广泛的水平挖掘来实现这一点。具体而言，该研究提出了以下问题：(1)家庭经济战略是否在晚期古典和晚期古典之间发生了转变？(2)区域聚落等级中是否出现了伴随的变化？(3)在宣加和周围地区表现出来的奇兴伊提亚的政治经济在组织和强度方面与古典晚期的规范有显著差异吗？这项研究将对中美洲和其他地区正在进行的关于前工业化国家经济组织性质的理论辩论做出更广泛的贡献。人们普遍认为，与晚期古典玛雅模式相比，Chichén Itzá拥有更具层级和商业化的政治经济学，但政治经济学在塑造地区层面的家庭经济战略中的作用仍然鲜为人知。此外，家庭成员为适应他们无法直接控制的政治和经济形势而采取的策略是未知的。这项研究将提供数据，以检验奇兴·伊坦·S的政治经济学在更广泛地区的优势，它对个人家庭经济决策的渗透程度，以及在快速发展的社会政治格局中，家庭经济自主权是如何谈判的。在更广泛的影响方面，这项研究将巩固美国和墨西哥机构之间的长期合作，并与坎佩切大学和尤卡坦大学的墨西哥同事建立持久的智力联系。该项目还将吸引来自美国、墨西哥和加拿大顶尖机构的美国和墨西哥本科生和研究生，为他们提供培训和研究机会。最后，该项目将为尤卡坦埃斯皮塔传统尤卡泰克玛雅社区的成员提供大量培训和雇佣劳动力，该社区目前正经历着强大的移民压力。

Supported by the National Science Foundation, Drs. Kam Manahan and Traci Ardren will lead an international team of specialists and students in the archaeological investigation of how household economic strategies adapted to increasing regional political pressures during the Late Classic (A.D. 600 - 900) to Terminal Classic (A.D. 900 - 1000) transition, a time marked by great sociopolitical transformations, at the ancient Maya center of Xuenkal, Yucatan, Mexico and environs. While the Late-Terminal Classic transition represents a period of decline in many areas, in the Northern Lowlands this time period coincides with the greatest regional influence of the large urban center of Chichén Itzá. The site of Xuenkal is significant because it contains both substantial occupations that predate the emergence of Chichén Itzá and subsequent settlement associated with the latter's greatest regional influence. By investigating the shift in household economic strategies between the Late Classic and Terminal Classic, the project seeks to elucidate how diverse household strategies articulated within broader political economies on the levels of the household, the community, and the polity. The project will accomplish this by pursuing a program of both mapping and broad horizontal excavations of a sample of households drawn from three distinct communities in the project area.Specifically the research poses the following questions: (1) Did household economic strategies shift between the Late Classic and Terminal Classic? (2) Were there concomitant changes seen in the regional settlement hierarchy? (3) Did the political economy of Chichén Itzá as expressed at Xuenkal and environs differ significantly in terms of organization and intensity from Late Classic norms? This research will contribute more broadly to ongoing theoretical debates about the nature of pre-industrial state economic organization from Mesoamerica and beyond. Chichén Itzá is widely considered to have possessed a much more hierarchical and mercantile political economy in contrast to Late Classic Maya modes, but the role of the political economy in shaping household economic strategies on the regional level remains poorly understood. Moreover, the strategies employed by household members to adapt to political and economic landscapes beyond their immediate control are unknown. This research will provide the data to examine the strength of Chichén Itzá's political economy over the broader region, the degree to which it penetrated into individual household economic decision making, and how household economic autonomy was negotiated in a rapidly evolving sociopolitical landscape. In terms of broader impacts, this research will solidify long-term collaborations between US and Mexican institutions and foster lasting intellectual bonds with our Mexican colleagues at the Universidad Autónoma de Campeche and the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán. This project will also involve American and Mexican undergraduate and graduate students from leading US, Mexican, and Canadian institutions, providing them with training and research opportunities. Finally, the project will provide a significant amount of training and wage labor to members of the traditional Yucatec Maya community of Espita, Yucatan, which currently is experiencing strong migration pressures.