Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Ritualized Animals, Understanding Human-Animal Interactions at Teotihuacan

人类一直对野生食肉动物着迷。这导致了与这些野兽的独特互动，其中这些关键人物作为国家帝国主义和统治的主要图标发挥了重要作用。在墨西哥特奥蒂瓦坎的古典时期遗址（公元前100/1年至公元550/650年），这也不例外，因为大型野兽（美洲豹、美洲狮、狼、鹰、蛇等）被用于大型的奉献储藏室，并被贴在精美的壁画上。在Richard Meadow博士的监督下，纳瓦杉山将完成她的论文研究，分析在特奥蒂瓦坎的三个金字塔结构中挖掘出的动物考古遗迹：羽蛇金字塔、月亮金字塔和太阳金字塔。通过分析从奉献缓存和周围地区的礼仪区的动物群将调查四个主要的研究问题：1）什么是动态的仪式过程中发生的奉献仪式？2)我们在人类与野生食肉动物的互动类型中看到了什么变化？3)在中央礼仪区的公共仪式中，动物的重要性是什么？4）这些动物在构建国家层级中扮演了什么角色？一个多方法的方法，整合动物考古学，同位素，空间和图像分析将在现有的民族志，民族历史和宗教研究文献的光使用。该项目还将有助于了解过去人类行为的另一个重要方面，即研究人类对自然控制的开始。初步结果表明，病理学和表面修饰的证据表明，这些专用缓存中存放的一些食肉动物被长期囚禁。例如，有几个个体证明他们在致命的伤害中幸存下来，这些伤害会限制动物的运动，使其无法在野外狩猎。因此，特奥蒂瓦坎国家不仅对这些野生食肉动物进行了象征性的控制，而且还进行了实际控制。在这些奉献仪式上，动物群是国家权力谈判计划的一部分，这些动物成为社会行为者。本案例研究指出了动物群在构建社会等级中的重要性，这种关系应该在世界各地的古代文明中进行调查。本研究将有助于研究生培养，并支持动物考古学，生物学和同位素骨化学专家之间的国际合作。初步成果已在国际会议上提出，并已导致以英文和西班牙文出版。此外，动物收藏品的巩固和长期保存也是一个核心问题，因为这些材料是被视为国家遗产的一部分并已在各种博物馆展览中使用的提供储藏的一部分。每一个人都被精心修复和巩固，以长期保存，供未来研究和公众教育。通过该项目积累的数据将可供更广泛的学术界使用，因为该项目的目标之一是利用该项目创建的三维地图，从埋葬环境中为月球金字塔项目创建三维数据库。

Humans have always been fascinated by wild carnivores. This has led to a unique interaction with these beasts, one in which these key figures played an important role as main icons in state imperialism and domination. At the Classic period site of Teotihuacan, Mexico (100/1 B.C. to A.D. 550/650), this was no exception, as large beasts (jaguars, pumas, wolves, eagles, serpents, etc.) were used in large dedicatory caches and were plastered on elaborate mural paintings. Under the supervision of Dr. Richard Meadow, Nawa Sugiyama will complete her dissertation research analyzing the zooarchaeological remains excavated at three pyramidal structures at Teotihuacan: the Feathered Serpent Pyramid, the Moon Pyramid and the Sun Pyramid. By analyzing the fauna recovered from dedicatory caches and surrounding areas at the ceremonial precinct four main research questions will be investigated: 1) What were the dynamic ritual processes that took place during the dedication ritual? 2) What changes do we see in the types of human-animal interactions with wild carnivores? 3) What was the importance of animals in public rituals at the central ceremonial precinct? And, 4) what role did these animals play in constructing state-level hierarchies? A multi-methodological approach, integrating zooarchaeological, isotopic, spatial and iconographic analyses will be used in the light of existing ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and religious studies literature. This project will also contribute to another important aspect in understanding past human behavior, one that examines the initiation of human control over nature. Preliminary results demonstrate evidence of pathologies and surface modifications that demonstrate some of the carnivores deposited in these dedicatory caches were in kept in captivity for prolonged periods. For example, several individuals demonstrate they survived fatal injuries that would have restricted the animal's movement, making it unable to hunt in the wild. The Teotihuacan state thus had not only symbolic, but physical control over these wild carnivores. At these dedication rituals, the fauna were part of a state program of power negotiation and embodiment where these animals became social actors. This case study points to the importance of fauna in the construction of social hierarchies, a relationship that should be investigated for ancient civilizations worldwide.This study will contribute to graduate student training as well as support international collaboration among specialists in zooarchaeology, biology, and isotope bone chemistry. Preliminary results are already being presented at international conferences and have led to publications in both English and Spanish. Furthermore, the consolidation and long term preservation of the faunal collection is of central concern, as these materials are part of offering caches that are considered part of national patrimony and have already been utilized in various museum exhibits. Each individual is carefully restored and consolidated for long term preservation for future research and for public education. The data accumulated through this project will become accessible to a wider academic community, as one of the goals for this project is to create a three dimensional database for the Moon Pyramid Project from burial contexts using the three dimensional map created by the project.