Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Neighborhood Dynamics at Calixtlhuaca, Mexico

在Michael E.史密斯，朱莉安娜·诺维克将研究卡利斯特拉瓦卡古城社区的社会构成。今天，美国城市中的社会聚集现象很明显，如白色逃离、种族社区和城市贫民区。 这些现象是现代社会特有的，还是有着深刻的历史轨迹？古代城市是否发生过社会群聚？Novic女士试图通过研究墨西哥Calixtlahuaca（公元1100-1520年）阿兹特克时期城市的社会集群来解决这些问题。她将调查类，仪式，消费文化和资源采购的方式影响了Calixtlahuaca的社区的社会结构。 很少有考古案例研究存在的研究人员能够检查一个以上的社会集群方面。2006年，美国国家科学基金会资助了一项表面调查，对文物进行了物理、化学和矿物学研究，为统计评估社会集群提供了数据。诺维克女士利用陶器的物理和矿物学特征来确定生产者和风格。然后，她研究了人们在早期市场经济中购买的东西，确定了消费者的社会意义，以及与邻里组织的关系。 化学分析可以精确地重建人们获得进口商品的地方。 Novic女士可以看到社区生活中阶级、仪式、消费者偏好和资源采购之间的相互关系。 关于阶级、宗教和经济之间的关系的类似问题也被问及现代城市，而这个项目在询问关于过去城市的这些问题方面是独一无二的。城市所走的历史道路受到先前城市形式的影响。 了解前哥伦比亚城市的邻里组成可以帮助人们理解导致现代城市相似形式的过程。 这可以为寻求改善城市环境的规划者和发展组织提供信息。该项目是高度跨学科的，结合了城市研究，社会学，经济学，地理学和考古学的见解。产生的新思想将反过来影响上述领域。Calixtlahuaca的城市核心是独一无二的，有许多不同的寺庙分布，没有至高无上的寺庙。这与大多数中美洲城市不同，表明这个地方的仪式生活非常多样化。 历史记录表明，许多语言在城市中使用。 如果社会聚集发生在中美洲城市，卡利斯特拉瓦卡将是一个理想的地方找到它。这项研究将寻求有更广泛的影响超出所提出的研究课题。该项目让当地社区的妇女参与分析，从而为她们提供学习技能和了解自身历史的机会。 现场实验室位于墨西哥学院。 这为Colegio的学者和美国研究人员就墨西哥前哥伦布时期进行知识交流提供了机会。 该项目是Novic女士博士学位的最后一步。 Novic女士是波多黎各人，这一群体在考古专业和整个学术界的代表性不足。

Under the supervision of Dr. Michael E. Smith, Juliana Novic will examine the social composition of the neighborhoods of the ancient city of Calixtlahuaca. Social clustering is evident today in U.S. cities with phenomenon such as white flight, ethnic neighborhoods, and urban ghettos. Are these phenomena unique to modern society or do they have a deep historical trajectory? Did social clustering occur in ancient cities? Ms. Novic seeks to address these questions by looking at social clustering in the Aztec-period city of Calixtlahuaca, Mexico (AD 1100-1520). She will investigate the ways in which class, ritual, consumer culture, and resource procurement influenced the social fabric of Calixtlahuaca's neighborhoods. Very few archaeological case studies exist where the researcher is able to examine more than one facet of social clustering. Physical, chemical and mineralogical studies of artifacts from a NSF funded 2006 surface survey are used to provide data for statistically assessing social clustering.Ms. Novic uses physical and mineralogical characteristics of the pottery to identify producers and styles. She then examines what people were purchasing in this early market economy, determine what that indicates about the consumer socially, and the relationship to neighborhood organization. The chemical analysis allows a precise reconstruction of the places from which people obtained their imported goods. Ms. Novic can look at the interrelationships among class, ritual, consumer preference, and resource procurement in neighborhood life. Similar questions about the relationship among class, religion, and economics are asked about modern cities, and this project is unique in asking these questions about past cities. The historical path that cities take is influenced by previous urban forms. Understanding neighborhood composition in Precolumbian cities can help one to understand the processes that lead to similar forms in modern cities. This can inform planners and developmental organizations seeking to improve the urban environment. This project is highly transdisciplinary, combining insights from Urban Studies, Sociology, Economics, Geography, and Archaeology. The new ideas produced will in turn influence the above mentioned fields. The urban core of Calixtlahuaca is unique, with many different temples spread out and no paramount temple. This is different from most Mesoamerican cities and suggests that ritual life was highly varied at this site. Historical records state that many languages were spoken in the city. If social clustering occurred in Mesoamerican cities, Calixtlahuaca would be an ideal place to find it.This research will seek to have broader impacts beyond the research topics presented. The project involves women from the local community in the analysis, thus providing them with an opportunity to learn a skill and learn about their history. The field laboratory is located at the Colegio Mexiquense. This provides an opportunity for intellectual exchange between scholars at the Colegio and US researchers on Precolumbian Mexico. The project is the final step in Ms. Novic's doctoral degree. Ms. Novic is Puerto Rican, a group that is underrepresented in the archaeological profession and in academia as a whole.