Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Indigenous Responses to Colonialism at Achiutla, Oaxaca, Mexico

在Arthur Joyce博士的指导下，Jamie Forde先生将在墨西哥瓦哈卡州Achiutla遗址进行家庭考古发掘。这些可以追溯到早期殖民时期（公元1521-1600年）。阿奎特拉位于现代瓦哈卡州的西部高地，位于被称为米斯特克阿尔塔的地区，早在前西班牙时代就有说米斯特克语的人居住在这里。在西班牙征服之前，Achiutla被认为是该地区最神圣的地方之一——据信它是太阳神谕的所在地，来自整个米斯特卡阿尔塔和更远地区的土著贵族都在那里进行宗教朝圣。在被征服后不久，西班牙传教士就在这里居住，并积极地试图消除西班牙人之前的宗教习俗。历史记录表明，当地居民和神职人员之间有时会爆发冲突，但我们对这种社会动态的突然转变如何影响土著人民的日常生活却知之甚少。阿奎特拉考古项目（AAP）将揭示这个问题，研究当地生活方式的各个方面是如何在这场相当戏剧性的动荡中改变或保持的。预计研究结果将有助于对文化接触和殖民主义的影响以及文化变革的长期过程进行更广泛的社会科学理解。虽然考古性质的研究是相关的，在今天，类似的差距存在于相邻的政治实体。理解这种相互作用可以让我们深入了解将国家维系在一起的纽带和破坏统一的力量。在许多社会中，宗教在建立社会纽带或相反方面起着重要作用。在Achiutla，宗教互动是使该地点成为特别合适的研究场所的主要因素。考古数据，因为它们可以提供长期的视角，使研究人员能够跨越几个世纪的时间来追踪这种相互作用。在Achiutla的考古调查将包括对土著居民居住区的仔细挖掘，检查在历史记录中大部分未被记录的日常生活方面。将特别关注三大类日常活动：1)家庭工艺品生产，2)贸易商品和食品消费，以及3)家庭仪式实践。根据所考虑的活动类型，当地居民可能接受、抵制或以其他方式适应西班牙人强加的新要求。仔细恢复材料数据和随后的分析将允许详细重建土著生活方式和殖民地Achiutla的社会变化。这种基于物证的见解，不仅有助于填补历史记录的空白，而且还可以作为对此类文件偏见的潜在检查，为中美洲当地人如何经历西班牙征服提供更全面和客观的描述。来自Achiutla的数据还将与中美洲及其他地区的其他殖民背景进行比较，以研究当地对殖民主义反应的更广泛模式和可变性。AAP旨在产生学术领域以外的影响。该项目不仅将协助Forde的研究生培训，而且现代城镇Achiutla的当地居民也将协助挖掘，并接受考古研究方法的培训。该项目将与当地政府密切合作，以提高人们对社区历史的认识，并保护其文化遗产。社区外展将会进行，因为Forde将在Achiutla进行公开演讲，并在挖掘过程中参观遗址。研究结果不仅将在学术文献中传播，而且还将以专门为当地社区居民设计的更容易获得的形式传播，并通过互联网向任何和所有感兴趣的各方传播。

Under the direction of Dr. Arthur Joyce, Mr. Jamie Forde will conduct archaeological excavations of households at the site of Achiutla, Oaxaca, Mexico. These date to the Early Colonial period (A.D. 1521-1600). Achiutla is located in the western highlands of the modern state of Oaxaca, in the region known as the Mixteca Alta, which has been inhabited by speakers of the Mixtec language since early pre-Hispanic times. Just prior to the Spanish conquest, Achiutla was known to have been one of the most sacred sites in the region - it was believed to have been the home of a solar oracle, and indigenous nobles from throughout the Mixteca Alta and beyond made religious pilgrimage there. Shortly after the conquest, Spanish missionaries took up residence at the site and aggressively sought to eliminate pre-Hispanic religious practice. Historical records suggest that conflict broke out at times between native residents of the site and the clergy, yet we have little sense of how this abrupt shift in social dynamics affected indigenous peoples' daily lives. The Achiutla Archaeological Project (AAP) will shed light on this issue, examining how aspects of native lifeways changed or were maintained amidst this rather dramatic upheaval. Results are expected to contribute to broader social scientific understandings of the effects of culture contact and colonialism, and long-term processes of cultural change.Although archaeological in nature the research is relevant to the present day in which similar disparities exist between adjacent political entities. Understanding such interactions provide insight into the bonds which hold states together and the forces which undermine unity. In many societies religion plays an important role in either establishing social bonds or the reverse. At Achiutla religious interaction was a major factor making the site a particularly appropriate study venue. Archaeological data because of the long term perspective they can provide allows researchers to track such interactions across periods which may span multiple centuries.Archaeological investigations at Achiutla will entail careful excavations of indigenous residential areas, examining aspects of day-to-day life that are largely unaccounted for in historical records. Attention will particularly focus on three main categories of daily activity: 1) household craft production, 2) consumption of trade goods and foodstuffs, and 3) domestic ritual practice. Depending on the type of activity under consideration, native residents may have variously accepted, resisted, or otherwise adapted to new demands imposed by the Spanish. Careful recovery of material data and subsequent analyses will allow for detailed reconstruction of indigenous lifeways and social change at colonial Achiutla. Such insights, based on material evidence, will not only help fill in gaps in the historical record, but also serve as a potential check against biases in such documents as well, providing a more holistic and objective account of how the Spanish conquest was experienced by natives of Mesoamerica. Data from Achiutla will also be compared to other colonial contexts throughout Mesoamerica and beyond, to examine broader patterns and variability in local responses to colonialism.The AAP is designed to have impacts beyond the academic arena. Not only will the project assist in the graduate training of Forde, but also local residents of the modern town of Achiutla will assist with excavations, and be trained in archaeological research methods. The project will collaborate closely with local authorities seeking to raise awareness of the community's history and preserve its cultural patrimony. Community outreach will be undertaken, as Forde will give public talks in Achiutla and give tours of the site as the excavations progress. Results will not only be disseminated in scholarly literature, but also in more accessible forms designed specifically for residents of the local community, and via the internet for any and all interested parties.