Chicoloapan Viejo: a Rural Perspective on the Organization and Decline of the Teotihuacan State

在国家科学基金会的支持下，萨拉·克莱顿博士和来自美国和墨西哥的同事将从墨西哥东南部盆地的一个古老的农村聚落--奇科拉潘·维埃霍的日常生活角度，研究早期城市国家的区域组织和衰落。奇科拉潘·维埃霍被占领了近两千年，经历了连续的特奥蒂瓦坎、托尔特克和阿兹特克三个州的崛起和解体。它的历史悠久，地处这些社会的区域边缘，使其成为增进对城市首府和农村社区之间社会政治和经济关系的了解的战略地点。这项研究涉及与特奥蒂瓦坎(公元前100年-公元650)的高度和崩塌有关的时期的农村家庭生活，以及随后该地区在上古时期(公元650-850年)的重组。作为北美史无前例的强大、多种族的城市社会，特奥蒂瓦坎是世界上最迷人的早期州之一，但目前人们对其对该地区人口的管理知之甚少。例如，农村人口是否相对自给自足、经济上或与首都包括或管理的区域交换网络紧密相连？农村家庭是否像城市特奥蒂瓦坎的家庭一样有社会组织？国家崩溃后，它们发生了怎样的变化？这种戏剧性的政治变革是像在首都那样，显著扰乱了农村聚居地的社会和经济实践，还是农村家庭具有弹性？这项研究的核心研究问题需要有关家庭经济实践和社会组织的基本信息。将进行两个季度的挖掘，涉及对国内建筑和活动区的横向暴露，每个季度将进行一年的空间数据、挖掘的文物、动物和考古植物遗骸以及地板沉积物的分析。来自助产士、房屋地板和墓葬等背景的数据将允许检查家庭在社会、经济和仪式实践中的多样性，以及这些实践随时间的变化。这项研究通过提供有关农村生活的必要信息，促进了对最早城市化社会政治景观的了解。该项目提供的纵向观点有助于了解特奥蒂瓦坎等早期州如何应对地区行政管理的挑战，以及它们为什么会分崩离析。这项研究是及时的，因为墨西哥城的城市扩张对考古遗址的破坏越来越阻碍了对古代农村社区的调查。奇科拉潘·维埃霍本身正面临着新道路和房屋建设的迫在眉睫的威胁，它是少数几个可能研究墨西哥古代盆地农村组织问题的考古遗址之一。该项目为来自多个机构的研究生提供机会，为他们自己的博士论文生成数据，并为该地区未来的研究做出贡献。美国和墨西哥之间的学术互动通过与墨西哥同事的合作得到支持。最后，该项目通过提高当地对考古资源和文化遗产的认识，有助于保护墨西哥城地区的小型考古遗址。

With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Sarah Clayton and colleagues from the U.S. and Mexico will investigate the regional organization and decline of an early urban state from the perspective of daily life at Chicoloapan Viejo, an ancient rural settlement in the southeastern Basin of Mexico. Chicoloapan Viejo was occupied for nearly two thousand years, through the rise and dissolution of the successive Teotihuacan, Toltec, and Aztec states. Its longevity and location on the regional margins of these societies make it a strategic site for advancing knowledge of the sociopolitical and economic relationships among urban capitals and rural communities. This study concerns rural domestic life during the period associated with the height and collapse of Teotihuacan (100 BC-AD 650) and the subsequent reorganization of the region during the Epiclassic period (AD 650-850). As a powerful, multiethnic, urban society without precedent in North America, Teotihuacan is among the world's most fascinating early states, and yet a little is currently known of its administration of the regional population. For example, were rural populations relatively self-sufficient, economically, or tightly linked to regional exchange networks that included or were managed by the capital? Were rural households socially organized like those of urban Teotihuacan, and how did they change after the collapse of the state? Did this dramatic political transformation significantly disrupt social and economic practices among rural settlements, as it did in the capital, or were rural households resilient?The research questions central to this study necessitate basic information concerning household economic practices and social organization. Two seasons of excavation involving the lateral exposure of domestic architecture and activity areas will be conducted, each followed by one year of analysis of spatial data, excavated artifacts, faunal and archaeobotanical remains, and floor sediments. Data from contexts including middens, house floors, and burials will permit an examination of diversity among households in social, economic, and ritual practices as well as changes in these practices through time. This research advances knowledge of the earliest urbanized sociopolitical landscapes by providing needed information concerning rural life. The longitudinal view offered by this project contributes important information about how early states such as Teotihuacan met the challenges of regional administration and why they fell apart. This research is timely, as the investigation of ancient rural communities is increasingly hampered by the destruction of archaeological sites caused by Mexico City's urban sprawl. Chicoloapan Viejo itself is imminently threatened by the construction of new roads and houses, and it is one of only a few remaining archaeological sites where questions of rural organization in the ancient Basin of Mexico may be investigated.This project provides opportunities for graduate students from multiple institutions to generate data for use in their own doctoral dissertations and to contribute to future research in the region. Scholarly interaction between the U.S. and Mexico is supported through collaboration with Mexican colleagues. Finally, the project contributes to the conservation of small archaeological sites in the Mexico City area by increasing local awareness of archaeological resources and cultural heritage.