Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Precarious Power: Ritual, refuse, and reuse at El Zotz, Peten, Guatemala

在斯蒂芬·休斯顿博士的指导下，萨拉·纽曼将在古玛雅遗址El Zotz调查仪式和垃圾之间的关系，该遗址位于危地马拉佩滕省的蒂卡尔大城市附近。这个项目的重点是在El Zotz的宫殿建筑群中发现的一个神秘的“问题沉积物”，可以追溯到古典时期末期（公元850-1000年）。这个大规模的沉积物代表了人类、动物、陶瓷和石器遗迹的不同寻常和广泛变化的组合，质疑了传统的仪式与世俗、精英与平民、浪费与价值之间的二分法。为了更好地了解造成这一复杂考古组合的人类活动，该项目采用创新的方法来检查沉积和沉积后的过程，这些方法来自于骨学研究，但在本研究中扩展到所有人工制品类别。该项目采用的详细组合和地貌学分析将有助于通过考古记录中的痕迹来定义和研究沉积行为。这项研究的主要目的是研究具体的材料及其沉积历史如何在不同类型的考古废弃物中变化，从而识别仪式和垃圾沉积的“特征”。这些将提供具体的标准，可以帮助考古学家解释困难的沉积物，减少忽视或过度识别仪式实践遗迹的可能性，并使考古沉积物之间的遗址间和遗址内的比较更多地依赖于定性假设或直觉。此外，该项目强调了考古学家经常未充分利用的方法，包括在组合规模上的分析，以及将埋藏学技术应用于骨骸以外的人工制品类型。因此，该项目将提供一种重新评估当前类别的方法，也许允许对日常和仪式行为的连续体有更深入的了解，这些行为与过去的物体、人物和地点有关。该项目将调查三个主要假设：(1)El Zotz的终端经典“问题沉积”是由家庭或仪式垃圾的结构化沉积和物体和建筑的故意终止产生的；(2)该沉积物代表了一种独特的中间类型的古代废弃物（对垃圾的仪式再利用）；(3)在El Zotz的仪式实践中大规模投资的例子被用来在潜在的不稳定时期（无论是真实的还是感知的）重申政治权威和社会整合。为了测试这些假设，纽曼将使用考古学和地貌学分析来评估El Zotz地区的垃圾和仪式沉积物所代表的特定材料和沉积历史，并与所讨论的沉积物进行比较。单个标本的属性，包括沉积前的磨损、破碎、风化和其他自然和文化变化，将被用于识别具有明确行为相关性（如冢或贮藏）的组合的“特征”，并将其与不太直接的沉积物进行比较，从而能够评估其在古玛雅祭祀、丢弃和仪式实践中的作用。还将探讨仪式沉积物的更广泛背景，以评估它们在不稳定时期重申政治权威和维持社会一体化方面的作用。国际合作是这项研究的主要组成部分，包括实地考察、分析和出版，以及为美国和危地马拉考古学学生提供的培训。该项目还代表埃尔佐兹考古项目在公共宣传和教育方面发挥了重要作用，包括为克鲁塞·多斯·阿瓜达斯当地社区的成员提供埃尔佐兹遗址的导游，培训课程和解释性标志，向当地导游和游客介绍该遗址及其在玛雅历史上的地位。由于El Zotz地区的遗址长期遭受严重掠夺，最近的事件发生在2010年，因此在遗址管理中接受当地社区的作用，可以促进考古资源的管理，并通过生态旅游可持续地利用遗址。最后，重新考虑从垃圾到仪式的沉积行为的范围，迫使人们重新评估垃圾作为一种文化类别，无论是过去还是现在。这些问题不仅与当前对废物管理和环境意识的关注产生了深刻的共鸣，而且还突出了垃圾的潜在潜力，为了解意义和价值的文化体系提供了机会。

Under the guidance of Dr. Stephen Houston, Sarah Newman will investigate the relationship between ritual and refuse at the ancient Maya site of El Zotz, located near the large city of Tikal in the modern Department of Peten, Guatemala. The focal point of this project is an enigmatic "problematic deposit" found in the palace complex at El Zotz and dating to the Terminal Classic period (AD 850-1000). This large-scale deposit represents an unusual and widely variable combination of human, faunal, ceramic, and lithic remains, questioning traditional dichotomies between ritual and secular, elite and commoner, and waste and value. In order to gain a better understanding of the human actions responsible for this complex archaeological assemblage, this project employs innovative methods for the examination of depositional and post-depositional processes, drawn from osteological studies but extended to all artifact categories in this research. The detailed assemblage and taphonomic analyses employed in this project will contribute to clarifications in defining and studying depositional behaviors through their traces in the archaeological record. The major aims of this research are to examine how specific materials and their depositional histories vary among types of archaeological discard and thereby recognize "signatures" of ritual and refuse deposits. These will provide concrete criteria that can aid archaeologists in interpreting difficult deposits, decrease the likelihood of either ignoring or over-identifying the remains of ritual practices, and enable inter- and intrasite comparisons between archaeological deposits that rely on more than qualitative assumptions or intuition. Moreover, this project highlights methods that have often been under-utilized by archaeologists, including analysis at the scale of the assemblage and the application of taphonomic techniques to artifact types beyond osteological remains. As such, this project will offer a means by which current categories may be reevaluated, perhaps allowing for a more informed view of the continuum of quotidian and ritual actions that entangles past objects, people, and places.The project will investigate three main hypotheses: (1) that the Terminal Classic "problematic deposit" at El Zotz was produced by the structured deposition of domestic or ceremonial refuse and intentional terminations of objects and architecture; (2) that this deposit represents a unique and intermediary type of ancient discard (the ritual reuse of refuse); and (3) that this example of large-scale investment in ritual practice at El Zotz was employed to reassert political authority and social integration during periods of potential instability (whether real or perceived). In order to test these hypotheses, Newman will use archaeological and taphonomic analyses to evaluate specific materials and depositional histories represented by refuse and ritual deposits in the El Zotz region, for comparison with the deposit in question. Attributes of individual specimens, including pre-depositional wear, fragmentation, weathering, and other natural and cultural modifications, will be used to identify the "signatures" of assemblages with clear behavioral correlates (such as middens or caches) and compare these with the less straightforward deposit, enabling an evaluation of its role in ancient Maya offering, discard, and ritual practices. The broader contexts of ritual deposits will also be explored to assess their role in reasserting political authority and maintaining social integration during periods of instability.International cooperation represents a major component of this research, in terms of fieldwork, analysis, and publications, as well as training provided for both American and Guatemalan archaeology students. This project also plays a part in strong public outreach and education efforts on behalf of the El Zotz Archaeological Project, including guided tours of the ruins of El Zotz for members from the local community of Cruce Dos Aguadas and training sessions and interpretive signs to inform local tour guides and visitors about the site and its place in Maya history. As the sites in the El Zotz region have suffered a long history of heavy looting, with incidents known from as recently as 2010, embracing the role of local communities in site management promotes stewardship of archaeological resources and the sustainable use of the ruins through eco-tourism. Finally, reconsidering the spectrum of depositional behaviors from refuse to ritual forces a reevaluation of trash as a cultural category, in both the past and the present. These issues not only resonate deeply with current concerns over waste management and environmental awareness, but also highlight the hidden potential of trash to offer insight into cultural systems of meaning and value.