Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Ancient Maya Ideology and the Human Body: Materializing Power among Mid-Level Leaders in the Belize River Valley, Belize

在Jane E. Buikstra博士的指导下，Anna Novotny将分析伯利兹西北部伯利兹河谷的古玛雅人类考古遗迹。诺沃特尼的研究将使用生物考古学的方法，以一种新颖的方式来调查生活在公元前800年至公元1000年之间的非皇室玛雅人的领导策略。在此期间，伯利兹河谷（BRV）是富有生产力的农业社区和内陆城市到沿海的河流贸易路线的所在地。BRV的考古遗迹包含了关于古玛雅平民的最大潜在数据集。由于BRV在政治上从未统一过，因此它是研究各种非王室领导人领导策略的绝佳场所。BRV职业的2000年跨度也为评估复杂社会中的社会制度如何随时间变化提供了一个独特的机会。在古代社会，仪式被认为是一种领导工具和权力的来源，探索所有等级层次的仪式对于彻底理解社会复杂性的动态至关重要。该项目将评估玛雅平民社区的领导人在多大程度上使用涉及其血统的已故个人的政治上强大的仪式。为了实现这一目标，诺沃特尼将调查中层领导人祖先的坟墓，以评估哪些祖先被选中作为祭拜对象，并注意到领导人之间和其他社区成员之间是否有血缘关系，领导人是否在BRV中出生和长大，以及他们的遗体后来是否被选为公开的、葬礼后的仪式。该项目将调查从前古典晚期到古典晚期（公元前800年至公元1000年）的遗迹。记录伯利兹山谷的非王室领导人如何控制仪式知识来创造权力，对完善社会复杂性和社会政治权力的全球模型具有直接意义。该项目将整合和传播从未正式比较和/或传播过的BRV生物考古数据集。所有由该项目编制的文献和数据集将被纳入亚利桑那州立大学的数字考古记录（tDAR），以便可供公众使用。出版的专著以及在美国和伯利兹考古会议上的发言也将有助于数据传播。此外，该项目将促进美国和伯利兹考古学家和学生之间的研究合作。诺沃特尼女士将作为伯利兹河谷考古侦察实地学校的一部分，对伯利兹和美国本科生进行生物考古研究方法方面的培训，从而对他们的科学教育作出贡献。资金被分配给BRV的考古材料的管理，这样就可以保存大量的古玛雅遗迹，以供未来的研究。伯利兹考古研究所的设施将提供经过整理的材料。

Under the guidance of Dr. Jane E. Buikstra, Anna Novotny will analyze human archaeological remains of the ancient Maya from the Belize River Valley in northwestern Belize. Ms. Novotny's research will use bioarchaeological methods in a novel approach to investigating leadership strategies of non-royal Maya who lived there between 800 BC and 1000AD.During this period the Belize River Valley (BRV) was home to productive agricultural communities and river trade routes from inland cities to the coast. Archaeological remains from the BRV comprise the largest potential data set on ancient Maya commoners. Because the BRV was never politically unified, it is an excellent place to study leadership strategies of a variety of non-royal leaders. The 2000-year span of BRV occupation also provides a unique opportunity to assess how social institutions in complex societies change over time. Ceremony is recognized as a leadership tool and source of power in ancient societies, and exploring ceremony at all hierarchical levels is crucial to thoroughly understanding the dynamics of social complexity. This project will assess the degree to which leaders at Maya commoner communities used politically powerful rituals that involved deceased individuals of their lineage. To accomplish this Ms. Novotny will investigate the graves of the ancestors of mid-level leaders to assess which ancestors were chosen for veneration, noting whether leaders were biologically related to each other and other community members, whether leaders were born and raised in the BRV, and whether their bodies were later chosen for public, post-burial rituals. The project will investigate remains from the Late Preclassic through Late Classic periods (800 BC - 1000 A.D.). Documenting how non-royal leaders within the Belize Valley controlled ritual knowledge to create power has direct implications for refining global models of social complexity and sociopolitical power. This project will integrate and disseminate bioarchaeological data sets from the BRV that have never been formally compared and/or disseminated. All literature and datasets compiled by this project will be ingested into to the Digital Archaeological Record (tDAR) at Arizona State University so they will be available for public use. A published monograph as well as presentations at both American and Belizean archaeological conferences will also aid in data dissemination. In addition, the project will foster research collaboration between the United States and Belizean archaeologists and students. Ms. Novotny will contribute to the science education of Belizean and American undergraduates by training them in bioarchaeological research methods as part of the Belize River Valley Archaeological Reconnaissance field school. Funds are allocated for curation of archaeological materials from the BRV so this large collection of ancient Maya remains can be preserved for future studies. Curated material will be made available at Belize Institute of Archaeology facilities.