Cerro Magoni Mapping and Excavation Project

在国家科学基金会的支持下，J. Heath Anderson博士和一组墨西哥同事将对Cerro Magoni进行第一次深入的考古探索，这是墨西哥中部一个濒临毁灭的遗址。Cerro Magoni位于墨西哥城北部的一个名为Mezquital山谷的地区，该地区以图拉遗址而闻名，图拉是托尔特克州（公元950 - 1150年）的首府。该项目解决了最近在复杂社会的崩溃和再生的学术兴趣复苏。自20世纪70年代和80年代以来，这个话题一直是人类学考古学家感兴趣的话题，并继续成为调查和批判性辩论的重要焦点。这项研究测试了一个新兴的模型，该模型是关于大约公元550 - 950年墨西哥中部图拉地区复杂社会的再生，这一时期被称为epicclassic。从大约公元0年到550年，图拉地区被整合到Teotihuacán的政治和经济网络中，位于墨西哥盆地的东南部，是中美洲第一个帝国的首都，也是当时最大的城市中心。四个世纪后，权力和人口再次以图拉格兰德的形式集中起来，这是一个人口密集的城市，位于盆地西北部，是托尔特克州的首府。在其间的几个世纪里，图拉地区复杂社会的再生过程仍然未知。在过去的六年里，陶瓷分析和新的放射性碳年代测定表明，这一时期的政治格局可能比之前认为的要复杂得多。几个曾经被认为在不同时期被占领的中心，实际上可能是同时期的，相互竞争的政治单位，最终合并成托尔特克国家。然而，这些重建中没有Cerro Magoni，根据地面调查数据，它是epic古典时期该地区最广泛和人口最多的定居点。然而，从挖掘中获得的关于该遗址的真实占用范围的可靠资料是无法获得的。这对于测试新兴的多中心模型至关重要。该研究通过地形测绘和地层挖掘项目提供了见解。不幸的是，房地产开发商正在购买Cerro Magoni，以便在该遗址上建造一个豪华住宅开发项目，这将摧毁大部分（如果不是全部的话）前西班牙遗迹。2012年夏天可能是绘制和探索这个遗址的最后机会，否则它的完整性将受到严重损害。该项目将通过建立一个数字数据库来集中和备份易腐烂的纸质记录，以改善组织和访问，从而改善图拉考古数据的生产、管理、管理和共享。该项目还促进了当地居民参与考古项目，提供考古实验室分析技术方面的培训，延续了70多年来当地居民参与图拉考古项目的传统。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. J. Heath Anderson and a team of Mexican colleagues will conduct the first intensive archaeological exploration of Cerro Magoni, a site in Central Mexico in imminent danger of destruction. Cerro Magoni is located just north of Mexico City in an area called the Mezquital Valley, which is best known as the location of the site of Tula, the capital of the Toltec state (AD 950 - 1150). The project addresses a recent resurgence in scholarly interest in the collapse and regeneration of complex societies. This topic has been of interest to anthropological archaeologists since the 1970s and 1980s and continues to be an important focus of investigation and critical debate. The research tests an emerging model for the regeneration of complex society in the Tula area in Central Mexico ca. AD 550 - 950, a time period called the Epiclassic. From approximately 0 to 550 AD, the Tula area was integrated into the political and economic networks of Teotihuacán, located to the southeast in the Basin of Mexico, which was the capital of Mesoamerica's first empire and the largest urban center at the time. Four centuries later, power and population were again centralized in the form of Tula Grande, a densely occupied city in its own right located to the northwest of the Basin, and the capital of the Toltec state. The processes involved in the regeneration of complex society in the Tula area during the intervening centuries remain unknown. Over the past six years, ceramic analysis and new radiocarbon dates have indicated that the political landscape during this period might have been much more fractious than was previously thought. Several centers once thought to have been occupied at different times may have in fact been contemporaneous, competing political units that ultimately coalesced into the Toltec state. Absent from these reconstructions, however, is Cerro Magoni, which according to surface survey data was the most extensive and populous settlement in the region during the Epiclassic. However, reliable information derived from excavation regarding the site's true span of occupation is not available. This is critical for testing the emerging multicentric model.The research provides insight through a program of topographic mapping and stratigraphic excavation. Unfortunately, real estate developers are in the process of purchasing Cerro Magoni to construct a luxury housing development on the site, which will destroy most if not all of the prehispanic remains. The summer of 2012 may be the last opportunity to map and explore this site before its integrity is severely compromised. The project will improve the production, curation, management, and sharing of archaeological data at Tula by producing a digital database to centralize and back up perishable paper records to improve organization and access. This project also facilitates involvement of local populations in archaeological projects, providing training in archaeological laboratory analysis techniques, continuing a tradition of local involvement in archaeological projects at Tula that spans more than 70 years.