Doctoral Dissertation Research: Livelihood Strategies at Classic and Colonial Period Tahcabo, Yucatan, Mexico

本研究项目将研究诸如殖民主义等宏观治理变化对农村社区农民活动的影响。在当代农业研究中，研究人员努力了解人们如何选择生计策略，并推断他们的决定对区域政治稳定，经济安全和景观可持续性的长期影响。考古学研究是很好的定位，以促进知识的影响，农村农民可以在这些领域，由于其重点是行为和环境的变化，在延长的时间框架。在这一更广泛的背景下，该项目将产生一个研究地点的农业历史，包括一个帐户的活动和作物种植随着时间的推移，重点是人口密度高的时期。这项研究将为来自美国的研究生以及来自墨西哥的本科生提供培训。它将促进美国、加拿大和墨西哥实验室科学家之间的合作。研究成果将通过以一种以上语文为广大受众编写的出版物以及在将举办研究活动的社区博物馆举办展览来传播。社区居民将了解过去采用的粮食生产策略，这些策略今天可能对他们有用。考古研究主要集中在大型政治中心，而现存的历史记录主要讲述精英的故事。最近的研究已开始涉及日常生活和家庭经济。该项目将注意力转移到农民及其在区域限制和机遇下的战略上。它将研究生活在Tahcabo农村社区的过去的人们是否在早期古典时期（公元200-500年），晚期古典时期（公元600-900年）和殖民时期（公元1550-1800年）的人口增长期间从事多样化的经济活动或专门生产特定商品或作物。将对这些时期的房屋和花园进行调查，以便找到家庭进行经济活动的证据。对土壤样本进行微观植物遗骸分析将提供有关作物生长时间的信息。通过对陶瓷风格的研究和烧焦木材的年代测定，将确定每座房屋的使用年代。利用这些证据，该项目将测试西班牙殖民化前后农民所采用的策略。研究结果将为社会和农业变化之间的关系提供新的见解。

This research project will study the impacts of macro-governance changes such as colonialism on the activities of farmers in rural communities. In studies of contemporary agriculture, researchers strive to understand how people choose livelihood strategies and to infer the long-term implications of their decisions for regional political stability, economic security, and landscape sustainability. Archaeological research is well-positioned to contribute to knowledge about the impact rural farmers can have in these realms due to its focus on behavioral and environmental changes over extended time frames. Within this broader context, this project will generate an agricultural history for the research site, including an account of the activities pursued and crops grown through time, focusing on periods of high population density. The study will provide training to graduate-level students from the United States as well as undergraduate students from Mexico. It will generate collaborations between laboratory scientists in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Research results will be disseminated through publications written for broad audiences in more than one language and the installation of an exhibit in the museum of the community that will host the research. Community residents will be made aware of food production strategies employed in the past that could prove useful for them today.Archaeological research has focused on large political centers, while extant historical records primarily tell the stories of elites. Recent studies have begun to address daily lives and household economies. This project shifts attention to farmers and their strategies given regional constraints and opportunities. It will study whether past peoples living in the rural community of Tahcabo diversified their economic activities or pursued specialized production of particular goods or crops during times of population growth spanning the Early Classic (AD 200-500), Late Classic (AD 600-900), and Colonial (AD 1550-1800) periods. Excavations will take place in houses and gardens from these time periods in order to locate evidence for the economic activities conducted by household. Analysis of soil samples for microscopic plant remains will provide information on the crops grown through time. Chronological information about the occupation of each house will be determined through the study of ceramic styles and the dating of charred wood. Using these lines of evidence, the project will test propositions about the strategies employed by farmers before and after Spanish colonization. The results will provide new insights into the relationship between social and agricultural change.