The Economic Foundations of Mayapan

玛雅潘的经济基础

• 批准号: 0109426
• 负责人: Marilyn Masson
• 金额: $ 26.05万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Albany
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2001
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2001-09-01 至 2005-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0109426&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Economic; Foundations; Mayapan

This project will document the political economy of Mayapan, the largest and most influential city in the Maya realm during the Postclassic period. Although the influence of this center throughout the Maya world achieves considerable notoriety in later retrospective mythic/historical accounts, the economic foundations of this city have never been investigated with empirical archaeological data. Without this data, the comparative analysis of complex societies in the pre-capitalist world is severely hindered. Precolumbian Maya society represents one of the most innovative civilizations of the New World. Hundreds of Maya city state centers and associated territories extended across southeast Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and western Honduras over a period of 2000 years and this society invented the most elaborate set of writing, calendrical, and astronomical notation found in the Americas.Does the degree of political centralization and scale of monument building represent the primary criteria for measuring a civilization's complexity? While these traits are a characteristic of many early states and empires, maturing complex societies often culminate in vast geographic tracts of more decentralized polities that are extensively integrated through mercantile exchange. The growth in the number of literati and merchant factions in maturing old world societies and their increase in power often eroded centralized political institutions in favor of more extensive economic interaction networks that were heavily focused on long-distance trade.This pattern points to the second important issue about Postclassic Maya society that will be addressed from the investigation of Mayapan's economy. This period has been characterized as a mercantile era, and many decentralized polities across the Yucatan peninsula relied heavily on long distance maritime trade for items used in everyday life. This pattern is documented from Spanish Colonial accounts of Maya trade at the time of European contact, as well as from archaeological investigations of small sites along the Caribbean coast that yield evidence of participation in extensive exchange. After the rise of Mayapan to power in the 13th century A.D., an amplification of local production activities geared toward this exchange is observed at distant coastal settlements. An increase in their reliance on long distance household items is also observed, along with an increase in population, ritual activities, and political hierarchical development in areas outside of Mayapan's domain. Ritual and utilitarian artifact and architectural styles at sites throughout the Maya lowlands resemble those observed at Mayapan. What is the meaning of these trends? Did the activities of Mayapan's mercantile elites stimulate this trade network and political development? A greater degree of economic and ideological integration is inferred across the lowland Maya world during Mayapan's reign than during the earlier Classic period. While most of this region was organized into modest political hierarchies, Mayapan stands out as a striking anomaly for the size and elaboration of its urban settlement. It is not possible to understand the political economy of the Postclassic period without evaluating the organization and scale of production and exchange activities at the great center itself, which was governed by merchant elites. Investigations planned by this project will document the variation of production and exchange activities within house groups of different social status across the city. This work will facilitate core-hinterland comparisons and a full reconstruction of economic relationships among Postclassic settlements across the lowlands. These investigations will contribute to the cross-cultural analysis of the development of civilizations by providing critical data from a primate city at the nucleus of a New World mercantile society.This project will document the political economy of Mayapan, the largest and most influential city in the Maya realm during the Postclassic period. Although the influence of this center throughout the Maya world achieves considerable notoriety in later retrospective mythic/historical accounts, the economic foundations of this city have never been investigated with empirical archaeological data. Without this data, the comparative analysis of complex societies in the pre-capitalist world is severely hindered. Precolumbian Maya society represents one of the most innovative civilizations of the New World. Hundreds of Maya city state centers and associated territories extended across southeast Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and western Honduras over a period of 2000 years and this society invented the most elaborate set of writing, calendrical, and astronomical notation found in the Americas.Two issues underscore the importance of reconstructing the economic systems of production and exchange at Mayapan. First, Postclassic Maya society was long interpreted by scholars as a "devolved" era, as monumental construction and hieroglyphic writing was performed on a smaller scale and of less-enduring materials than in the earlier Classic period. For this reason, little research has focused on this period. Such a deflation in monumental scale suggests that political hierarchies collapsed in many portions of the Maya area, although Mayapan stands out as an important exception. Does the degree of political centralization and scale of monument building represent the primary criteria for measuring a civilization's complexity? While these traits are a characteristic of many early states and empires, maturing complex societies often culminate in vast geographic tracts of more decentralized polities that are extensively integrated through mercantile exchange. The growth in the number of literati and merchant factions in maturing old world societies and their increase in power often eroded centralized political institutions in favor of more extensive economic interaction networks that were heavily focused on long-distance trade.This pattern points to the second important issue about Postclassic Maya society that will be addressed from the investigation of Mayapan's economy. This period has been characterized as a mercantile era, and many decentralized polities across the Yucatan peninsula relied heavily on long distance maritime trade for items used in everyday life. This pattern is documented from Spanish Colonial accounts of Maya trade at the time of European contact, as well as from archaeological investigations of small sites along the Caribbean coast that yield evidence of participation in extensive exchange. After the rise of Mayapan to power in the 13th century A.D., an amplification of local production activities geared toward this exchange is observed at distant coastal settlements. An increase in their reliance on long distance household items is also observed, along with an increase in population, ritual activities, and political hierarchical development in areas outside of Mayapan's domain. Ritual and utilitarian artifact and architectural styles at sites throughout the Maya lowlands resemble those observed at Mayapan. What is the meaning of these trends? Did the activities of Mayapan's mercantile elites stimulate this trade network and political development? A greater degree of economi

该项目将记录玛雅潘的政治经济，玛雅潘是后古典时期玛雅王国最大、最有影响力的城市。尽管这个中心在整个玛雅世界的影响力在后来的神话/历史记载中获得了相当大的声名，但这座城市的经济基础从未用实证考古数据进行过调查。如果没有这些数据，对前资本主义世界复杂社会的比较分析就会受到严重阻碍。前哥伦布时期的玛雅社会代表了新世界最具创新性的文明之一。在 2000 年的时间里，数百个玛雅城邦中心和相关领土遍布墨西哥东南部、危地马拉、伯利兹和洪都拉斯西部，这个社会发明了美洲最复杂的文字、历法和天文符号。政治集权程度和纪念碑建筑规模是衡量一个文明复杂程度的首要标准？虽然这些特征是许多早期国家和帝国的特征，但成熟的复杂社会往往最终会形成广阔的地理区域，形成更加分散的政体，这些政体通过商业交换广泛整合。在成熟的旧世界社会中，文人和商人派系数量的增长及其权力的增加往往会侵蚀中央集权的政治机构，转而支持更广泛的经济互动网络，这些网络主要集中在长途贸易上。这种模式指出了第二个重要的点。有关后古典玛雅社会的问题将通过对玛雅潘经济的调查来解决。这一时期被称为商业时代，尤卡坦半岛上许多分散的政体严重依赖长途海上贸易来获取日常生活中使用的物品。这种模式记录在欧洲接触时西班牙殖民时期玛雅贸易的记录中，以及对加勒比海岸沿线小地点的考古调查中，这些调查提供了参与广泛交换的证据。公元 13 世纪玛雅潘掌权后，在遥远的沿海定居点观察到，针对这种交换的当地生产活动有所扩大。人们还观察到，他们对远距离生活用品的依赖有所增加，同时玛雅潘领地以外地区的人口、仪式活动和政治等级制度的发展也有所增加。整个玛雅低地遗址的仪式和实用文物以及建筑风格与在玛雅潘观察到的相似。这些趋势有何意义？玛雅潘商业精英的活动是否刺激了这一贸易网络和政治发展？据推测，在玛雅潘统治时期，低地玛雅世界的经济和意识形态一体化程度比早期古典时期更高。虽然该地区的大部分地区都被组织成温和的政治等级制度，但玛雅潘因其城市居住区的规模和精细程度而脱颖而出。如果不评估由商业精英统治的伟大中心本身的生产和交换活动的组织和规模，就不可能理解后古典时期的政治经济学。该项目计划的调查将记录全市不同社会地位的房屋群体内生产和交换活动的变化。这项工作将促进核心区与腹地的比较，并全面重建低地后古典定居点之间的经济关系。这些调查将通过提供来自新世界商业社会核心的首要城市的关键数据，有助于对文明发展的跨文化分析。该项目将记录玛雅潘的政治经济，玛雅潘是印度最大、最有影响力的城市。后古典时期的玛雅王国。尽管这个中心在整个玛雅世界的影响力在后来的神话/历史记载中获得了相当大的声名，但这座城市的经济基础从未用实证考古数据进行过调查。如果没有这些数据，对前资本主义世界复杂社会的比较分析就会受到严重阻碍。前哥伦布时期的玛雅社会代表了新世界最具创新性的文明之一。在 2000 年的时间里，数百个玛雅城邦中心和相关领土遍布墨西哥东南部、危地马拉、伯利兹和洪都拉斯西部，这个社会发明了美洲发现的最复杂的文字、历法和天文符号。两个问题强调重建玛雅潘生产和交换经济体系的重要性。首先，后古典玛雅社会长期以来被学者们解释为一个“退化”时代，因为与早期古典时期相比，纪念性建筑和象形文字的规模较小，使用的材料也较不耐用。因此，很少有研究关注这一时期。如此大规模的通货紧缩表明，玛雅地区许多地区的政治等级制度崩溃了，尽管玛雅潘是一个重要的例外。政治集权程度和纪念碑建筑规模是否是衡量一个文明复杂程度的首要标准？虽然这些特征是许多早期国家和帝国的特征，但成熟的复杂社会往往最终会形成广阔的地理区域，形成更加分散的政体，这些政体通过商业交换广泛整合。在成熟的旧世界社会中，文人和商人派系数量的增长及其权力的增加往往会侵蚀中央集权的政治机构，转而支持更广泛的经济互动网络，这些网络主要集中在长途贸易上。这种模式指出了第二个重要的点。有关后古典玛雅社会的问题将通过对玛雅潘经济的调查来解决。这一时期被称为商业时代，尤卡坦半岛上许多分散的政体严重依赖长途海上贸易来获取日常生活中使用的物品。这种模式记录在欧洲接触时西班牙殖民时期玛雅贸易的记录中，以及对加勒比海岸沿线小地点的考古调查中，这些调查提供了参与广泛交换的证据。公元 13 世纪玛雅潘掌权后，在遥远的沿海定居点观察到，针对这种交换的当地生产活动有所扩大。人们还观察到，他们对远距离生活用品的依赖有所增加，同时玛雅潘领地以外地区的人口、仪式活动和政治等级制度的发展也有所增加。整个玛雅低地遗址的仪式和实用文物以及建筑风格与在玛雅潘观察到的相似。这些趋势有何意义？玛雅潘商业精英的活动是否刺激了这一贸易网络和政治发展？更大程度的经济