Collaborative Proposal: Elite Strategies and Political Change in Xaltocan, Mexico

合作提案：墨西哥 Xaltocan 的精英战略和政治变革

• 批准号: 0612051
• 负责人: Elizabeth Brumfiel
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Northwestern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-07-01 至 2010-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0612051&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Proposal; Elite; Strategies; Political

This archaeological project will examine how indigenous elites constituted their power in Xaltocan, Mexico when faced with changes in the conditions of political domination. Xaltocan, located approximately 50 km north of Mexico City, was once an independent regional capital. It was conquered by the Aztec, and it was later incorporated into the Spanish Empire. How did elites in Xaltocan, from the period of the site's independence, through domination by the Aztec Empire, and then under Spanish control, constitute their power? Are there clear distinctions between the patterns of consumption of elites and those of commoners during these three periods of political change in Xaltocan? This project will examine whether elites based their claims of social status upon local or upon regional sources of power, as reflected in their use of local or regional material culture and symbols. Due to a rare combination of circumstances, for the first time in 18 years of fieldwork it will be possible to excavate in the core area of Xaltocan to examine these questions. Activities will include excavation of a 5 x 10m unit in the center of Xaltocan, and analysis of all the materials and architecture recovered during excavation. The three main goals of the analysis will be: 1) to formulate a chronology for the excavated contexts, 2) to determine which materials were made locally, and which were imported to the site, and 3) to compare the different materials to other areas excavated within the site to determine whether there were significant differences in patterns of consumption between the site's core and peripheral areas. This long-term archaeology of elite strategies will be relevant to scholarship on Aztec imperialism, and to work on empires and elites beyond Mesoamerica. Historical chronicles can provide a view of Aztec elites in urban centers, but they provide little information on rural sites. Furthermore, historical chronicles provide an ahistorical view of elite strategies. This project will provide a long-term view of elite strategies in a rural site, which will help move beyond the static view of elite strategies captured in historical chronicles. This study will contribute to recent comparative and regional studies on empires, states, and strategies of legitimation. By comparison with similar work in different world regions, the study will help clarify how states and empires change over time, and how elites within those empires transform their basis of power.The broader impacts of the project include the integration of students in different aspects of fieldwork and analysis, the dissemination of knowledge to a broad non-academic audience, and the participation of ethnic minorities (specifically Hispanic) and women in the project, both of which are underrepresented in academic archaeology. The project will integrate undergraduate and graduate students from both the University of Texas at Austin and Northwestern University into the fieldwork, analysis, and write-up stages of the project. The project will also result in exhibits and dissemination of knowledge to locals in Xaltocan, who have developed great pride in their history and archaeology in part as a result of ongoing fieldwork in their town.

这个考古项目将研究土著精英在面临政治统治条件的变化时如何在墨西哥Xaltocan构成其权力。 Xaltocan位于墨西哥城以北约50公里处，曾经是一个独立的地区首都。 它被阿兹台克人征服，后来被纳入西班牙帝国。 Xaltocan的精英从现场独立时期，通过阿兹台克帝国的统治，然后在西班牙控制下构成他们的权力？ 在Xaltocan的这三个政治变化期间，精英的消费模式与平民的消费模式之间是否存在明显区别？ 该项目将研究精英是否基于当地或区域权力来源的社会地位主张，这反映在使用本地或区域物质文化和符号中。 由于很少有环境组合，这是18年的现场工作中的第一次，可以在Xaltocan的核心区域进行挖掘，以研究这些问题。 活动将包括在Xaltocan中心开挖5 x 10m单元，并分析发掘过程中回收的所有材料和建筑。 分析的三个主要目标将是：1）为发掘的环境制定年表，2）确定在本地制造的材料，哪些是进口到现场的，以及3）将不同的材料与站点内发掘的其他材料进行比较，以确定该站点的核心核心和外围区域之间的消费模式是否存在显着差异。 这种精英战略的长期考古学将与阿兹台克帝国主义的学者有关，并在中美洲以外的帝国和精英工作。 历史编年史可以提供城市中心阿兹台克精英的观点，但它们几乎没有关于农村地区的信息。 此外，历史编年史还提供了精英策略的历史观点。 该项目将在农村地点提供长期观察精英战略，这将有助于超越历史编年史中捕获的精英策略的静态观点。 这项研究将有助于最近对帝国，国家和合法策略的比较和区域研究。 通过与不同世界区域的类似工作进行比较，该研究将有助于阐明国家和帝国在这些帝国中如何改变他们的力量基础。该项目的更广泛的影响包括在实地考察和分析的不同方面的整合，将知识传播到广泛的非学术观众以及特定的少数族裔的参与者以及特定的妇女的参与）（考古学。 该项目将将来自德克萨斯大学奥斯汀大学和西北大学的本科生和研究生整合到该项目的现场工作，分析和写作阶段。 该项目还将导致Xaltocan的当地人展示和传播知识，他们对自己的历史和考古学感到非常自豪，部分原因是他们镇上正在进行的实地考察。