NSF/SBE-RCUK Maya Archaeology and Palaeoecology Partnership Project

NSF/SBE-RCUK 玛雅考古学和古生态学合作项目

• 批准号: AH/V004220/1
• 负责人: Bronwen Whitney
• 金额: $ 56.28万
• 依托单位: Northumbria University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FV004220%2F1
• 关键词: NSF; SBE; RCUK; Maya; Archaeology

The ancient Maya are one of the most studied past civilisations. They are renown for their elaborate architecture, hieroglyphic inscriptions, celestial calendar, and divine rulership with associated ritual. They are also known, however, for their sudden 'disappearance' around 1000 years ago. The 'collapse' of the Classic civilisation is argued to have been caused by increasing drought and environmental negligence and an inability to adapt to these climate pressures. This is an over-simplistic narrative, because the Maya never disappeared, but they dispersed after the dramatic decline of the hierarchical Classic society. The Maya currently reside in parts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras where over 20 different Maya languages are spoken. Nor did the collapse of the Classic society occur in all Maya centres, nor at the same time. The charismatic and photogenic Maya ceremonial centre of Tulum on Mexico's tourist coast was still occupied at the time of Spanish arrival in the 16th century. The 'Maya Archaeology and Palaeoecology Partnership Project' (MAPPP) examines in detail this complex relationship between ancient Maya society and climate change, taking into account how people managed their resources and farmed their land. MAPPP focuses on the Belize River Valley, a Maya region that experienced decline after the Classic period, but some occupation of ceremonial centres continued following the collapse. MAPPP will move beyond the simple narrative of 'drought caused collapse' to determine what adaption strategies were adopted by the ancient Maya as they faced climate instability. Here, we ask: How did the ancient Maya change their land use strategies in the event of extreme drought? How did they continue occupation into the post-Classic period (following collapse)? Did they change how they farmed and lived? These questions will be answered by examining the numbers and timings of burials to gauge how populations changed through time. MAPPP will examine artefacts and monumental construction to understand how people decided to use their resources with respect to trade and building and how these changed with climate pressures. The environments of the Ancient Maya will be recreated using geochemical and microfossil (pollen, charcoal and algal remains) signatures in lake sediments that archive the nature of the surrounding environments at the time they were deposited. By combining all of these different lines of evidence, we will build up a picture of how the Classic society interacted with their physical world and how this changed in response to extreme climate events. MAPPP will provide understanding on the resilience and sustainability of different land use systems in the event of climate change, which are current environmental concerns as Belize is under increasing pressures from tourism, development, and agro-business.

古老的玛雅人是过去研究的文明之一。他们以其精心制作的建筑，象形文字铭文，天体日历和神圣的统治与相关的仪式而闻名。然而，他们也以大约1000年前的突然“失踪”而闻名。经典文明的“崩溃”被认为是由于越来越多的干旱和环境疏忽以及无法适应这些气候压力而引起的。这是一个过于简单的叙述，因为玛雅人从未消失，但是在等级经典社会的巨大衰落之后，它们分散了。玛雅人目前居住在墨西哥，伯利兹，危地马拉和洪都拉斯的一部分，那里讲了20多种不同的玛雅语言。经典社会的崩溃也没有发生在所有玛雅人中心，也没有同时发生。墨西哥旅游海岸图卢姆（Tulum）的魅力和上镜的玛雅仪式中心仍在西班牙抵达16世纪时被占领。 “ Maya考古学和古生物学合作伙伴关系项目”（MAPPP）详细研究了古代玛雅社会与气候变化之间的这种复杂关系，考虑到人们如何管理资源并耕种土地。 MAPPP专注于伯利兹河谷（Belize River Valley），这是一个经典时期后经历下降的玛雅地区，但在崩溃后，对礼仪中心的某些职业仍在继续。 MAPPP将超越“干旱导致崩溃”的简单叙述，以确定古代玛雅人面临气候不稳定时采用了哪些适应策略。在这里，我们问：在极端干旱的情况下，古代玛雅人如何改变他们的土地使用策略？他们如何继续占领后期（崩溃之后）？他们是否改变了自己的耕种和生活方式？这些问题将通过检查埋葬的数字和时间来回答这些问题，以评估人口如何随着时间的流逝而发生变化。 MAPPP将检查手工艺品和巨大的建筑，以了解人们如何决定在贸易和建筑方面利用其资源，以及它们如何随着气候压力的变化。古代玛雅人的环境将使用地球化学和微化石（花粉，木炭和藻类遗体）在湖泊沉积物中的特征来重新创建，这些特征会在沉积时存档周围环境的性质。通过结合所有这些不同的证据，我们将建立一张图片，说明经典社会如何与他们的物理世界互动以及这是如何响应极端气候事件的。 MAPPP将在气候变化的情况下对不同土地利用系统的弹性和可持续性提供理解，这是当前的环境问题，因为伯利兹正受到旅游业，发展和农业企业的压力。