Under the supervision of Dr. Rosemary A. Joyce, Scott Hutson will analyze data gathered during his archaeological excavations at the Maya site of Chunchucmil. Chunchucmil is located in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula and thrived as a metropolitan center between 300 A.D. and 600 A.D. Chunchucmil is notable for its dense residential zones, which contain fenced-off houselots and a network of alleyways connecting these houselots to the rest of the city. Houselots consist of small buildings, such as sleeping structures, shrines, and kitchens, embedded within much larger open-air patios, yards, and activity areas. Hutson's excavations focused on the recovery of data that will help determine how these buildings and open areas were used.
Research focusing on individual houselots and the kin that occupied them is important because it targets a very basic level of social organization: the familial bedrock upon which society exists. Generalized anthropological processes such as trade, urbanization and social inequality cannot be understood without documenting how the everyday needs and choices of individual families and their members contribute to and are affected by such processes. This project examines three specific houselots and compares the activities performed within them. Detecting variation in the activities (craftwork, gardening, crop processing, consumption of resources, etc.) performed among these houselots will contribute to an explanation of the relations between economic strategies, social inequality, settlement density, and the use of space. Likewise, documenting patterns in the location of activities across space will contribute to an understanding of the variety of ways in which waste management, privacy and other issues are resolved in a densely populated urban setting. Because the byproducts of many activities are often not preserved in the form of large durable artifacts (broken pottery, stone tools) or because such durables may have been removed from their original context in antiquity, this project is geared toward the recovery and analysis of micro-residues, such as phytoliths, charred plant remains, and chemical signatures of ancient activities (Phosphates, heavy metals).
Beyond research questions of interest to social scientists, this project will have a broader impact by enhancing the level of public understanding of science both in the communities in Yucatan near the ancient site, and at various locations in the United States. In Yucatan, public outreach associated with the project has focused on two villages: modern-day Chunchucmil and neighboring Kochol. These outreach efforts (posters, school visits, town meetings) will continue when the analyses mentioned above are completed. In the US, outreach efforts include ongoing visits to the ASCEND charter school in Oakland. The preparation of a website will enhance public visibility of the project, while publication in both refereed journals and professional newsletters will communicate the results to the scientific community. Furthermore, both the author as well as undergraduate assistants at various institutions will gain training in the methods of analysis mentioned above.
