Under the direction of Dr. E.W. Andrews, Mr. Dirk Van Tuerenhout will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. Building on earlier fieldwork, he will conduct archaeological excavation at the site of Quim Chi Hilan which is located in the El Peten region of Guatemala. This small "non-elite" site is situated near the larger more impressive walled site of Aguateca. While the latter has been subjected to extensive work and thus yielded information on elite life, much less is known about the behavior of other strata of society. Mr. Van Tuerenhout will spend 4 months actively involved in excavation. He will employ a posthole digger to locate habitation middens, test pit these and analyze the materials recovered. He will strip overburden covering a series of residential structures and also selectively expose walls and terraces. The immediate goals are to determine the size and date of the community and the status and occupations of its inhabitants. Data will also provide insight into the age of the walls and their functions as well as the subsistence strategies followed. The Mayan peoples of Middle America developed a complex society with monumental stone architecture, high chiefs and priests. This society, which reached its peak during the Classic period also declined well before Columbus reached the New World and in this regard is different from most other such civilizations. While much effort has been focussed on understanding the development of Maya society relatively little is known about its decline. Mr. Van Tuerenhout's research is part of a larger effort to understand this process. It has been hypothesized that in this area of Middle America at least organized intergroup warfare played a major role and the defensive walls which surround sites in the region provide support for this. However very little is known about life during this period at non-elite sites and Mr. Van Tuerenhout's work will help to remedy this situation. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to a large number of archaeologists. It will shed new light on the decline of a complex society and will assist in the training of a promising young scientist.
