The Maya Archaeologists at Ceibal

Takeshi Inomata, a professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona, writes from Guatemala, where he and Daniela Triadan are excavating the Maya site of Ceibal, Guatemala.

Our team of researchers is international and interdisciplinary. Archaeologists and students come from the United States, Guatemala, Japan, Switzerland and Russia. Each of them is in charge of an excavation operation, directing a group of workers and documenting excavation processes and finds. One exception is me — I’m not too ashamed to claim the privilege of the director in strolling from one operation to another, chatting with workers and taking pictures. In addition, a group of Japanese geologists and plant scientists are examining the past natural environment and climate through the analysis of lake sediments. In March, applied anthropologists from the University of Arizona and other institutions will join us to carry out a community development project at the Q’eqchi’ Maya village of Las Pozas, where many of our workers come from. In total, 28 researchers and about 50 local workers make up our team for this year.



The makeup of our team reflects the nature of archaeology — a mixture of diverse academic fields. Social science and anthropology make the core of our discipline, but archaeology also involves chemistry and material sciences for the analysis of ceramics and other remains, physical anthropology for the study of human skeletons, geology and soil sciences for the understanding of deposits, environmental sciences for the study of the past ecology, diet and resource use, as well as requisite familiarity with the intricacies of culture and history of the chosen regions. And organizational skills are critical in managing large research teams and in maneuvering through governmental and local political mazes. Each archaeologist struggles to balance the needs for deepening expertise in the areas of specialization and for widening knowledge in various related fields. Collaboration with various specialists is essential.

I am a social science type, interested in how Maya society was organized and changed, and at times am over-preoccupied with fuzzy, abstract theories. Dani, a Swiss who combines German perfectionism with Italian dynamism, specializes in ceramic studies and explores how and where certain ceramics may have been made and exchanged through the analysis of their chemical compositions. The good record-keeping of our project owes largely to her; all project members have learned by bitter experience that she does not tolerate any errors in excavation forms or artifact logs. In my case, such mistakes, which I tend to commit rather frequently, can have dire consequences — I have to fear a night on the floor, as she is my wife. Dani also ensures the well-being of project members by extending her relentless pursuit of perfection to camp hygiene and the disinfection regimen of our food.



Kazuo Aoyama, who heads the Japanese-financed research, is a tireless lithic analyst. Konjou (guts!), kiryoku (will-power!!), shinukide-yaru (success or death!!!). Those are the mottos that drive Kazuo through tens of thousands of stone artifacts as he measures them, classifies them and examines their use-wear under the microscope to determine how and on what material stone tools were used. For him, even meals and sleep are part of work; he ingests nutrients and recharges energy, all for the sake of tomorrow’s analysis, with the same intensity and earnestness that he applies to his beloved obsidian and chert. His thundering outpour of vigor leaves all the rest of us in awe. The only time Kazuo diverts his attention from work is when he makes the daily call to the three women of his life in Japan — his Honduran wife, Vilma, and their daughters, Sakura and Michiko — still with uncompromised intensity and earnestness.



Such directions are usually chosen during one’s graduate training. Jessica MacLellan, our second-year grad student from the University of Arizona, is interested in Preclassic Maya architecture. Her first assignment of this season was to excavate a small unit behind the East Court, which was a large platform during the Preclassic period and reused as the royal palace toward the end of the Classic period. I thought that in this area we would hit the bedrock soon below the surface and would easily get an idea about how much deeper we have to dig in the excavations of the East Court. I was too optimistic. What Jessica found was a condensed version of Ceibal’s long occupation history. Under the midden (where food refuse and other trash were thrown) associated with the Classic-period royal palace, Jessica found a powdery, white layer. I told Jessica that it was probably soil from before human occupation. I was wrong. It turned out to be an eroded Preclassic structure. Underneath it, she revealed an older construction. I hope that this excavation gave her a good introduction to Ceibal. During this season and the next, Jessica will need to develop a plan for her own dissertation research that should be manageable as a student project, yet have an impact on the field.
Jessica with her able assistant, Alfredo.

Kazuo Aoyama, who heads the Japanese-financed research, is a tireless lithic analyst. Konjou (guts!), kiryoku (will-power!!), shinukide-yaru (success or death!!!). Those are the mottos that drive Kazuo through tens of thousands of stone artifacts as he measures them, classifies them and examines their use-wear under the microscope to determine how and on what material stone tools were used. For him, even meals and sleep are part of work; he ingests nutrients and recharges energy, all for the sake of tomorrow’s analysis, with the same intensity and earnestness that he applies to his beloved obsidian and chert. His thundering outpour of vigor leaves all the rest of us in awe. The only time Kazuo diverts his attention from work is when he makes the daily call to the three women of his life in Japan — his Honduran wife, Vilma, and their daughters, Sakura and Michiko — still with uncompromised intensity and earnestness.

Such directions are usually chosen during one’s graduate training. Jessica MacLellan, our second-year grad student from the University of Arizona, is interested in Preclassic Maya architecture. Her first assignment of this season was to excavate a small unit behind the East Court, which was a large platform during the Preclassic period and reused as the royal palace toward the end of the Classic period. I thought that in this area we would hit the bedrock soon below the surface and would easily get an idea about how much deeper we have to dig in the excavations of the East Court. I was too optimistic. What Jessica found was a condensed version of Ceibal’s long occupation history. Under the midden (where food refuse and other trash were thrown) associated with the Classic-period royal palace, Jessica found a powdery, white layer. I told Jessica that it was probably soil from before human occupation. I was wrong. It turned out to be an eroded Preclassic structure. Underneath it, she revealed an older construction. I hope that this excavation gave her a good introduction to Ceibal. During this season and the next, Jessica will need to develop a plan for her own dissertation research that should be manageable as a student project, yet have an impact on the field.
Jessica with her able assistant, Alfredo.

Source from : http://scientistatwork.blogs.nytimes.com


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