Settlement pattern research the study of the spatial distribution of settlement across a landscape is a fundamental aspect of archaeological investigations. This dissertation is a study of ancient Maya settlement on a regional scale in the Petexbatun region of Guatemala. The Petexbatun is located in the southwestern part of the Department of Petén and contains a number of significant archaeological sites, including Dos Pilas, Aguateca, and Tamarindito. These sites and the region as a whole were almost completely abandoned in the late eighth and early ninth centuries A.D., marking the beginning of the changes that swept the Maya world more than a millennium ago an event often referred to as The Classic Maya Collapse. For this reason a large scale, multidisciplinary project, the Vanderbilt University Petexbatun Regional Archaeological Project (VUPRAP), intensively and extensively investigated the region. The research presented here is part of that project. Focusing on intersite areas rather than major centers, a sampling strategy was employed to test the 30 square kilometer zone. Four transects were mapped covering an area of approximately 1.5 square kilometers, or 5%, of the region. Within each transect a minimum of 10% of all structures, walls, and features were excavated. Through this research and in conjunction with the other VUPRAP subprojects, particularly the ecology, epigraphy, and ceramics subprojects, this dissertation examines the relationship between rural settlement strategies, ecology, and social and political events over the 3000 year history of the region (approximately 2000 BC to AD 830). These changes over time are then integrated into broader processual issues in Maya and Mesoamerican archaeology.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-04012007-160940 |
| Date | 14 April 2007 |
| Creators | O'Mansky, Matt |
| Contributors | John Janusek, Edward Fischer, Arthur Demarest, William Fowler |
| Publisher | VANDERBILT |
| Source Sets | Vanderbilt University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-04012007-160940/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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