Mayan Site Excavation
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In this research Dr. Fash will continue excavation of structure                 10L-26 located at the site of Copan in Honduras.  The site of                   Copan is a major Mayan center which documents the rise and                      subsequent decline of the Mayan civilization.  Structure 10L-26                 is a mound which contained a stairway which led to a temple on                  the top.  It is one of the most important and least understood of               all Maya monuments.  An inscription carved in stone covered the                 stairway and the facade of the superstructure and this is the                   longest known in the aboriginal New World.  Unfortunately, over                 half the stairway text fell and was buried.  Even more seriously,               the stairway inscription, exposed to the elements is                            deteriorating at a rapid rate.  The goal of this research is to                 continue excavation of the buried portions of the stairway,                     assemble the blocks in the right order and then record, translate               and interpret the inscription.                                                                                                                                  Archaeologists have come to realize that different Mayan sites                  did not develop in isolation.  Regions fought and traded,                       regularly with each other and thus each influenced the growth and               decline of its neighbors.  To understand the history of                         individual sites, it is necessary to set them in a regional                     context and in fact it probably makes more sense to think in                    terms of regions than individual sites.  Although they have been                only partially translated, it is believed that the inscriptions                 on the monument record a war and its outcome with a neighboring                 state.  Through translation of the text and then incorporation of               this information into a broader archaeological framework, it                    should be possible to both detail one aspect of intersite                       relations.                                                                                                                                                      This research is important because it will increase our                         understanding of complex societies such as our own.  It will                    show, in particular how such entities emerge, are maintained and                then decline.  Since such processes cover not decades but                       thousands of years, archaeological data are particularly well                   suited to this purpose.
{'FirstName': 'William', 'LastName': 'Fash', 'PI_MID_INIT': None, 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'William Fash', 'EmailAddress': 'wfash@fas.harvard.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000309742', 'StartDate': '04/01/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
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