Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Archaeology and Maya Identity in the Cuchumatan Highlands of Guatemala

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

Under the direction of Robert J. Sharer, Greg Borgstede will conduct investigations on the archaeology of ethnicity in the western highlands of Guatemala among the Huista and Acateco Maya currently living in the area. The primary purpose of the research is to uncover the material remains of ethnic identity among groups with no written history. The Huista-Acateco Archaeological Project (HAAP) will focus on two distinct, homogenous ethnic groups, in a relatively small region, in order to ascertain how and when ethnic changes occurred in the two groups. This case is ideal for the study of the archeology of ethnicity since the Huista and Acateco Maya are today two distinct, homogenous ethnic groups. Their small population size and the relatively small area inhabited make archeological studies of both groups feasible. Two questions will be addressed: Can modern ethnic groups be identified in or correlated with the archaeological record? And what is the relation between an ethnic group's modern situation and its historical development, as shown through archaeology and its material traces? In an attempt to answer these questions, the HAAP will consist of: archaeological surveys, primarily locating and mapping archaeological sites in the previously unstudied region; archaeological excavations of the discovered sites; analysis of artifacts; and oral history collection. The changing nature of culture at the turn of the millennium, as many social scientists have pointed out, is toward increased globalization, normalization, and westernization. While this is undoubtedly true, it masks the increased regionalization and balkanization of many cultures of the world: processes that are often phrased in terms of ethnic groups and ethnic identity. These ethnic groups often base claims of political and cultural identity on long historical cultural continuity. Historians have addressed these claims in cases where historical records are available, but archaeologists have largely ignored the topic. The significance of the HAAP is that it will analyze the relevance of archaeology to conceptions of ethnic identity. The results will be directly applicable to these groups themselves, particularly in their claims to cultural and political representation in the Guatemalan society. These groups, marginalized because of decades of civil war, have only recently begun to develop a sense of cultural self-determination, and an interest in their own, unwritten history. The results will also provide a broader framework for understanding how ethnicity can be traced through the material remains available to archaeology.