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The Maya Research Program is a US-based non-profit organization (501C3) that sponsors archaeological and ethnographic research in Middle America. Each summer since 1992, they have sponsored archaeological fieldwork at the ancient Maya site of Blue Creek in northwestern Belize. The Program's goal is, first and foremost, to conduct research that adds to the body of scholarly knowledge and helps to better understand the past of the complex ancient societies of the Americas. Many affiliated scholars are internationally recognized as leaders in their fields. Recent support has come from the National Geographic Society, the National Science Foundation, the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, the Heinz Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies. In addition, the Blue Creek field school has been certified by the Registry of Professional Archaeologists. Another key goal of the Maya Research program is to encourage the participation of students and volunteers; anyone who wants to experience the real world of archaeological or anthropological research and understand how to learn about other cultures may join. The ages of participants range from 18 to over 80. So many participants return year after year that MRP has become something of an extended family. About half of participants are university students under 30 years old and the other half are professionals and retirees. While the majority of participants come from the United States and Canada, there are also students from Australian, European, Latin American, and Japanese institutions. For students, academic credit can usually be arranged. While many students go on to careers in other fields, others become successful graduate students in archaeology or a related field and return to focus on MRP projects for their theses and dissertations. == Program History == The idea of the Maya Research Program as an organization providing opportunities for people to volunteer in archaeological field research began in 1985, when Tom Guderjan and the late Herman Smith were turned down for support by the Earthwatch organization. Earthwatch, interested in their work on Ambergris Caye, had approached Guderjan and Smith about providing support. As things turned out, although no support was realized, it was a turning point for both Guderjan and Smith who decided that there was nothing that Earthwatch did that they could not. Dr. Jim Garber at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) was recruited to bring his field school to Ambergris along with a cost-sharing volunteer program based at the University of Texas Institute of Texan Cultures and the Corpus Christi Museum. The Ambergris project operated for three years (1986–1988) on this basis. That final season was also supported by a grant by the Texas Higher Education coordinating Board to Drs. Garber and David Glassman, also of SWT, and a Heinz Foundation grant to Guderjan. In 1990, Guderjan accepted a Fulbright Research Fellowship to undertake survey work in northwestern Belize. During that time, he decided to undertake an excavation project at the Blue Creek site, an idea originally suggested by Barry Bowen, Belize's Coca-Cola and beer czar. The Blue Creek project really got underway in 1992, under the umbrella of Coastal Archaeological Research, a non-profit organization directed by Bob Ricklis. As the project became successful, it was clear that it needed its own organization and independence and in January 1993, MRP was incorporated as a 501C3 non-profit organization. In 1994, field operations moved from the original location to what has become the Blue Creek Research Station, with of lab space, studios for an illustrator and photographer, 35 residential cabanas, a restroom and shower building, a modern kitchen and dining hall, a large "beach" palapa and, of course, the original main building. Before the start of the 2000 season, Guderjan realized that the growth and success of MRP required additional archaeological leadership to be invited to the Blue Creek project. Over the course of the 2001 and 2002 seasons, Dr. Jon Lohse became Field Project Director while Guderjan became less involved in the Blue Creek fieldwork and increasingly focused on supporting MRP from an organizational viewpoint and also on diversifying its research objectives. In 2003, the Maya Research Program provided support not only for the Blue Creek project, but also archaeological investigations at the site of Ixpaatun in Mexico and an ethnographic field experience at Yaxunah, also in Mexico. Beginning in 2002 and fully underway in 2003, the Blue Creek project, under the directorship of Lohse, expanded its objectives and research scope beyond the Blue Creek site and its immediately surrounding settlements. Dr. Lohse's research, named the Blue Creek Regional Political Ecology Project, was focused on multiple sites in upper northwestern Belize - some of which are equal to the size and complexity of Blue Creek - and closely examine changes in the ancient environment and how the Maya altered their landscape. MRP remained the major support arm for the Blue Creek activities, supplemented by help from additional agencies, foundations, and organizations including the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. (2001), the Ahau Foundation (2002), and the National Geographic Society (2004). 2004 saw further diversification with the addition of excavation opportunities for volunteers and students in Peru working on the physical remains of the Moche civilization. MRP also began to offer study tours to its members. The first tour took 17 'tourists' to major Maya sites in Mexico, Guatemala, and, of course, Belize. The tour was so successful that it has become an annual event. Dr. Guderjan returned to his historical research leadership role in 2006. The preceding decade and a half of fieldwork at Blue Creek had given MRP a basis to address some of the most interesting and important questions about the Maya past. The research initiative for the next few years will be focused on a better understanding of the dramatic and rapid collapse of Maya civilization. With MRP’s support, members of the Blue Creek project have completed four dissertations (Helen Haines, Jeffery Baker, Jason Barrett, and David Driver), with two others in the writing stages (Jason Gonzales and Colleen Hanratty). Research for several Master's Thesis have been performed at Blue Creek. Numerous papers have been published in archaeological journals and presented at professional meetings and conferences around the world. Today, Blue Creek is among the longest-running research projects in the Maya area; this has been made possible principally through the participation of Maya Research Program volunteers. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Maya Research Program」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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