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The Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition or shaft tomb culture refers to a set of interlocked cultural traits found in the western Mexican states of Jalisco, Nayarit, and, to a lesser extent, Colima to its south, roughly dating to the period between 300 BCE and 400 CE, although there is not wide agreement on this end-date. Nearly all of the artifacts associated with this shaft tomb tradition have been discovered by looters and are without provenance, making dating problematic.〔The International Council of Museum estimates that 90% of the clay figurines come from illegal excavations (ICOM ).〕 The first major undisturbed shaft tomb associated with the tradition was not discovered until 1993, at Huitzilapa, Jalisco.〔Williams, (Classic period page ) as well as Danien, p. 23. Interestingly enough, there is some evidence (Meighan & Nicholson, p. 42) that many tombs were looted in ancient times.〕 Originally regarded as of Purépecha origin,〔Judy Sund, (p. 13 ).〕 contemporary with the Aztecs, it became apparent in the middle of the 20th century, as a result of further research, that the artifacts and tombs were instead over 1000 years older. Until recently, the looted artifacts were all that was known of the people and culture or cultures that created the shaft tombs. So little was known, in fact, that a major 1998 exhibition highlighting these artifacts was subtitled: "Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past".〔See Townsend, Richard (1998) ''Ancient West Mexico: Art and Archaeology of the Unknown Past'', Thames & Hudson. Also, in the fourth edition of his ''Mexico: from the Olmecs to the Aztecs'', Michael Coe talks about "our abysmal ignorance of the prehistory of the area", p. 56.〕 It is now thought that, although shaft tombs are widely diffused across the area, the region was not a unified cultural area.〔''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures'' says, for example, that "At no time in the pre-Hispanic era did any political or cultural entity impose itself on the whole region, even though certain cultural patterns (such as the building of shaft-and-chamber tombs) have in fact been widely diffused", Michelet p. 328. Beekman (2000, p. 393) makes the same argument.〕 Archaeologists, however, still struggle with identifying and naming the ancient western Mexico cultures of this period. ==Description== The shaft tomb tradition is thought to have developed around 300 BCE.〔Williams, (Classic period page ) and most other sources give the 300 BCE date. For example, Dominique Michelet in ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures'' says "it probably started earlier" than 200 BCE.〕 Some shaft tombs predate the tradition by more than 1000 years – for example, the shaft tomb at El Opeño in Michoacán has been dated to 1500 BCE but is linked to Central, rather than Western, Mexico. Like much else concerning the tradition, its origins are not well understood, although the valleys around Tequila, Jalisco, which include the archaeological sites of Huitzilapa and Teuchitlan, constitute its "undisputed core".〔Beekman (2000) p. 388 & 394.〕 The tradition lasted until at least 300 CE although there is not wide agreement on the end date.〔The proposed end date of the shaft tomb tradition varies considerably. Williams as well as the De Young Museum give a date of 300 CE. The International Council of Museums, on the other hand, provides a date of 500 CE, while the Smithsonian and ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures'' give 600 CE.〕 The Western Mexico shaft tombs are characterized by a vertical or nearly vertical shaft, dug 3 to 20 metres down into what is often underlying volcanic tuff. The base of the shaft opens into one or two (occasionally more) horizontal chambers, perhaps 4 by 4 metres (varying considerably), with a low ceiling. The shaft tombs were often associated with an overlying building. Multiple burials are found in each chamber and evidence indicates that the tombs were used for families or lineages over time.〔Coe et al., p. 102. Williams, (Classic period page ).〕 The labor involved in the creation of the shaft tombs along with the number and quality of the grave goods indicate that the tombs were used exclusively by the society's elites,〔Beekman (2000) p. 388.〕 and demonstrate that the shaft tomb cultures were highly stratified at this early date. The sites of El Opeño and La Campana in Colima feature some shaft tombs, and are often associated with the Capacha culture. 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「Western Mexico shaft tomb tradition」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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