Research in 1970 vaulted Becán to prominence on the landscape of great Maya centers. Mapping, excavation, and ceramic stratigraphy revealed that its enigmatic earthwork, first recorded archaeologically in 1934, was a fortification built at the end of the Preclassic period. Large-scale warfare thus unexpectedly turned out to have very deep roots in the Maya lowlands. The site's wider implications remained obscure, however, in the absence of dates and other inscriptions. The ever-increasing dependence on historical and iconographic information in our narratives, along with the invisibility of its Preclassic buildings and plazas, unfortunately marginalized Becán. Some colleagues even claimed that we have misinterpreted both the nature of the earthworks (not fortifications) and their dating (not Preclassic). We rehabilitate Becán by dispelling these claims and by showing that standard archaeological evidence, contextualized in what we know today, has much to say about Becán's role in lowland culture history. We identify intervals of crisis when the earthwork remained useful long after it was originally built, especially during the great hegemonic struggles of the Snake and Tikal dynasties, and introduce new ceramic and lithic data about Becán's settlement history and political entanglements. Our most important message is that inscriptions and iconography, for all their dramatic chronological detail and historical agency, must always be complemented by standard fieldwork.

中文翻译：

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康复贝卡恩

1970 年的研究使贝坎在大玛雅中心的景观中脱颖而出。测绘、挖掘和陶瓷地层学显示，其神秘的土方工程于 1934 年首次在考古学上记录，是在前古典时期末期建造的防御工事。大规模的战争因此出人意料地在玛雅低地扎根。然而，由于没有日期和其他铭文，该网站的更广泛影响仍然模糊不清。在我们的叙述中，对历史和图像信息的日益依赖，以及其前古典建筑和广场的隐蔽性，不幸地将贝坎边缘化了。一些同事甚至声称我们误解了土方工程（不是防御工事）的性质和它们的年代（不是前经典）。我们通过消除这些说法并通过展示标准考古证据，在我们今天所知道的背景下，对贝坎在低地文化历史中的作用有很多话要说，从而恢复了贝坎的地位。我们确定了土方在最初建造后很长时间仍然有用的危机间隔，特别是在 Snake 和 Tikal 王朝的伟大霸权斗争期间，并介绍了有关 Becán 定居历史和政治纠葛的新陶瓷和岩石数据。我们最重要的信息是铭文和肖像，尽管它们具有戏剧性的年代细节和历史机构，但必须始终辅以标准的实地考察。我们确定了土方在最初建造后很长时间仍然有用的危机间隔，特别是在 Snake 和 Tikal 王朝的伟大霸权斗争期间，并介绍了有关 Becán 定居历史和政治纠葛的新陶瓷和岩石数据。我们最重要的信息是铭文和肖像，尽管它们具有戏剧性的年代细节和历史机构，但必须始终辅以标准的实地考察。我们确定了土方在最初建造后很长时间仍然有用的危机间隔，特别是在 Snake 和 Tikal 王朝的伟大霸权斗争期间，并介绍了有关 Becán 定居历史和政治纠葛的新陶瓷和岩石数据。我们最重要的信息是铭文和肖像，尽管它们具有戏剧性的年代细节和历史机构，但必须始终辅以标准的实地考察。