High Altitude Hunter-Gatherer Adaptation in the Middle RockyMountains

这一行动允许弗里森博士和他的同事继续在位于怀俄明州西北部海拔8600英尺的海伦·卢金比尔考古遗址进行考古挖掘。先前的工作已经证明，该遗址包含约10,000至5,000年前的分层沉积物。丰富而保存完好的动物群和石器遗迹包含了跨越古印度和早期古代人的人类活动记录。该小组将继续仔细挖掘，准确地绘制出每一块碎片。将对动物群和石块遗骸进行分析，并辅之以其他一些研究。现场地质学方面的其他工作将为现场形成过程提供线索。在更广泛的区域层面上开展的这项工作，结合花粉分析，应能显示这一高海拔地区的气候如何随时间变化，从而为理解人类的反应提供一个背景。该地区还将调查可用的石材来源，并对其进行化学表征。来自该地点的石质材料将与这些相匹配，以提供更广泛的环境使用情况。虽然在邻近的大平原地区发掘了许多考古遗址，但人们对美洲原住民如何适应更恶劣的高海拔环境知之甚少。从信息到目前为止，这一地区似乎遵循了一种不同的文化轨迹，农业没有被采用。为了理解人类的适应，有必要挖掘出丰富的、具有长文化序列的层状遗址，并准确地确定它们的年代。海伦·LookingBill网站为此提供了绝佳的机会。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将增加我们对北美一个相对陌生的地区的了解。它将阐明人类社会如何在一个简单的技术组织层面上适应恶劣和不断变化的环境。它还将进一步发展弗里森博士和他的同事们开创的挖掘和记录技术。这些将具有广泛的考古学适用性。

This action permits Dr. Frison and his colleagues to continue archaeological excavation at the Helen Lookingbill archaeological site which is located at an altitude of 8600 feet in northwestern Wyoming. Previous work has demonstrated that the site contains stratified deposits which date from ca. 10,000 to 5,000 years ago. The rich and well-preserved faunal and lithic remains contain a record of human activity which spans the Paleoindian and Early Archaic periods. The team will continue careful excavation with exact plotting of individual pieces. Faunal and lithic remains will be analyzed and supplemented with a number of other studies. Additional work on site geology will provide clues to site formation processes. Such work on a broader regional level combined with pollen analysis should show how climate changed over time in this high altitude area and thus provide a backdrop for the understanding of human response. The region will also be surveyed for available stone sources which will be chemically characterized. Lithic materials from the site will be matched to these to give a picture of broader environment use. While many archaeological sites have been excavated in the adjacent Great Plains region, relatively little is known about how native American populations adapted to the harsher high altitude environments. From information to date it appears that a different cultural trajectory was followed in this latter region and that agriculture was not adopted. To understand human adaptation, it is necessary to excavate rich stratified sites with long cultural sequences and to date them accurately. The Helen Lookingbill site provides an excellent opportunity for this. This research is important for several reasons. It will increase our knowledge of a relatively unknown region of North America. It will shed light on how human societies at a simple level of technological organization adapt to a harsh and changing environment. It will also further development of excavation and recording techniques pioneered by Dr. Frison and his colleagues. These will have widespread archaeological applicability.