Doctoral Dissertation: Agricultural Dependence at NAN Ranch and Old Town During the Pithouse to Pueblo Transition

博士论文：从坑屋到普韦布洛过渡期间南牧场和老城区的农业依赖性

• 批准号: 9820752
• 负责人: Gayle Fritz
• 金额: $ 0.5万
• 依托单位: Washington University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-02-01 至 2001-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9820752&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Agricultural; Dependence; NAN

Under the direction of Dr. Gail Fritz, MS Malaina Brown will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will address an important question of archaeological development in the United States Southwest and analyze plant remains recovered during the excavation of two sites. In common with many other parts of the world, prehistoric populations in this region gradually shifted their subsistence base from hunted and gathered foods to those acquired through cultivation of domestic plants. Although cause and effect is not well understood, this transformation was generally accompanied by a shift from a highly mobile to a more sedentary lifestyle. Settlement sizes increased and more complex social forms of organization also emerged. In the US Southwest this change is referred to as the "Pithouse to Pueblo" transition because groups abandoned pithouse structures which, for hundreds of years has served as basic house type, and began to construct large above ground multi-room pueblos. Archaeologists traditionally believed that this shift also marked increased reliance on agriculture. However in recent years this position has been questioned with some arguing that pithouse peoples practiced a fully agriculturally based economy and other postulating that the degree of agricultural dependence gradually increased during the Pithouse Period.While most of the evidence marshaled thus far has been indirect, MS Brown proposed to analyze the botanical materials recovered from two sites, the NAN Ranch, and Old Town both located in New Mexico. Both contain both pithouses and pueblos which span the transition. At both sediments with abundant botanical remains have been recovered. MS Brown will use a flotation technique to separate these materials from the geological matrix and identify the range of species present. She will focus not only on known domesticates but also on weedy species which flourish in agricultural contexts and thus provide indirect information on the importance of cultivation. She will also determine whether less important domestic species such as amaranth are present. The data she produces should help to select among competing hypotheses. In conjunction with architectural analysis and study of other aspects of material culture it should be possible to gain increased insight into the development of cultural complexity in the Southwest. The project will also significantly contribute to the intellectual and professional development of a young scientist.

在 Gail Fritz 博士的指导下，Malaina Brown 女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她将解决美国西南部考古发展的一个重要问题，并分析在两个遗址的挖掘过程中发现的植物遗骸。 与世界许多其他地区一样，该地区的史前人类逐渐将其生存基础从狩猎和采集食物转向通过种植国内植物获得食物。尽管因果关系尚不清楚，但这种转变通常伴随着从高度流动的生活方式向更加久坐的生活方式的转变。定居点规模不断扩大，更复杂的社会组织形式也出现了。在美国西南部，这种变化被称为“坑屋到普韦布洛”的过渡，因为人们放弃了数百年来一直作为基本房屋类型的坑屋结构，并开始建造大型地上多房间普韦布洛。考古学家传统上认为，这种转变也标志着对农业的依赖增加。然而近年来，这一立场受到了质疑，一些人认为坑人实行的是完全以农业为基础的经济，另一些人则认为在坑人时期对农业的依赖程度逐渐增加。虽然迄今为止收集的大多数证据都是间接的，但布朗女士建议分析从位于新墨西哥州的南牧场和老城这两个地点回收的植物材料。两者都包含跨越过渡的坑室和村庄。在这两个沉积物中都发现了丰富的植物遗骸。布朗女士将使用浮选技术将这些材料从地质基质中分离出来，并确定存在的物种范围。她不仅将关注已知的驯化植物，还将关注在农业环境中繁盛的杂草物种，从而提供有关种植重要性的间接信息。她还将确定是否存在不太重要的家养物种，例如苋菜。她产生的数据应该有助于在相互竞争的假设中进行选择。结合建筑分析和物质文化其他方面的研究，应该可以更深入地了解西南部文化复杂性的发展。该项目还将为年轻科学家的智力和专业发展做出重大贡献。