Dissertation: Holocene Human Prey Acquisition in Central Missouri

论文：密苏里州中部全新世人类猎物获取

• 批准号: 9912118
• 负责人: R. Lee Lyman
• 金额: $ 1万
• 依托单位: University of Missouri-Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2000
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2000-02-01 至 2002-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9912118&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Holocene; Human; Prey; Acquisition

Under the direction of Dr. R. Lee Lyman, Mr. Steve Wolverton will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will select samples from two archaeological sites, Arnold Research Cave and Graham Cave - both located in Central Missouri - and submit them for radiocarbon dating. The goal of his research is to understand how human populations at a technologically simple hunting and gathering level of subsistence respond to the challenge of environmental change and to accomplish this accurate dating is essential. Although the last Ice Age ended in North America ca. 12,000 years ago, the more recent Holocene period has been characterized by significant climatic change with marked and prolonged changes in temperature and rainfall. From approximately 8,000 to 6,00 years ago the US Midwest underwent a period of drought with decreased rainfall and higher temperatures. Vegetation zones shifted Eastwards as prairie replaced woodland. Both Arnold Research and Graham Caves contain long stratified archaeological sequences which span this drier Hypsithermal period and the subsequent climatic amelioration. Both sites contain abundant faunal material which have the potential to shed light on changing human diet and subsistence strategies. Preliminary analysis by previous researchers suggest that these remains indicate a dietary shift caused by harsh environmental conditions and that local residents were forced to broaden their subsistence base and acquisition strategies to incorporate less desirable harder to obtain items in their diet. Through detailed analysis of both assemblages, Mr. Wolverton will evaluate this hypothesis. Because morphology is related to environment and animals such as deer do not grow as large in stressed situations, Mr. Wolverton will determine how body size changes over time. He will also reconstruct age profiles for several prey species to evaluate the proposition that hunters were forced to obtain increasingly young animals. Finally he will analyze the frequencies of individual bones within a species to reconstruct consumption practices which also relate to relative food availability.This research is important for several reasons. It will increase understanding of the prehistory of the United States and shed new light on how humans adapt to environmental change. Mr. Wolverton is using a battery of relatively new analytic techniques and his work will help archaeologists evaluate their potential. The project will also assist in training a promising young scientist.

在R博士的指导下。李莱曼，史蒂夫先生沃尔弗顿将收集数据，为他的博士论文。他将从两个考古遗址，阿诺德研究洞穴和格雷厄姆洞穴-都位于中部密苏里州-选择样本，并提交放射性碳测年。他的研究目标是了解人类在技术简单的狩猎和采集水平的生存如何应对环境变化的挑战，并完成这一准确的约会是必不可少的。虽然最后一个冰河时代在北美结束。12，000年前，最近的全新世时期的特征是显著的气候变化，温度和降雨量发生了显著而持久的变化。从大约8,000年到6000年前，美国中西部经历了一段干旱时期，降雨量减少，气温升高。随着草原取代林地，植被带向东移动。阿诺德研究和格雷厄姆洞穴都包含了长时间的分层考古序列，跨越了这个干燥的高温期和随后的气候改善。这两个地点都含有丰富的动物材料，有可能揭示人类饮食和生存战略的变化。先前研究人员的初步分析表明，这些遗骸表明，恶劣的环境条件导致了饮食的变化，当地居民被迫扩大其生存基础和获取策略，以在饮食中纳入不太理想的难以获得的物品。通过对这两个组合的详细分析，沃尔弗顿先生将评估这一假设。由于形态学与环境有关，鹿等动物在压力下不会长得那么大，沃尔弗顿将确定身体大小如何随时间变化。他还将重建几个猎物物种的年龄分布，以评估猎人被迫获得越来越年轻的动物的命题。最后，他将分析一个物种中个体骨骼的频率，以重建消费习惯，这也与相对食物供应有关。它将增加对美国史前史的了解，并为人类如何适应环境变化提供新的线索。沃尔弗顿正在使用一系列相对较新的分析技术，他的工作将有助于考古学家评估这些技术的潜力。该项目还将协助培训一名有前途的青年科学家。