Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Modern Agrobiodiversity Issues and Their Relevance to the Study of Prehistoric Agriculture

现代农业生物多样性是几千年来农民试验和非正规养殖的产物。考古学在研究植物的最初驯化以及随后作物生物多样性的创造和维持方面具有独特的地位。然而，目前，由于缺乏合适的方法，考古学家无法通过考古记录成功地探索生物多样性问题。在帕蒂·乔·沃森博士的监督下，安吉拉·戈登将把农学信息与墨西哥的田野工作结合起来，测试一种在考古记录中识别生物多样性的方法。该项目的重点是藜科植物，一种史前在墨西哥和北美东部驯化的高蛋白作物。然而，今天它是一种驯化的动物，只有在墨西哥。北美东部驯养的剑足类动物仅从考古记录中获知；到欧洲接触时，它已不再生长。世界上许多地区已经驯化或大量开发了各种藜属植物，主要是为了获取有营养的种子。在墨西哥中部高地，分别为未成熟的花序和绿叶种植了两种驯化的藜属植物。农民为这些用途类型中的每一种都保留了不同的品种，在墨西哥中西部，还保留了一种用作谷物的红籽品种。戈登将研究墨西哥农民如何保持这些独特的品种，并将收集每个品种的多个样本进行比较。通过对种子形态差异的显微检查，她将创造出不同用途的钥匙--品种。虽然人们一直认为北美东部的鸟脚类动物是因为它的高蛋白种子而种植的，但这一关键将使考古学家能够从考古发现的种子中识别出其他用途。墨西哥棘足类动物提供了一个令人兴奋的机会来研究这种作物物种的现代生物多样性，同时也为理解已经灭绝的北美东部作物提供了一个极好的类比。此外，这项研究还将为考古学家提供一种新的方法，通过考古记录来检查作物的生物多样性。这项研究还将在为时已晚之前收集有关轮足动物栽培和生物多样性的有价值的信息。世界各地自给自足的农民是农业生物多样性的主要守护者。随着农业在发展中国家变得标准化和机械化，农业生物多样性正在丧失。墨西哥凤尾鱼等次要作物特别脆弱，因为全球经济优先事项促使农民放弃传统的自给自足作物，转而选择经济作物进入市场或出口。在大多数情况下，传统知识和生物多样性都会丧失。这项研究将确保记录其中的一些知识和生物多样性。

Modern agricultural biodiversity is the product of thousands of years of farmer experimentation and informal breeding. Archaeology is uniquely positioned to investigate questions surrounding the initial domestication of plants and the subsequent creation and maintenance of crop biodiversity. Currently, however, a lack of suitable methods prevents archaeologists from successfully exploring issues of biodiversity via the archaeological record. Under the supervision of Dr. Patty Jo Watson, Angela Gordon will combine information from agronomy with fieldwork in Mexico to test one means of identifying biodiversity in the archaeological record.The project focuses on Chenopodium berlandieri, a high-protein crop domesticated prehistorically in Mexico and eastern North America. It is a domesticate today, however, only in Mexico. The eastern North American domesticated chenopod is known only from the archaeological record; by the time of European contact, it was no longer grown. Various Chenopodium species have been domesticated or heavily exploited in many regions around the world, primarily for the nutritious seeds.In the central Mexican highlands, huazontles and quelites de trigo, both forms of domesticated C. berlandieri, are grown for the immature flowering heads and the greens, respectively. Farmers maintain distinct varieties for each of these use-types and, in west-central Mexico, also maintain a red-seeded variety that is used as a grain. Ms. Gordon will study how Mexican farmers maintain these distinct varieties, and will gather multiple samples of each for comparison. Through microscopic examination of differences in seed morphology, she will create a key to the different use-varieties. While it has always been assumed that the eastern North American chenopod was grown for its high-protein seeds, this key will allow archaeologists to identify other uses from the archaeologically recovered seeds. The Mexican chenopods offer an exciting opportunity to examine modern biodiversity of this crop species while also providing an excellent analog for understanding the extinct eastern North American crop. In addition, this research will provide archaeologists with a new method for examining crop biodiversity via the archaeological record.This research will also gather valuable information about chenopod cultivation and biodiversity before it is too late. Subsistence farmers around the world are the primary guardians of agricultural biodiversity. As farming becomes standardized and mechanized in the developing world, agricultural biodiversity is lost. Minor crops, such as the Mexican chenopods, are particularly vulnerable because global economic priorities create incentives for farmers to give up traditional subsistence crops in favor of cash crops for market or export. In most cases, traditional knowledge and biodiversity are lost. This research will ensure that some of this knowledge and biodiversity is recorded.