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数千年来农民试验和非正式育种的产物。考古学在调查围绕植物最初驯化以及随后创造和维持作物生物多样性的问题方面具有独特的地位。然而，目前缺乏合适的方法阻碍了考古学家通过考古记录成功探索生物多样性问题。在帕蒂·乔·沃森博士的指导下，安吉拉·戈登将把农学信息与墨西哥的田野调查结合起来，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Chenopodium berlandieri，这是一种在墨西哥和北美东部史前驯化的高蛋白作物。然而，今天它只在墨西哥被驯化。北美东部驯化的chenopod只从考古记录中得知；在与欧洲人接触时，它已不再生长。在世界许多地区，各种藜属植物已被驯化或大量开发，主要是为了获取营养丰富的种子。在墨西哥中部高地，种植huazontles和quelites de trigo这两种驯化的berlandieri，分别是为了未成熟的开花头和绿叶。农民们为每一种用途类型都保留了不同的品种，在墨西哥中西部，还保留了一种红籽品种，用作谷物。戈登女士将研究墨西哥农民如何维持这些独特的品种，并将收集每个品种的多个样本进行比较。通过显微镜检查种子形态的差异，她将创建一个关键的不同用途的品种。虽然人们一直认为北美东部的chenopod是为了其高蛋白的种子而种植的，但这把钥匙将使考古学家能够从考古发现的种子中识别出其他用途。墨西哥的chenopod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，同时也为了解已灭绝的北美东部作物提供了一个很好的类比。此外，这项研究将为考古学家提供一种通过考古记录来研究作物生物多样性的新方法。这项研究还将在为时已晚之前收集有关藜足类植物种植和生物多样性的宝贵信息。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。随着发展中国家农业的标准化和机械化，农业生物多样性正在丧失。小型作物，如墨西哥的藜足类，尤其容易受到影响，因为全球经济优先发展促使农民放弃传统的自给作物，转而种植用于市场或出口的经济作物。在大多数情况下，传统知识和生物多样性丧失了。这项研究将确保这些知识和生物多样性被记录下来。

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.