The Creation of Mounded Landscapes by Hunter-Gatherers: An Integrated Approach to the Prehistoric Shell Mounds of the San Francisco Bay Area

美国国家科学基金会将支持对曾经环绕北方加州大弗朗西斯科湾区的令人印象深刻的史前贝壳土丘的考古研究。 大约5000-4000年前，狩猎采集民族创建了最大的土丘，曾经高约9米，面积超过一个足球场，里面有数千个人类墓葬、各种文物和大量的食物遗骸。 由肯特Lightfoot博士和Edward吕比博士指导，来自加州大学伯克利分校，弗朗西斯科州立大学和文化资源管理公司的学者合作团队将解决有关这些考古遗址的功能，生态和年表的问题。该项目将1）综合现有的有关记录考古遗迹的信息（即，贝壳土丘，非土墩遗址，岩石艺术遗址）从该地区，2）完成从埃利斯登陆网站（CCO-295），在1906年至1908年由考古学史上的重要人物，尼尔斯纳尔逊挖掘大土墩博物馆收藏的分析，和3）进行详细的比较埃利斯着陆与一个重要的和最近挖掘的非土堆墓地（ALA-343）。 研究人员将探讨这些土丘是如何建造的，它们是被用作专门的墓地、土堆村庄还是仅仅用作垃圾场，以及土堆建造者如何影响了旧金山弗朗西斯科湾区的生态系统。 首先，对贝壳丘的研究突出了考古学中一个更广泛的研究问题-北美许多地区的土著人民建造的土丘景观。 该项目的综合方法有很大的潜力，更好地了解社会政治结构，社区组织，符号系统，丧葬仪式，和文化习俗的美洲原住民谁建造的土堆空间。 最终的目标是将加州的贝壳土丘与北美其他狩猎采集者的丘景观进行比较和对比。 只有采取这样一个比较的角度来看，我们可以解决为什么人们创造了广泛的土墩结构与人类埋葬在太平洋海岸，美国东南部，和其他地方开始约5000-3000年前。 第二，该项目强调了在当代考古研究中以谨慎和仔细考虑的方式使用“旧”博物馆藏品的效用。 该项目通过汇集私营部门和学术考古学家，美洲原住民学者，博物馆专家和环境科学家，为研究近100年历史的藏品提供了一个模型。 他们将通过动物考古学，考古植物学，沉积物和人工分析，贝类的同位素调查和地层单位和特征的放射性碳年代测定的综合方法来解决一系列研究问题。该项目的更广泛的影响涉及研究生培训，与当地美洲原住民群体的外联和公共教育。 该项目通过支持人类学研究生促进跨学科研究;地球和行星科学;环境科学，政策和管理;地理;和博物馆研究。 该项目将促进考古界和当地土著人民之间的沟通，促进研究小组的美洲土著成员的学术工作，并与他们的部落（Ohlone，Coast Miwok）进行外联。 该项目的公共教育部分将涉及通过出版物、公开会议和在加州大学伯克利分校和旧金山弗朗西斯科州立大学的博物馆展览来传播调查结果。

The National Science Foundation will support archaeological research on the impressive prehistoric shell mounds that once ringed the greater San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Created by hunter-gatherer peoples beginning about 5000-4000 years ago, the largest mounds, once rising about 9 meters in height and extending more than a football field in size, contained thousands of human burials, diverse kinds of artifacts, and literally tons of food remains. Directed by Dr. Kent Lightfoot and Dr. Edward Luby, a collaborative team of scholars from the University of California at Berkeley, San Francisco State University, and a cultural resource management firm will address questions about the function, ecology, and chronology of these archaeological sites. The project will 1) synthesize existing information on recorded archaeological remains (i.e., shell mounds, non-mounded sites, rock art sites) from the region, 2) complete the analysis of a museum collection from the Ellis Landing Site (CCO-295), a large mound excavated in 1906-1908 by an important figure in the history of archaeology, Nels Nelson, and 3) undertake a detailed comparison of Ellis Landing with a significant and recently excavated non-mounded cemetery (ALA-343). The researchers will address how the mounds were constructed, whether they were used as specialized cemeteries, mounded villages or simply as refuse dumps, and how the mound builders may have influenced the ecosystems of the San Francisco Bay Area.The intellectual merits of the project are twofold. First, the study of the shell mounds highlights a broader research issue in archaeology -- the construction of mounded landscapes by native peoples across many areas of North America. The project's integrated approach has significant potential for better understanding the sociopolitical structures, community organizations, symbolic systems, mortuary observances, and cultural practices of Native Americans who constructed mounded spaces. The ultimate goal is to compare and contrast the California shell mounds with other hunter-gatherer mounded landscapes in North America. Only by taking such a comparative perspective can we address why peoples created extensive mounded structures with human burials on the Pacific Coast, the American Southeast, and elsewhere beginning about 5000-3000 years ago. Second, the project highlights the utility of using "old" museum collections in a prudent and carefully considered manner in contemporary archaeological research. The project presents a model for studying a nearly 100 year-old collection by bringing together private sector and academic archaeologists, Native American scholars, museum specialists, and environmental scientists. They will address a suite of research questions through an integrated approach of zooarchaeological, archaeobotanical, sediment, and artifactual analyses, isotopic investigations of shellfish, and radiocarbon dating of stratigraphic units and features.The broader impacts of the project involve graduate student training, outreach with local Native American groups, and public education. The project fosters inter-disciplinary research by supporting graduate students in Anthropology; Earth and Planetary Science; Environmental Science, Policy and Management; Geography; and Museum Studies. The project will facilitate communication between the archaeological community and local native peoples by fostering the scholarly work of Native American members of the research team and outreach with their tribes (Ohlone, Coast Miwok). The public educational component of the project will involve the dissemination of findings through publications, a public conference, and museum exhibits at both UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University.