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加州北部旧金山湾区的令人印象深刻的史前贝壳丘的考古研究。由大约5000-4000年前的狩猎采集者创造的，最大的土丘，曾经高达9米，延伸超过一个足球场的大小，包含了成千上万的人类墓葬，各种各样的人工制品，以及数以吨计的食物遗骸。在肯特·莱特富特博士和爱德华·卢比博士的指导下，一个由加州大学伯克利分校、旧金山州立大学和一家文化资源管理公司的学者组成的合作小组将解决有关这些考古遗址的功能、生态和年代的问题。该项目将1)综合该地区现有的考古遗迹记录信息（即，贝壳丘，非丘遗址，岩石艺术遗址），2)完成对埃利斯登陆点（CCO-295）博物馆藏品的分析，埃利斯登陆点是考古学历史上的重要人物内尔斯·纳尔逊（Nels Nelson）于1906-1908年发掘的一个大丘，3)将埃利斯登陆点与最近发掘的一个重要的非丘墓地（ALA-343）进行详细比较。研究人员将研究这些土堆是如何建造的，它们是被用作专门的墓地、土堆村庄还是仅仅作为垃圾场，以及土堆建造者如何影响旧金山湾区的生态系统。这个项目的智力价值是双重的。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居民建造的土丘景观。该项目的综合方法对于更好地理解建造土堆空间的美洲原住民的社会政治结构、社区组织、符号系统、丧葬仪式和文化习俗具有重要的潜力。最终目标是将加利福尼亚的贝壳丘与北美其他狩猎采集者的丘地进行比较和对比。只有从这样一个比较的角度来看，我们才能解释为什么从5000-3000年前开始，人们在太平洋沿岸、美国东南部和其他地方建造了大量的人类墓葬的土墩结构。其次，该项目突出了在当代考古研究中以谨慎和仔细的方式使用“旧”博物馆藏品的效用。该项目将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聚集在一起，为研究近100年的藏品提供了一个模式。他们将通过动物考古学、考古植物学、沉积物和人工分析、贝类同位素调查以及地层单位和特征的放射性碳定年等综合方法来解决一系列研究问题。该项目的更广泛影响包括研究生培训、与当地印第安人团体的联系以及公共教育。该项目通过支持人类学研究生来促进跨学科研究；地球与行星科学；环境科学、政策与管理；地理位置;以及博物馆研究。该项目将促进考古界与当地土著人民之间的交流，促进研究小组美洲土著成员的学术工作，并与他们的部落（奥lone、Coast Miwok）进行接触。该项目的公共教育部分将包括通过出版物、公共会议和加州大学伯克利分校和旧金山州立大学的博物馆展览来传播研究结果。

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.