Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Geoarchaeology and Dating Climatic Events in the Middle Rio Negro Valley, Argentina

在Michael沃茨博士的指导下，Heidi Luchsinger女士将进行考古研究，以重建南美洲南部新仙女木时期的气候和人类行为。南美洲数十年的考古学研究揭示了一个复杂的人类居住记录，跨越至少12，000年。 在阿根廷，虽然在整个潘帕斯草原和巴塔哥尼亚地区进行了大量工作，但这两个地区之间的边界地区（或生态交错区）却被忽视了。 从考古学的角度来看，生态交错区是非常重要的，因为它们提供了各种各样的自然资源，使它们成为史前人口的吸引力定居点。 生态过渡带对气候变化也特别敏感。 里奥内格罗山谷是巴塔哥尼亚和潘帕斯草原之间的生态交错区。 最近的考古研究已经在中谷进行，但是，它的景观和气候历史基本上是未知的，阻止了对当前考古记录的明确评估。 例如，人们对吸引早期定居者进入这一地区的环境类型知之甚少，或者迫使他们科普难以获得食物、水和足够住所的条件。 本论文项目将调查一个75公里的里奥内格罗河谷中部的一段，以重建这些景观和气候的历史。 结果将导致考古遗址的潜在检测甚至比以前发现的更早，以及整个人类占领期间的全球气候变化。 与我们的现代世界不同，史前的景观和气候的动态对人类的影响要大得多，这表明它对解释过去人类行为的重要性。 首先，它加入了来自美国和阿根廷的研究生和考古学家，以追求美洲人民的新理论。 这项研究将在国家和国际会议上传播，与当地考古团体进行会谈，并以英文和西班牙文出版。

Under the direction of Dr. Michael Waters, Ms. Heidi Luchsinger will conduct archaeological research to reconstruct climate and human behavior during the Younger Dryas period in Southern South America. Decades of archaeological research in South America reveal a complex record of human occupation spanning at least 12,000. In Argentina, although substantial work has been conducted throughout the Pampas and Patagonia, the boundary area (or ecotone) between these two regions has been neglected. Archaeologically, ecotones are quite important because they offer a wide variety of natural resources, making them attractive settlement locations for prehistoric populations. Ecotones are also particularly sensitive to climate change. The Rio Negro Valley, is an ecotone located between Patagonia and the Pampas. Recent archaeological research has been conducted in the middle valley, however, its landscape and climatic history is essentially unknown preventing a clear evaluation of the current archaeological record. For example, little is known about the type of environments that lured early settlers into this region or forced them to cope with conditions that created difficulty in procuring food, water, and sufficient shelter. This dissertation project will investigate a 75 km segment of the middle Rio Negro Valley in order to reconstruct these landscape and climatic histories. Results will lead to the potential detection of archaeological sites even earlier than previously discovered and global climate changes throughout human occupation. Unlike our modern world, the dynamics of landscape and climate in prehistory had a much greater impact on human populations signifying its importance for interpreting past human behavior.The broader impact of this dissertation project has several components. First, it joins graduate students and archaeologists from the U.S. and Argentina to pursue new theories on the peopling of the Americas. The research will be disseminated at national and international meetings, talks to local archaeology groups, and publication in both English and Spanish.