Dissertation Improvement Grant: Starch Grain Analysis Provides Insight Into Plant Resource Exploitation in the Middle Atlantic Region of North America

论文改进补助金：淀粉粒分析提供了对北美中大西洋地区植物资源开发的深入了解

• 批准号: 0551897
• 负责人: Richard Stewart
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Temple University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-01-01 至 2008-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0551897&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Starch; Grain

Under the supervision of Dr. Michael Stewart, Timothy Messner will construct a starch grain reference collection and employ starch grain analysis to examine the history of use of economically important plant species by ancient Native Americans who lived in the Middle Atlantic Region of the eastern United States. Macro-botanical remains are infrequently encountered in the region owing to the generally poor preservation of organic remains in archaeological deposits. Starch grain analysis is a technique that has been shown to provide direct evidence of plant resource exploitation in spite of poor organic preservation of macro-botanical remains. A pilot study using artifacts from a single site in the Delaware River Basin has demonstrated that starch grains can be recovered from stone tools commonly found in archaeological deposits. Artifacts from significant Delaware Valley sites, situated in diverse environmental settings and spanning over 2000 years of occupation are the focus of the current project. In this area, limited evidence suggests that an increased reliance by native peoples upon plant resources occurred by 1200 BC, presumably setting the stage for the eventual adoption of the tropical domesticates maize, beans, and squash and a farming way of life sometime between 900 AD and 1300 AD. Knowing the full range of plants utilized for subsistence, when, and for how long they were utilized is significant for understanding the changing nature of Native American life over the millennia. What plants were being exploited for which we have no macro-botanical evidence? When were tropical domesticates introduced into the region and what sort of geographic pattern did this introduction follow? Were there unknown cultigens and/or domesticates in use prior to the appearance of maize (Zea mays) in the area? Why are cultigens and/or domesticates adopted in some parts of the region and not in others?The transition to food production has received much attention from an array of interdisciplinary researchers throughout the country and the world, resulting in a diverse series of interpretations for explaining this critical change in human subsistence practices. The transition to food production remains enigmatic in the Delaware River Basin, Middle Atlantic and surrounding regions. The importance of this project stems from its ability to present a clearer picture of which plants and domesticates were utilized and when, and the degree to which such insights confirm or alter existing models and interpretations.The broader impact of this research is as a model for regional research focused on human-plant relationships employing a combination of traditional data and forms of analysis with starch grain analysis. The construction of a starch grain reference collection coupled with the results of this study will enable researchers from throughout the Eastern Woodlands of the United States to investigate not only the dispersal and adoption of domesticated plant species onto the Atlantic Slope, but also to answer a multitude of questions concerning people and plant interaction on many different levels.

在Michael Stewart博士的监督下，Timothy Messner将建立一个淀粉粒参考收集库，并采用淀粉粒分析来研究居住在美国东部大西洋中部地区的古代美洲原住民使用经济上重要的植物物种的历史。由于考古沉积物中的有机遗迹保存普遍较差，该区域很少发现大型植物遗迹。淀粉粒分析是一种能为植物资源开发利用提供直接证据的技术，尽管大型植物遗迹的有机保存较差。一项利用来自特拉华州河流域一个地点的文物进行的试点研究表明，淀粉颗粒可以从考古沉积物中常见的石器中回收。来自重要的特拉华州山谷遗址的文物，位于不同的环境设置和跨越2000多年的占领是目前项目的重点。在这一地区，有限的证据表明，土著人民对植物资源的依赖增加发生在公元前1200年，可能为最终采用热带驯化玉米，豆类和南瓜以及公元900年至1300年之间的农业生活方式奠定了基础。了解用于生存的植物的全部范围，以及它们被利用的时间和时间对于理解数千年来美洲原住民生活的变化性质具有重要意义。哪些植物被开发利用，我们没有宏观植物学证据？ 什么时候热带驯化引入该地区和什么样的地理模式，这种引进遵循？ 在该地区出现玉米（Zea mays）之前，是否有未知的栽培物和/或驯化物在使用？ 为什么栽培和/或驯化在该地区的某些地区采用，而不是在其他地区？向粮食生产的过渡受到了全国和全世界一系列跨学科研究人员的广泛关注，从而产生了一系列不同的解释，以解释人类生存实践的这一重大变化。在特拉华州河流域、大西洋中部和周边地区，向粮食生产的过渡仍然是个谜。该项目的重要性源于它能够更清晰地展示哪些植物和驯化植物被利用以及何时被利用，以及这些见解在多大程度上证实或改变现有模型和解释。该研究的更广泛影响是作为一个区域研究的模型，重点关注人类与植物的关系，采用传统数据和分析形式与淀粉粒分析相结合。本研究的结果，再加上一个淀粉粒参考集合的建设，将使研究人员从整个美国东部林地，调查不仅是分散和采用驯化植物物种到大西洋斜坡，但也回答了许多问题，人与植物的相互作用在许多不同的水平。