Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Explaining Ancient Technological Innovation in Southern Argentina

在首席研究员Michael Jochim博士和项目主任Jose Luis Lanata的监督下，联合首席研究员Arleen Garcia-Herbst将收集和分析在17个史前狩猎采集考古遗址的考古调查和挖掘期间收集的数据。这些遗址位于阿根廷南部沿海，年代从全新世中期到晚期（公元前3124年至公元1474年）。 值得注意的是，它们表明沿海狩猎采集者主要依赖海洋动物（如鳍足类、鸬鹚、企鹅、软体动物和鱼类）为生，这与以前的研究相反，以前的研究认为阿根廷南部的所有狩猎采集者主要依赖陆地动物（如瓜纳科和鸵鸟）。12个晚全新世遗址由一组深绿色、高大的灌木植被斑块组成，覆盖了含石器、软体动物壳、骨碎片和木炭分层沉积物的范围。5个中全新世遗址由一系列侵蚀沙丘组成，其中含有石器、软体动物壳、骨碎片和木炭的分层。Garcia-Herbst的挖掘工作侧重于数据的恢复，这将有助于确定在困难时期，狩猎采集者是否克服了技术创新带来的一定程度的风险和不确定性。专注于技术创新的研究很重要，因为很少有研究涉及人类为什么采用新技术的细节，目前，没有考古研究调查南美洲的史前石器技术创新。广义的人类学过程，如新地区的殖民化;被环境边界（如山脉、海洋和河流）或社会边界（如相邻的人群）所包围（界限）;用同样数量的资源生产更多的生活用品（生计强化）;以及社会不平等的出现，如果不记录技术决策如何受到这些过程的影响，就无法理解。该项目使用一系列分析方法来监测技术创新，检查来自17个考古遗址的片状石器组合。该项目使用多条证据线，确定了考古记录中的这些艰难时期，并将确定这些时期是否导致了剥落的石头技术创新。该项目将帮助人类学家更好地了解史前社会进程在技术创新中的作用，除了社会科学家感兴趣的研究问题外，由于该项目涉及阿根廷学者和学生以及共同首席研究员之间的合作，因此该项目将产生更广泛的影响。共同主要研究者还将参与重要的公共外联活动和教育，例如在阿根廷和智利举行的区域和国家一级人类学会议上介绍她的研究成果，在阿根廷进行研究和分析期间和之后。此外，她将通过在美国举行的国家级会议上发表演讲来传播她的成果。项目网站的筹备工作将提高项目的公众知名度，而在权威期刊和专业通讯上发表的成果将向科学界通报。

Under the supervision of Principal Investigator Dr. Michael Jochim and Project Director Jose Luis Lanata, co-Principal Investigator Arleen Garcia-Herbst will collect and analyze data gathered during archaeological survey and excavations at 17 prehistoric hunter-gatherer archaeological sites. These sites are located in coastal Southern Argentina and range in age from the Mid to Late Holocene (BC 3124 to AD 1474). They are notable for demonstrating that coastal hunter-gatherers relied primarily on marine fauna for their subsistence (such as Pinnipeds, Cormorants, Penguins, Mollusks and Fish), counter to previous research that assumed that all hunter-gatherers in southern Argentina relied primarily on terrestrial fauna (such as Guanaco and Ostrich). The 12 Late-Holocene sites consist of a grouping of dark green, tall shrub vegetation patches covering the extent of the shell bearing deposits containing stratified layers of stone tools, mollusk shells, bone fragments and charcoal. The 5 Mid-Holocene sites consist of a series of eroding dunes containing stratified layers of stone tools, mollusk shells, bone fragments and charcoal. Garcia-Herbst's excavations focus on the recovery of data that will help determine if, during times of hardship, hunter-gatherers overcome a degree of risk and uncertainty that is generated through technological innovation. Research focusing on technological innovation is important because few studies deal with the specifics of why humans adopt new technology, and at present, no archaeological study investigates prehistoric stone tool technological innovation in South America. Generalized anthropological processes, such as the colonization of a new area; being enclosed by either environmental boundaries, such as mountains, oceans, and rivers, or social boundaries, such as neighboring groups of people (circumscription); production of more subsistence goods with the same amount of resources (subsistence intensification); and the emergence of social inequality, cannot be understood without documenting how technological decisions are affected by such processes. This project examines the flaked stone tool assemblages from 17 archaeological sites using a series of analytical methods to monitor technological innovation. Using multiple lines of evidence, this project has identified these times of hardship in the archaeological record and it will determine if these cause instances of flaked stone technological innovation. This project will help anthropologists to better understand the role of prehistoric social processes in technological innovations.Beyond research questions of interest to social scientists, this project will have a broader impact because of the project's international scope involving collaboration between Argentine scholars and students and the co-Principal Investigator. The co-PI will also engage in significant public outreach activities and education, such as presenting her research results at regional and national level anthropological conferences in Argentina and Chile, during and after the time she conducts her research and analyses in Argentina. Moreover, she will disseminate her results by giving national level conference presentations in the United States. The preparation of a project website will enhance public visibility of the project, while publication in both refereed journals and professional newsletters will communicate the results to the scientific community.