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个史前狩猎采集者考古遗址的考古调查和挖掘过程中收集的数据。这些遗址位于阿根廷南部沿海地区，年龄范围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，他们证明了沿海狩猎采集者主要依靠海洋动物（如鳍足类动物、鸬鹚、企鹅、软体动物和鱼类）为生，这与之前假设阿根廷南部所有狩猎采集者主要依靠陆地动物（如瓜纳科动物和鸵鸟）的研究相反。这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，覆盖了包含石器、软体动物壳、骨碎片和木炭分层的贝壳沉积物的范围。这5个中全新世遗址由一系列侵蚀沙丘组成，沙丘上有分层的石器、软体动物壳、骨碎片和木炭。加西亚-赫布斯特的挖掘重点是恢复数据，这些数据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。关注技术创新的研究很重要，因为很少有研究涉及人类采用新技术的具体原因，而且目前还没有考古学研究调查南美洲史前石器技术创新。广义的人类学过程，如新地区的殖民化；被环境边界包围的，如山、海洋、河流，或被社会边界包围的，如邻近的人群（边界）；用同样数量的资源生产更多的生活必需品（生活必需品集约化）；如果不记录技术决策是如何受到这些过程的影响，就无法理解社会不平等的出现。该项目使用一系列分析方法来监测技术创新，研究了来自17个考古遗址的片状石器组合。利用多种证据，该项目已经在考古记录中确定了这些艰难时期，并将确定这些时期是否导致了剥落石技术创新的实例。这个项目将帮助人类学家更好地理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之外，由于项目的国际范围涉及阿根廷学者和学生以及联合首席研究员之间的合作，该项目将产生更广泛的影响。联合调查主任还将参与重要的公共宣传活动和教育，例如在阿根廷进行研究和分析期间和之后，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。此外，她还将在美国的国家级会议上发表演讲，传播她的研究成果。编制一个项目网站将提高公众对该项目的知名度，同时在评审期刊和专业通讯上发表将把结果传达给科学界。

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.