Doctoral Dissertation Research: Testing the Subsistence Model for the Adoption of Ceramic Technology among Coastal Foragers of Southeastern Brazil

博士论文研究：测试巴西东南部沿海采集者采用陶瓷技术的生存模式

• 批准号: 0648770
• 负责人: Lori Wright
• 金额: $ 0.31万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-02-15 至 2009-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0648770&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Testing; Subsistence

Many argue that hunter-gatherer groups adopt pottery for subsistence purposes, such as storage and cooking/food processing. Others argue that early pottery supports a system of social differentiation, whereby it is used as a prestige item in competitive feasting or as serving vessels for elite members of the group. For thousands of years, groups of fisher-hunter-gatherers exploited abundant marine and terrestrial resources along the Atlantic coast of Brazil, and constructed large shellfish mounds, called sambaquis, where people built villages and buried their dead. Pottery first appeared at sambaqui sites 1000 years ago, with no other evident change in technology. This research will test the subsistence model for the adoption of ceramic technology among sambaqui groups, and provide a comprehensive study of coastal forager diet in southeastern Brazil from 5000 to 600 BP. This study examines the assumption that the appearance of pottery in the archaeological record indicates a shift in diet or food processing techniques.The investigators will use human skeletal and dental remains from archaeological sites in the Brazilian states of Santa Catarina and Rio de Janeiro to investigate whether the diet of coastal foragers changed with the adoption of pottery. These populations are ideal for this study because they exploited marine and terrestrial resources along the Atlantic coast over a long and environmentally stable period of time. The researchers will analyze stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios derived from bone collagen and apatite to examine sources of plant and animal consumption before and after the introduction of pottery. This study will be the first to directly explore the possibility that coastal foraging groups began cultivating maize at 1000 BP. The researchers will conduct a study of dental microwear using texture analysis, a method that will create a 3D image of the occlusal aspect of the tooth surface. This method has a low rate of observer error, and is quantifiable and repeatable. Microwear data will be used to evaluate changes in diet between Pre-Ceramic and Ceramic occupations, as well as determine if changes in food processing techniques occurred with the adoption of pottery. This study will address theoretical problems in anthropology regarding the sociopolitical and economic correlates of pottery at prehistoric sites, and explore the social dynamics of technological change among sedentary hunter-gatherers. It will also provide dietary data that will contribute to models of prehistoric adaptation in coastal environments. This project will supply the graduate student with the training and qualifications necessary to pursue future anthropological research as a PhD, and will lay a foundation for future collaborative investigations with archaeologists and anthropologists in Brazil. The results of this dissertation will be presented to the broader academic community at scientific meetings and peer-reviewed journals.

许多人认为，狩猎采集者群体采用陶器是为了维持生计，比如储存和烹饪/食品加工。另一些人则认为，早期陶器支持了一种社会分化体系，即它被用作竞争性宴会上的威望物品，或作为该群体精英成员的服务器皿。几千年来，成群的渔猎采集者利用巴西大西洋沿岸丰富的海洋和陆地资源，建造了大型的贝类丘，称为sambaquis，人们在那里建造村庄并埋葬死者。陶器最早出现在sambaqui遗址是在1000年前，当时没有其他明显的技术变化。本研究将对sambaqui群体采用陶瓷技术的生存模式进行检验，并对5000 - 600年前巴西东南部沿海觅食者的饮食进行全面研究。这项研究检验了一种假设，即考古记录中陶器的出现表明饮食或食品加工技术的转变。研究人员将利用巴西圣卡塔琳娜州和里约热内卢州考古遗址的人类骨骼和牙齿遗骸，调查沿海采集者的饮食是否随着陶器的使用而改变。这些种群是这项研究的理想选择，因为它们在长期和环境稳定的时期内利用大西洋沿岸的海洋和陆地资源。研究人员将分析从骨胶原和磷灰石中提取的稳定碳和氮同位素比率，以研究引入陶器前后植物和动物的消耗来源。这项研究将首次直接探索沿海觅食群体在1000 BP开始种植玉米的可能性。研究人员将使用纹理分析对牙齿微磨损进行研究，这种方法将创建牙齿表面咬合方面的3D图像。该方法具有低观测器误差率、可量化和可重复的特点。微磨损数据将用于评估前陶瓷和陶瓷职业之间饮食的变化，以及确定食品加工技术是否随着陶器的采用而发生变化。本研究将解决人类学中有关史前遗址陶器的社会政治和经济相关性的理论问题，并探索定居狩猎采集者技术变革的社会动态。它还将提供饮食数据，有助于建立史前沿海环境适应模型。该项目将为研究生提供攻读未来人类学博士学位所需的培训和资格，并为未来与巴西考古学家和人类学家的合作调查奠定基础。本论文的结果将在科学会议和同行评议的期刊上呈现给更广泛的学术界。