Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene Archaeology at North Creek Shelter, Escalante Valley, Southern Utah

犹他州南部北溪避难所的考古研究发现了北美西部科罗拉多高原上人类存在的最早已知证据。美国国家科学基金会正在提供支持，将来自四所机构-杨百翰大学、犹他大学、华盛顿大学和拉斯维加斯内华达大学-的研究人员聚集在一起，调查1万多年前在这里找到避难所的猎人和采集者留下的遗骸。沉积学、古环境、植物学和动物骨骼鉴定方面的专家正在结合人才，尽可能多地从这个地点学习。北溪避难所独特的地质位置导致了粉砂的快速沉积，这些粉砂被封在包含古代文物的多个占领层中。这些罕见的情况使考古学家能够梳理出从更新世末期到更近的过去人类策略的变化。Joel C.Janetski博士(杨百翰大学)将在2008年继续指导该项目。这项工作始于2004年，当时他是一所面向考古学学生的野外学校的一部分，他每年都会在杨百翰大学和拉斯维加斯内华达大学的研究生和本科生的有力帮助下，继续这项研究。NSF的支持将使2008年成为迄今为止时间最长的野外赛季，并将使实现项目目标成为可能。这项研究的学术价值来自与以下几个研究主题有关的遗址数据：1)人类到达干旱西部的时间；2)古生代(9000年前)和早期古生代(8000至9000年前)生活方式的对比；3)重建这些早期时期的气候/环境。重要的是，考古将帮助我们了解人们是如何面对气候变化的挑战的。如上所述，该遗址是科罗拉多高原上最古老的遗址，但存在发现更早级别的可能性。这些最低水平与科罗拉多高原上的人类生活方式没有可比性，但收集的数据将用于测试附近大盆地的现有古生代和早期古生代战略模型。对犹他州东南部的鼠巢的研究表明，像道格拉斯冷杉和黄杨这样的树木生长在海拔比今天低1000英尺以上的地方，这表明10000年前的气候更凉爽、更潮湿。北溪避难所项目将通过鉴定烹饪火灾留下的木炭以及动植物遗骸来检验这些发现。此外，从多个水平对鹿和/或山羊牙釉质进行氧同位素分析，将有助于通过比较温度随时间的波动来了解古代气候。除了打开了解该地区深厚人类历史的窗口外，北溪避难所研究还提供了更广泛的影响，因为该项目已经并将继续提供独特的教学机会。所有现场工作人员都是考古学本科生或研究生。他们的培训将通过与几个学科的专家合作来丰富，更不用说了解如何接近深度分层的考古遗址了。该项目将至少撰写三篇硕士论文，学生将撰写报告该研究各方面的期刊文章。

Archaeological research at North Creek Shelter in southern Utah has uncovered the earliest known evidences of human presence on the Colorado Plateau in western North America. The National Science Foundation is providing support to bring together researchers from four institutions - Brigham Young University, University of Utah, University of Washington, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas - to investigate remains left by hunters and gatherers who found shelter here over 10,000 years ago. Specialists in sedimentology, ancient environments, botany, and animal bone identification are combining talents to learn as much as possible from this site. North Creek Shelter's unique geological position has resulted in rapid deposition of silty sands that have sealed in multiple occupation levels containing ancient artifacts. These rare circumstances are enabling archaeologists to tease out changes in human strategies from the close of the Pleistocene into the more recent past. Dr. Joel C. Janetski (Brigham Young University) will continue to direct the project in 2008. The work began in 2004 as part of a field school for archaeology students, and he has returned each year to continue the research with able assistance from graduate and undergraduate students from BYU and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The NSF support will make 2008 the longest field season to date and will make meeting the project objectives possible. The intellectual merit of the research derives from site data that bear on several research topics: 1) the timing of human arrival in the arid west, 2) contrast between Paleoarchaic (prior to 9000 years ago) and Early Archaic (between 8000 and 9000 years ago) lifeways, 3) and reconstructing climatic/environments for these early periods. Importantly the archaeology will help us understand how people confronted the challenges of changing climates. As noted, the site is the oldest on the Colorado Plateau, but a possibility exists that earlier levels will be found. These lowest levels have no parallels for human lifeway on the Colorado Plateau, but the data gathered will be used to test existing models of Paleoarchaic and Early Archaic strategies for the nearby Great Basin. Studies of pack rat nests in southeast Utah suggest trees such as Douglas fir and quaking aspen grew in places well over a thousand feet lower in elevation than today suggesting a cooler and wetter climate 10,000 years ago. The North Creek Shelter project will test those findings by the identification of charcoal left from cooking fires as well as plant and animal remains. In addition, oxygen isotope analysis of deer and/or mountain sheep tooth enamel from multiple levels will contribute to understanding ancient climates by comparing temperature fluctuations through time. In addition to opening a window into the deep human history of this region, North Creek Shelter research provides broader impacts as the project has already provided and will continue to provide unique teaching opportunities. All field crew members are undergraduate or graduate students in archaeology. Their training will be enriched by working with specialists from several disciplines, not to mention seeing how to approach deeply stratified archaeological sites. A minimum of three masters theses will be written on the project, and students will contribute to journal articles reporting aspects of the research.