Collaborative Research: Bioarchaeological Signatures of Sedentism in the California Delta

在美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）的支持下，并得到了已确定的美洲原住民最有可能后裔（MLD）的全力支持。Jelmer Eerkens和Eric Bartelink将对最近从Marsh Creek遗址（CA-CCO-548）出土的近250具史前人类骨骼进行稳定同位素分析。该遗址位于加利福尼亚中部的三角洲地区，这些墓葬可以追溯到大约4500-3000年前，这段时间通常被称为“风车”或“早期”。早期通常被认为是三角洲社会开始定居并建立永久性村庄的时期，这一过程被称为定居主义。目前尚不清楚这种转变是突然发生的，还是经过数百年甚至数千年的发展。这项研究的主要目标是研究稳定同位素数据所反映的居住习惯对人口的影响。此外，AMS对大多数墓葬进行放射性碳测年，将在精细尺度上收集数据，以揭示转变发生的速度。这项研究有三个主要组成部分，为埋在马什溪的个体提供生活史数据。第一项研究旨在了解定居对饮食的影响，这反映在稳定的碳和氮同位素上。随着社会安定下来，考古学家预测植物和小鱼的消费量会增加（r选择的物种）。第二项研究考察了定居对迁移和婚后居住模式的影响，这反映在锶同位素上。考古学家预测，如果人们越来越依赖植物和小鱼，就会越来越依赖和重视女性的劳动，进而扩大到母系社会（即男性在结婚后搬到女性所在的村庄生活和养家糊口）。第三项研究通过对牙齿的氮同位素分析，探讨了久坐生活对断奶的影响。如果女性工作更努力，断奶年龄就会提前，这应该会减少生育间隔，最终导致人口增长。这项研究的广泛影响将为加利福尼亚的史前史提供新的信息，这将为长期存在的考古问题提供线索，比如狩猎采集文化中定居主义的起源和相关性。利用新开发的分析技术，它将展示考古和生物考古研究在重建过去的价值。这将是首次对加利福尼亚人类墓葬进行同位素迁移研究。同样，这也是第一次对该地区古代断奶模式进行研究。人类学教师、研究生和本科生都将为该项目做出贡献，该项目将为培养下一代新的分析方法提供途径。最后，该遗址位于加州州立公园拥有的约翰·马什地产内。包括考古和人种学展示在内的游客中心将在不久的将来建成。在MLD的支持下，项目成果和游客中心将为考古学家、加州原住民和公众提供一个互动、对话、了解和重现加州过去的场所。

With support from the National Science Foundation, and full support from the identified Native American Most Likely Descendant (MLD), Drs. Jelmer Eerkens and Eric Bartelink will conduct stable isotope analysis on nearly 250 prehistoric human skeletons recently excavated from the Marsh Creek site (CA-CCO-548). The site is located in the Delta region of central California and the burials date to approximately 4500-3000 years ago, a window of time often referred to as "Windmiller" or the "Early Period." The Early Period is generally recognized as the time when societies in the Delta began to settle down and establish permanent villages, a process known as sedentism. It is unclear if this transition occurred abruptly or developed over hundreds or even thousands of years. The main goal of the research is to examine the effects of sedentism on human populations, as reflected in stable isotope data. Moreover, with AMS radiocarbon dates on the majority of the burials, the data will be collected at a fine-scale level that will reveal how quickly the transition occurred.There are three main components to the research that provide life-history data for individuals buried at Marsh Creek. The first seeks to understand the effects of sedentism on diet, as reflected in stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. As societies settled down, archaeologists predict increasing plant and small fish consumption (r-selected species). The second examines the effects of sedentism on migration and post-marital residence patterns, as reflected in strontium isotopes. If people increasingly relied on plants and small fishes, archaeologists predict an increased reliance on, and value in, womens labor, and by extension, matrilocality (where men, after marriage, move to the women's village to live and raise families). The third explores the effects of sedentism on weaning as determined by nitrogen isotope analysis of teeth. If women were working harder, the prediction is earlier ages at weaning, which should concomitantly decrease inter-birth intervals and ultimately lead to population increase.The broader impacts of the study will contribute novel information to California prehistory that will shed light on longstanding archaeological issues such as the origins and correlates of sedentism among hunter-gatherer cultures. Using newly developed analytical techniques, it will demonstrate the value of archaeometric and bioarchaeological research in reconstructing the past. This will be the first isotopic migration study on human burials from California. Likewise, this is the first study to examine ancient weaning patterns in this region. Anthropology faculty and graduate and undergraduate students will all contribute to the project, which will provide an avenue for training the next generation in new analytical methods. Finally, the site is within the John Marsh property owned by California State Parks. A visitor's center including archaeological and ethnographic displays will be constructed in the near future. With the support of the MLD, the project results and visitor's center will provide a venue for archaeologists, Native Californians, and the general public to interact, dialogue, learn about and bring alive California's past.