Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Holocene Hunter-gatherer Plant Use and Foraging Choice, a Test from Minas Gerais, Brazil

Myrtle Shock的博士研究重点是分析巴西稀树草原两个考古遗址的植物遗骸。 在狩猎采集者的古代居住地，植物遗骸通常保存得很差。 但是，本研究中考虑的考古遗址对植物遗骸有极好的保存，因为它们位于巴西米纳斯吉拉斯北方的石灰石岩石庇护所中。 由于这些遗址有多个离散的沉积层，人类居住的历史可以追溯到公元前11,500年，因此收集的数据将为研究公元前11,500年至公元前2500年的狩猎采集者饮食和饮食变化提供一个窗口，当时农业被引入该地区。由加州大学圣巴巴拉分校的迈克尔·约希姆博士监督，休克女士正在与巴西学者合作。 为她的研究提供数据的两个考古遗址由Andre Prous博士和Renato Kipnis博士挖掘。 这些学者对北方米纳斯吉拉斯遗址的发掘和分析提供了放射性碳年代学和对这些狩猎采集职业的基本了解。 这个研究项目建立在他们的调查基础上，考虑了一个以前没有考虑过的遗址分析方面，即植物遗骸分析。 对植物遗骸的分析对于理解生存是不可或缺的，无论是人们吃什么还是它的起源。 目前对巴西中部狩猎采集行为的一种解释是，随着时间的推移，流动性，群体漫游的区域，减少了。 以前记录的定居点模式和使用石器的变化证明了流动性的减少。 在其他狩猎采集群体中，流动性下降导致饮食变化。 对北方米纳斯吉拉斯研究中心的动物遗骸进行的分析未显示预期的饮食变化伴随活动性降低。该项目对植物遗骸的分析将有助于了解生存，将植物和动物的使用纳入狩猎采集者饮食的全貌，通过挖掘地层学中所代表的9000年。 随着时间的推移，植物使用的变化可能有助于解释狩猎采集群体如何适应流动性下降，包括人力资源使用和觅食选择的变化。 此外，了解饮食变化的时间和机制是全面解释文化变化的一个步骤。该项目的植物遗骸分析将在巴西进行，Shock女士将有机会与巴西植物学家进行磋商，与其他考古学家一起工作，并培训巴西学生的考古植物学专业。 植物分析是巴西考古学中一个新兴的研究课题。 与巴西国家植物标本馆的初步磋商使策展人对植物种子收藏对考古学的重要性感兴趣。 该项目将培训北方米纳斯吉拉斯的个人为植物学参考收藏收集标本，提高他们对当地本土植物潜在价值的认识。这些参考藏品将捐赠给圣保罗大学的民族志和考古博物馆，用于未来的考古植物学研究。

The doctoral research of Myrtle Shock focuses on the analysis of plant remains from two excavated archaeological sites in the Brazilian savanna. Plant remains are usually poorly preserved at ancient habitations of hunter-gatherer populations. However, the archaeological sites considered in this study have excellent preservation of plant remains because they are in limestone rock shelters in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil. Since the sites have multiple, discrete depositional layers of human habitation dating back to 11,500 BP, the data collected will provide a window into hunter-gatherer diet and diet changes from 11,500 to 2500 BP, when agriculture was introduced to the area.Supervised by Dr. Michael Jochim of the University of California, Santa Barbara, Ms Shock is working in collaboration with Brazilian scholars. The two archaeological sites furnishing data for her research have been excavated by Dr. Ándre Prous and Dr. Renato Kipnis. These scholars' excavations and analysis of sites in northern Minas Gerais provide the radiocarbon chronology and a basic understanding of these hunter-gatherer occupations. This research project builds upon their investigations by considering an aspect of site analysis which has not previously been considered, the analysis of botanical remains. The analysis of the remains of plants is integral to understanding subsistence, both what people ate and its origin. One of the current interpretations of hunter-gatherer behavior in central Brazil is that over time mobility, the area over which groups roamed, decreased. Decreased mobility is evidenced from previously documented changes in settlement patterns and the use of stone tools. Among other hunter-gatherer groups decreased mobility resulted in dietary changes. The analysis of animal remains from the sites in northern Minas Gerais did not show the expected dietary changes accompanying decreased mobility. The analysis of plant remains by this project will contribute to understanding about subsistence, incorporating both plant and animal use into a full picture of the diet of hunter-gatherers through the 9000 years represented in the excavation stratigraphy. Changes in plant use over time may help explain how the hunter-gatherer groups adapted to decreased mobility, including changes in human resource use and foraging choices. Furthermore, understanding the timing and mechanisms of dietary change is a step toward the overall interpretation of cultural change. Analysis of plant remains for this project will be conducted in Brazil where Ms Shock will have the opportunity to consult with Brazilian botanists, work alongside other archaeologists, and train Brazilian students in the archaeobotanical specialty. Plant analysis is an emerging research topic in Brazilian archaeology. Preliminary consultation with the Brazilian national herbarium has interested the curators in how important plant seed collections could be to archaeology. This project will train individuals in northern Minas Gerais to collect specimens for a botanic reference collection, increasing their awareness of the potential value of local native plants. The reference collection will be donated to the Museum of Ethnography and Archaeology at the University of São Paulo for future archaeobotanical studies.