Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Paleoindian Technology in Beringia--A Technological and Morphological Analysis of the Northern Fluted-Point Complex

在Ted Goebel博士的指导下，Heather Smith？S博士论文研究将调查阿拉斯加凹槽抛射点的技术、形态和背景，重点是来自蛇形温泉(BEN-192)的新组合，这是贝林吉亚州的一个独特地点，发现在埋藏的和明显可测年的背景下包含凹槽点组合。凹槽点在美洲很普遍，但在阿拉斯加北部和西北部的伯林吉亚地区，有问题的和无法确定的背景使人们无法解释它们的含义，特别是在整个美洲人类分散的背景下，我们仍然对它们在冰川晚期北极和亚北极洲生态系统中的适应背景几乎一无所知。到目前为止，它们归因于阿拉斯加史前早期，主要是基于类型学。这项拟议的研究试图通过解决这个问题来解决这个问题：阿拉斯加凹槽点的文化历史和适应性背景是什么？在2005年和2009-2011年在蛇形温泉的挖掘中，从地层封闭的背景中恢复了凹陷点，并将这些特征解释为炉灶和木炭，这些特征一致地产生了距今10,200-10,000放射性碳年的平均日期(14C BP)。在这一发现之前，人们一直不可能清楚地了解凹槽点在柏林考古学和第一美国人研究中的背景和意义。该项目的主要研究目标是：1)表征从蛇形温泉和其他阿拉斯加遗址中回收的凹槽抛射点的技术和形态；2)表征在蛇形温泉和阿拉斯加其他凹槽点遗址进行的技术活动；3)解释北部凹槽点复合体的技术组织，特别是在定居和流动性方面；以及4)调查阿拉斯加凹槽点的起源。拟议的研究将结合非公制变量和公制变量的标准岩屑分析与几何形态计量分析，以获得有意义的凹槽尖端技术和形状的统计表达式。在这部分分析中，史密斯将利用阿拉斯加19个考古遗址的材料来建立凹槽点之间的技术和形态关系。在分析的下一个部分中，史密斯将介绍阿拉斯加凹槽制作者实施的技术组织，从而促进从工具石的获取、运输和移动性方面评估古印度北部的行为。对技术组织的调查将基于从蛇形温泉、普图和八个巴扎特纳地区获得的完整岩屑组合(包括碎屑)的分析，这些地区在类型上可能是干净的？已经发现了它们的组合。为了调查阿拉斯加凹槽尖端技术的起源，并将阿拉斯加凹槽尖端置于古印第安人占领美洲大陆的背景下，将从技术和形态方面对加拿大和美国大陆的凹槽尖端收藏进行比较分析。形态中凹纹点的可变性和相关性将通过一种新的形状分析形式进行分析，该形式利用几何形态计量学，并允许在分析过程中保留人工产物的整个几何形状，从而增加统计表达的能力。拟议的分析将需要前往阿拉斯加的费尔班克斯和安克雷奇；华盛顿特区；怀俄明州的拉勒米；艾伯塔省的埃德蒙顿和卡尔加里；不列颠哥伦比亚省的维多利亚；以及渥太华、多伦多和安大略省的伦敦的博物馆，研究这些机构收藏的文物。建立拟议的研究将使博士生H·史密斯能够进行必要的分析，将蛇形温泉组合和阿拉斯加凹槽点建筑群置于更新世-全新世过渡期间人类适应的更大背景下。拟议的研究目标将产生概括，促进我们对北极史前狩猎采集风险管理的理解，以及北古印度人如何应对在更新世末期经历剧烈气候变化的生态系统带来的适应性挑战。

Under the supervision of Dr. Ted Goebel, Heather Smith?s doctoral dissertation research will investigate the technology, morphology, and context of Alaskan fluted projectile points, focusing on the new assemblage from Serpentine Hot Springs (BEN-192), a unique site in Beringia found to contain a fluted-point assemblage in a buried and clearly datable context. Fluted points are widespread in the Americas, but in the Beringian area of north and northwest Alaska problematic and un-datable contexts have prevented interpretations of their meaning, especially in the context of human dispersal across the Americas, and we still know virtually nothing about their adaptive context in late-glacial Arctic and Subarctic ecosystems. Thus far, their attribution to the early period of Alaskan prehistory has been based predominantly on typology alone. The proposed research attempts to resolve this problem by addressing the question: What are the culture-historical and adaptive contexts of Alaskan fluted points? Excavations at Serpentine Hot Springs in 2005 and 2009-2011 have recovered fluted points from a stratigraphically sealed context in association with features interpreted as fire-hearths and charcoal from these features consistently produced dates averaging 10,200-10,000 radiocarbon years before present (14C BP). Prior to this discovery, a clear understanding of the context and significance of fluted points in Beringian archaeology and first Americans research has been impossible. The primary research goals of this project are to 1) characterize the technology and morphology of fluted projectile points recovered from Serpentine Hot Springs and other Alaskan sites, 2) characterize technological activities carried out at Serpentine Hot Springs and other fluted point sites in Alaska, 3) interpret the technological organization of the ?northern fluted-point complex?, especially in regards to settlement and mobility, and 4) investigate the origins of Alaskan fluted points. The proposed research will combine standard lithic analyses of non-metric and metric variables with geometric morphometric analyses to obtain a meaningful statistical expression of fluted-point technology and shape. In this part of the analysis, Smith will draw on materials from 19 archaeological sites in Alaska to establish technological and morphological relationships between the fluted points. In the next component of the analysis, Smith will address the technological organization implemented by Alaskan fluted-point makers, thereby facilitating evaluation of northern Paleoindian behavior in terms of tool-stone acquisition, transport, and mobility. Investigation of technological organization will be based on analyses of complete lithic assemblages (including debitage) obtained from Serpentine Hot Springs, Putu, and eight Batza Téna localities where potentially ?typologically clean? assemblages have been found. To investigate the origins of fluted-point technology in Alaska and place Alaskan fluted points in the context of the Paleoindian occupation of the American continents, fluted-point collections from localities in Canada and the continental United States will be comparatively analyzed in regards to technology and morphology. Fluted-point variability and correlations in morphology will be analyzed by a new form of shape-analysis which utilizes geometric morphometrics and allows the entire geometry of the artifacts to be preserved throughout analysis, serving to increase the power of statistical expression. The proposed analyses will require travel to museums in Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska; Washington DC; Laramie, WY; Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta; Victoria, British Columbia; and Ottawa, Toronto, and London, Ontario to study artifact collections curated at these institutions.Funding of the proposed research will enable Ph.D. candidate H. Smith to conduct analyses necessary to place the Serpentine Hot Springs assemblage and the Alaskan fluted-point complex into the greater context of human adaptation during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. Proposed research objectives will result in generalizations that will advance our understanding of prehistoric hunter-gatherer risk management in the Arctic, and how Northern Paleoindians met the adaptive challenges imposed by an ecosystem experiencing dramatic climate change at the end of the Pleistocene.