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

在泰德·格贝尔医生和希瑟·史密斯的指导下？他的博士论文研究将调查阿拉斯加凹槽抛射点的技术、形态和环境，重点研究蛇形温泉（BEN-192）的新组合，这是白令陆桥的一个独特遗址，在一个掩埋的、明确可追溯的环境中发现了一个凹槽点组合。凹槽点在美洲很普遍，但在阿拉斯加北部和西北部的白令陆桥地区，问题和不确定的背景阻碍了对其意义的解释，特别是在人类遍布美洲的背景下，我们仍然对它们在冰川晚期北极和亚北极生态系统中的适应环境一无所知。到目前为止，他们对阿拉斯加史前早期的归属主要是基于类型学。拟议的研究试图通过解决以下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？2005年和2009-2011年在蛇形温泉进行的挖掘，从地层封闭的环境中恢复了凹槽点，并与被解释为壁炉和木炭的特征相关联，从这些特征中，一致地得出了距今（14C BP）平均10,200-10,000放射性碳年的日期。在这一发现之前，对白令陆桥考古学和第一批美洲人研究中凹槽点的背景和意义的清晰理解是不可能的。本项目的主要研究目标是：1)描述从蛇形温泉和阿拉斯加其他地点回收的带槽抛射点的技术和形态；2)描述在蛇形温泉和阿拉斯加其他带槽抛射点进行的技术活动；3)解释？北方槽点复合体？，特别是关于定居和流动，以及4)调查阿拉斯加凹槽点的起源。提出的研究将结合非度量变量和度量变量的标准岩屑分析与几何形态计量分析，以获得槽点技术和形状的有意义的统计表达。在这一部分的分析中，史密斯将从阿拉斯加的19个考古遗址中提取材料，以建立凹槽点之间的技术和形态关系。在分析的下一部分中，史密斯将讨论阿拉斯加凹槽点制造者实施的技术组织，从而促进对北古印第安人在工具石获取、运输和流动方面的行为的评估。技术组织的调查将基于对蛇形温泉、普图和八个Batza tsamna地区获得的完整岩石块组合（包括碎屑）的分析，这些地方可能？从干净?已经发现了集合。为了调查阿拉斯加凹槽点技术的起源，并将阿拉斯加凹槽点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各地收集的凹槽点进行比较分析。形态学中的凹槽点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，并允许在整个分析过程中保留人工制品的整个几何形状，从而增加统计表达的能力。拟议中的分析需要前往阿拉斯加费尔班克斯和安克雷奇的博物馆；华盛顿特区;拉勒米,王寅;艾伯塔省埃德蒙顿和卡尔加里；不列颠哥伦比亚省维多利亚；渥太华，多伦多，伦敦，安大略，研究这些机构的文物收藏。拟议研究的资金将使博士候选人H. Smith能够进行必要的分析，将蛇形温泉组合和阿拉斯加凹槽点复合体置于更新世-全新世过渡期间人类适应的更大背景下。提出的研究目标将会促进我们对北极史前狩猎采集者风险管理的理解，以及北古印第安人如何在更新世末期经历剧烈气候变化的生态系统所带来的适应性挑战。

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.