Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Paleoecology of Diet Breadth in the Basin-Plateau Region, USA

博士论文改进资助：美国盆地高原地区饮食广度的古生态学

• 批准号: 1262835
• 负责人: Donald Grayson
• 金额: $ 1.38万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-12-15 至 2013-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1262835&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Paleoecology

The intense use of small seeds from many plant species was a crucial turning point in human dietary history. Often termed the "broad spectrum revolution", this change in the use of potential food resources occurred in many of the world's cultures beginning as early as 12,000 radiocarbon years ago. Many dietary staples, from bread to breakfast cereals, are produced from heavily processed small seeds. Between 8,500 and 8,000 years ago, the Great Basin and northern Colorado Plateau of arid western North America seemed to go through their own version of a broad spectrum revolution, one that saw the incorporation of intensive small seed processing and grinding stone technology. The mechanisms responsible for these dietary changes are not well understood. Under the guidance of Dr. Donald Grayson, Lisbeth Louderback will generate patterns of plant resource use from North Creek Shelter (NCS), a well-stratified archaeological site in southern Utah. The research will include the identification of plant macrofossils (leaves, twigs, and seeds), and microfossils (pollen and starch grains) from NCS sediments, archaeological features such as hearths, and found on artifacts themselves. The results will provide a fine-grained view of changes in the array of food resources ("diet breadth") incorporated into the diet, including the use of intensively-processed small seeds from 10,000 to 6,000 years ago. Specifically, this project will test whether a) a change in human diet breadth occurs at NCS, b) if it occurred at 8,000 years ago, as predicted and c) if it coincides with increasing local aridity that decreased the range of food resources available to people.The rich assemblage of animal and plant material excavated from NCS can be used to characterize changes in diet breadth during the past 10,000 years. The animal material will be re-examined within time-sequenced sediment layers thus detailing patterns of animal foods. The novel incorporation of plant macro- and microfossils within this same temporal frame will identify the inception of small seed use as well as its intensity. The prevalence of technology for exploiting such resources will also be examined. These analyses will offer a rigorous examination of the range of food resources in the diets of the Basin-Plateau people. Such a comprehensive analysis of plant macro- and microfossil remains in relation to animal use, grinding stone technology and environmental change has never been attempted in western North America. This full description of diet breadth will provide a concrete example of human innovation in the face of challenging environmental conditions. This project will be widely disseminated in major scientific journals (e.g. Journal of Archaeological Science, American Antiquity, Journal of Ethnobiology) and its datasets made available in National Park Service archives. Public presentations will be made locally at the BLM Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument Visitor Center. For the past year, Ms. Louderback has been training and supervising undergraduate students in paleobotanical methods at the University of Washington and has incorporated the results of her previous research in the large introductory courses in archaeology that she has taught. She plans to continue teaching and to expand her tutorial offerings in archaeology and paleoenvironmental analysis to deliver the broadest possible educational impacts.

大量使用来自许多植物物种的小种子是人类饮食史上的一个关键转折点。 通常被称为“广谱革命”，这种利用潜在食物资源的变化发生在世界上许多文化中，早在12，000年前就开始了。 许多斯台普斯，从面包到早餐谷物，都是由经过大量加工的小种子制成的。 在8,500年到8,000年前，北美西部干旱地区的大盆地和北方科罗拉多高原似乎经历了一场广谱革命，其中包括密集的小型种子加工和磨石技术。这些饮食变化的机制还不清楚。在唐纳德·格雷森博士的指导下，丽莎贝丝·劳德巴克将从北溪庇护所（NCS）中产生植物资源利用的模式，这是犹他州南部一个分层良好的考古遗址。该研究将包括从NCS沉积物中鉴定植物宏化石（叶子，树枝和种子）和微体化石（花粉和淀粉粒），考古特征，如炉床，以及在文物本身上发现。 研究结果将提供一个精细的观点，在一系列的食物资源（“饮食广度”）纳入饮食，包括使用密集加工的小种子从10,000年到6,000年前的变化。具体来说，该项目将测试a）人类饮食广度的变化是否发生在NCS，B）是否发生在8,000年前，正如预测的那样，以及c）是否与当地干旱的增加相吻合，从而减少了人们可获得的食物资源的范围。从NCS挖掘出的丰富的动植物材料组合可以用来描述过去10年中饮食广度的变化，一千年。动物材料将在按时间顺序排列的沉积层内重新检查，从而详细说明动物食物的模式。在同一时间框架内将植物宏化石和微体化石新颖地结合起来，将确定小种子使用的开始及其强度。还将审查利用这些资源的技术的普及情况。这些分析将对盆地高原人饮食中的食物资源范围进行严格审查。在北美西部，从未尝试过对植物宏微观化石遗骸与动物使用、磨石技术和环境变化的关系进行如此全面的分析。对饮食广度的完整描述将为人类在面临挑战性环境条件下的创新提供一个具体的例子。该项目将在主要科学期刊（如《考古学杂志》、《美国古代》、《人种生物学杂志》）上广泛传播，其数据集将在国家公园管理局档案中提供。公众演讲将在当地的BLM大楼梯埃斯卡兰特国家纪念碑游客中心进行。在过去的一年里，Louderback女士一直在华盛顿大学培训和指导本科生学习古植物学方法，并将她以前的研究成果纳入她所教授的大型考古学入门课程中。她计划继续教学，并扩大她在考古学和古环境分析的教程，以提供尽可能广泛的教育影响。