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

大量使用许多植物的小种子是人类饮食史上的一个重要转折点。这种利用潜在食物资源的变化，通常被称为“广谱革命”，早在12000放射性碳年以前，就发生在世界上许多文化中。许多主食，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8500到8000年前，北美西部干旱的大盆地和科罗拉多高原北部似乎经历了他们自己版本的广谱革命，其中包括集约化的小种子加工和磨石技术。导致这些饮食变化的机制尚不清楚。在Donald Grayson博士的指导下，Lisbeth Louderback将从北溪庇护所（NCS）中生成植物资源利用模式，这是犹他州南部一个分层良好的考古遗址。研究将包括鉴定NCS沉积物中的植物大化石（叶子、树枝、种子）、微化石（花粉、淀粉粒）、壁炉等考古特征、人工制品上发现的化石。研究结果将提供一个细粒度的视角，了解饮食中食物资源（“饮食广度”）的变化，包括10000到6000年前对精加工小种子的使用。具体来说，这个项目将测试是否a)人类饮食广度的变化发生在NCS， b)如果它发生在8000年前，正如预测的那样，c)如果它与当地日益严重的干旱相吻合，减少了人们可获得的食物资源范围。从NCS中挖掘出的丰富的动物和植物材料可以用来描述过去1万年饮食宽度的变化。动物材料将在按时间顺序排列的沉积层中重新检查，从而详细说明动物食物的模式。在同一时间框架内，植物宏观和微观化石的新颖结合将确定小种子使用的开始及其强度。还将审查开发这类资源的技术的普遍情况。这些分析将为盆地高原人民饮食中食物资源的范围提供严格的检查。对植物宏观和微观化石遗迹与动物利用、磨石技术和环境变化的关系进行如此全面的分析，在北美西部从未尝试过。这种对饮食广度的全面描述将为人类在面临挑战的环境条件下进行创新提供一个具体的例子。这个项目将在主要的科学杂志（例如《考古科学杂志》、《美国古代》、《民族生物学杂志》）上广泛传播，并在国家公园管理局档案中提供其数据集。公共演讲将在当地的BLM大阶梯-埃斯卡兰特国家纪念碑游客中心进行。在过去的一年里，劳德巴克女士一直在华盛顿大学（University of Washington）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方面的课程，以提供尽可能广泛的教育影响。

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.