Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Testing Colonization Models in New England

博士论文改进补助金：在新英格兰测试殖民模型

• 批准号: 1342656
• 负责人: Robert Kelly
• 金额: $ 2.8万
• 依托单位: University of Wyoming
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-12-01 至 2015-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1342656&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Testing

Under the supervision of Dr. Robert Kelly, Mr. Nathaniel Kitchel will examine the earliest human occupations of northeastern North America through an examination of the stone used by the first settlers of this region to produce tools. The data produced during this study will provide a better understanding of large scale settlement processes at the end of the Pleistocene both in the Northeast and throughout the Americas. This research will address questions of landscape learning and settlement patterns to explore how the first human groups moved into previously empty regions following the retreat of continental glaciers. Geochemical sourcing using nondestructive X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) technology of the fine grained stone used by prehistoric people to produce their tools will augment previous visual identifications of these raw materials. This technique will be particularly advantageous in the case of stone that is difficult, if not impossible, to identify by visual means alone.Despite more than a century of research the timing and process of the peopling of the Americas remains poorly understood. Many competing models that describe the first settlement of the New World during the Pleistocene exist. Though these models vary in detail, each tends to fall into two categories; rapid and less rapid models. These model types also make specific predictions about how these first peoples interacted with their technology, landscape, and environment. These models also however, derive many of their predictions from observations of the archaeology of "Clovis" or early fluted point archaeology. While users of these large distinctive stone projectile points were once thought to represent the first human occupation in the Americas recent discoveries indicate this may not be the case. This study will avoid questions of when the first humans arrived in the New World through an investigation of landscape learning and settlement practices in the recently deglaciated Northeast thereby controlling for the possibility of an earlier settlement in the region. These data will be used to evaluate colonization models of the Americas providing a greater understanding of how modern human groups moved into the New World, as well as other large uninhabited landscapes such as Australia.The data produced by this project will also have impacts beyond the immediate goals of this study. Through the course of this project a library of chemical "fingerprints" for at least seven stone sources used to manufacture tools in the far northeast throughout prehistory will be created. These data can be used by other researchers to investigate the movements of these resources throughout the prehistory of the region. The raw data will be distributed online making all data produced available for public use. This project will also engage the public through presentations and outreach with the New Hampshire State Conservation Rescue Archaeology Program (SCRAP) as well as public presentations at the University of Wyoming for the Wyoming Archaeological Society. Mr. Kitchel will also present the findings of this study to the public through non-technical publications and talks to the public at the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, Vermont.

在罗伯特·凯利博士的监督下，纳撒尼尔·基切尔先生将通过检查该地区第一批定居者用来生产工具的石头来研究北美东北部最早的人类居住。 这项研究中产生的数据将有助于更好地了解东北部和整个美洲更新世末期的大规模沉降过程。 这项研究将解决景观学习和定居模式的问题，以探索大陆冰川消退后第一批人类群体如何迁移到以前空旷的地区。使用非破坏性 X 射线荧光 (XRF) 技术对史前人类用来生产工具的细粒石头进行地球化学采购，将增强以前对这些原材料的视觉识别。 这项技术对于仅通过视觉手段很难（如果不是不可能的话）识别的石头来说将特别有利。尽管经过一个多世纪的研究，人们对美洲定居的时间和过程仍然知之甚少。 存在许多描述更新世期间新大陆首次定居的相互竞争的模型。 尽管这些模型在细节上有所不同，但每个模型往往分为两类：快速和较慢的模型。 这些模型类型还对这些第一批人如何与其技术、景观和环境互动做出了具体预测。然而，这些模型的许多预测也来自对“克洛维斯”考古学或早期凹槽点考古学的观察。虽然这些巨大而独特的石质射弹点的使用者曾经被认为代表了美洲的第一个人类占领地，但最近的发现表明情况可能并非如此。这项研究将通过对最近消融的东北部的景观学习和定居实践的调查，从而控制该地区早期定居的可能性，从而避免第一批人类何时到达新世界的问题。 这些数据将用于评估美洲的殖民模型，以便更好地了解现代人类群体如何进入新大陆以及澳大利亚等其他大型无人居住地区。该项目产生的数据还将产生超出本研究直接目标的影响。 通过该项目的过程，将创建一个化学“指纹”库，其中包含至少七个史前时期用于在远东北部制造工具的石料来源。 其他研究人员可以使用这些数据来调查这些资源在该地区史前时期的流动情况。 原始数据将在线分发，使产生的所有数据可供公众使用。 该项目还将通过新罕布什尔州保护救援考古计划（SCRAP）的演示和外展以及怀俄明大学考古学会的公开演示来吸引公众。 基切尔先生还将通过非技术出版物以及在佛蒙特州圣约翰斯伯里费尔班克斯博物馆向公众发表演讲的方式向公众介绍这项研究的结果。