Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: A Case Study in Agricultural Practice and Domestication

在“新石器革命”--植物和动物的驯化--期间，人类与其生活的环境之间的关系发生了根本性的变化。这项研究的一个中心目标是深入了解这一过程背后的力量。在盖勒弗里茨博士的指导下，娜塔莉穆勒将进行博士论文研究。梭公元前1000年至公元1400年，一套被称为东部农业综合体（EAC）的本地种子作物在北美东部（ENA）种植。 以前的研究表明，这些作物中有几种是基于形态变化如种子形状，大小，种子或果皮厚度和质地进行驯化的。向日葵（Helianthus annuus var. macrocarpus）和橡实南瓜（Cucurbita pepo ssp.佩波湾ovifera），仍然是人们熟悉的食物，但作物复合体的其他成员已经有几百年没有种植了。 这些损失的作物包括两种驯化植物：Chenopodium berlandieri ssp. jonesianum，是藜麦的本土近亲;和marshelder（Iva annua var.）的一个物种。macrocarpa）。对于一种重要的古老作物，虎杖（Polygonum sp.），迄今为止，复杂和多变的种子形态阻碍了建立驯化标准的努力。本案例研究将开发新的形态测量方法来检查虎杖的形态变化，并确定它是否被驯化。 驯化植物的形态变化是人类选择和生态系统工程的结果。 过去的农业实践可以从它们对植物和动物造成的改变中推断出来。本研究将使用多变量和空间技术来揭示虎杖的形态变化与环境，考古和时间因素之间的相关性。这些相关性将被用来重建被遗忘的农业实践。 恢复ENA农业经济的细节特别有趣，因为该地区的早期农民在发展高生产力农业系统的同时，并没有遵循新石器时代革命的原型轨迹，走向制度化的社会分层和城市化。 该项目使用一种重要作物的案例研究，以获得对这种独特农业经济发展的新见解，同时加深对曾经是ENA重要作物的植物的了解。 在新的种子作物迅速发展的时代，这项研究是评估其对现代社会潜在用处的第一步。这项研究也将为专业考古学家和学生提供一些具体的好处。 该项目将建立一个综合考古学和植物学数据的网络数据库，这些数据来自目前分散在无法访问的报告中的出版物和收藏品。在该项目过程中开发的方法也将用作教学工具。 参与这项研究的机会将被构建成一个新的多学科课程：北美的历史生态学。利用数码摄影和形态测量学研究驯化的新方法将丰富华盛顿大学的古民族植物学实验室，那里的学生和教师都参与研究世界各地的农业起源。 这一方法也将纳入考古学家显微镜课程。 拟议中的研究是一个更大的运动的一部分，以历史化前哥伦布美洲。 这项研究的传播将针对提高公众和学术界对ENA作为一个具有悠久和丰富的前殖民历史的区域的认识，这与理解全球进程有关。

During the "Neolithic Revolution" - the domestication of plants and animals - a fundamental change occurred in the relationship between humans and the environment in which they lived. A central goal of this research is to gain insight into the forces which underlie this process.Under athe direction of Dr. Gayle Fritz, Natalie Mueller will conduct doctoral dissertation research. From c. 1000 BCE - 1400 CE, a suite of native seed crops known as the Eastern Agricultural Complex (EAC) was cultivated in Eastern North America (ENA). Previous studies have demonstrated that several of these crops were domesticated based on morphological changes such as seed shape, size, seed or fruit coat thickness, and texture. Two members of the EAC, sunflower (Helianthus annuus var. macrocarpus) and acorn squash (Cucurbita pepo ssp. pepo var. ovifera), are still familiar foods, but the other members of the crop complex have not been cultivated for several hundred years. These lost crops include two domesticated plants: Chenopodium berlandieri ssp. jonesianum, which is a native relative of quinoa; and a species of marshelder (Iva annua var. macrocarpa). For one important ancient crop, knotweed (Polygonum sp.), complex and variable seed morphology has so far stymied efforts to establish criteria for domestication. This case study will develop new morphometric methods to examine changes in the morphology of knotweed and determine whether or not it was domesticated. Morphological changes in domesticated plants are the result of human selection and ecosystem engineering. Past agricultural practices can be inferred from the modifications they caused in plants and animals. This study will use multivariate and spatial techniques to uncover correlations between morphological changes in knotweed and environmental, archaeological, and temporal factors. These correlations will be used to reconstruct forgotten agricultural practices. Recovering the details of agricultural economies in ENA is particularly interesting because early farmers in this region, while developing a highly productive agricultural system, did not follow the archetypal Neolithic Revolution trajectory towards institutionalized social stratification and urbanism. This project uses a case study of one important crop to gain new insights into the development of this unique agricultural economy, while enhancing understanding of a plant that was once an important crop in ENA. In an era when new seed crops are rapidly being developed, this study is a first step to assessing its potential usefulness to modern society.This research will also provide several concrete benefits to professional archaeologists and students. This project will generate a web database of integrated archaeological and botanical data from publications and collections that are currently scattered in inaccessible reports. The methods developed in the course of this project will also be used as teaching tools. Opportunities to participate in this research will be built into a new multidisciplinary course: Historical Ecology of North America. The new methods developed for using digital photography and morphometrics to study domestication will enrich Washington University's Paleoethnobotany Laboratory, where students and faculty are involved in studying the origins of agriculture around the world. This methodology will also be integrated into a course on microscopy for archaeologists. The proposed research is part of a larger movement to historicize pre-Columbian America. The dissemination of this research will be directed towards the goal of increasing public and academic awareness of ENA as a region with a long and rich pre-colonial history that is relevant to an understanding of global processes.