Collaborative Research: Bridging Paleolimnology And Archaeology Through Human Biomarkers In Lake Sediment

了解人口水平随着时间的推移是从根本上回答许多问题的重要社会？It’深深的过去。例如，人口水平的上升是否是刺激重大社会变革的原因，如农业的采用、更复杂的社会和政治等级制度或加剧的战争？人口水平如何受到新地区殖民化、环境危机或国家崩溃等重大事件的影响？传统上，考古学家通过考古调查来估计过去的人口，但这并不总是可能的（例如，（b）在人口密度低和流动性高的人类住区阶段，或在因植被茂密或冲积物沉积而使场地表面能见度差的地区，提供土地和土地的保护。古湖沼学是对湖泊和其他水体的研究，有可能提供相关信息。这个跨学科的项目旨在确定古湖泊沉积物中最近定义的生物化学标志物是否可以作为人类人口水平随时间推移的可靠代理。P.I. Elizabeth Arkush博士，Co-P.I.奥布里希尔曼博士，共同PI约瑟夫韦尔内博士，和共同PI马克雅培博士将利用国家科学基金会的支持，分析沉积物在湖核心恢复在2015年从小湖泊在南部秘鲁的喀喀盆地。如果成功的话，这种技术将具有重建各地区人口历史的巨大潜力。此外，由于湖芯序列也有其他重要的信息，如降水量，这种技术有望通过减少时间的不确定性，来自匹配单独的气候和人口记录调查人口和环境变化之间的关系。最近的研究表明，粪便？甾烷醇？，一种来源于高等哺乳动物粪便的有机化合物，以可测量的数量存在于湖泊沉积物中。存在和数量应反映湖泊流域的人口水平，特别是粪甾烷醇，这是人类粪便中的主要甾烷醇类型。该项目旨在通过比较安第斯山脉中南部两个湖泊岩芯中的甾烷醇与两次完整的全覆盖考古调查中得出的人口水平序列，评估和扩大这种生物标志物在考古研究中的效用。除了推进重建过去人口统计学的新方法外，由此产生的数据集有可能在有关前哥伦布时期社会政治变化和古气候之间联系的问题上取得重大进展。项目？更广泛的影响包括为本科生和研究生提供重要的培训和研究机会。

Understanding human population levels over time is fundamentally important for answering numerous questions about society?s deep past. For instance, were rising population levels responsible for spurring major social transformations, like the adoption of agriculture, more complex social and political hierarchies, or intensified warfare? How were population levels affected by major events like the colonization of new areas, environmental crises, or the collapse of states? Traditionally, archaeologists arrive at estimates of past demography through archaeological survey, but this is not always possible (e.g., for phases of human settlement with low population densities and high mobility, or in regions with poor surface visibility of sites due to thick vegetation or alluvial deposition). Paleolimnology, the study of lakes and other bodies of water , has the potential to provide relevant information. This interdisciplinary project aims to establish whether recently defined biochemical markers in ancient lake sediment can serve as reliable proxies for human population levels over time. P.I. Dr. Elizabeth Arkush, Co-P.I. Dr. Aubrey Hillman, Co-PI Dr. Josef Werne, and Co-PI Dr. Mark Abbott will use National Science Foundation support to analyze sediments in lake cores recovered in 2015 from small lakes in the Titicaca Basin of southern Peru. If successful, this technique will hold major potential for reconstructing the demographic histories of regions. In addition, because lake core sequences also have other significant information such as precipitation levels, this technique holds promise for investigating the relationship between human populations and environmental change by reducing the chronological uncertainty that comes from matching separate climate and population records. Recent research shows that fecal ?stanols?, a class organic compounds deriving from feces of higher mammals, are present in measurable amounts in lake sediments. The presence and quantity should reflect human population levels in the lake watershed, particularly coprostanol, which is the major stanol type in human feces. This project aims to evaluate and expand the utility of this biomarker for archaeological research by comparing stanols in cores from two lakes in the south-central Andes with sequences of population levels derived from two completed full-coverage archaeological surveys. In addition to advancing new methodology for the reconstruction of past demography, the resulting dataset has the potential to make significant advances on questions about the connection between pre-Columbian sociopolitical change and paleoclimate. The project?s broader impacts include significant training and research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students.