RAPID: Archaeological Investigation at Iita

RAPID：饭田考古调查

• 批准号: 1623802
• 负责人: Genevieve LeMoine
• 金额: $ 4.86万
• 依托单位: Bowdoin College
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-03-15 至 2019-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1623802&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Archaeological; Investigation; Iita

Recent warming has resulted in Arctic permafrost thaw, earlier spring sea ice melt, and later fall sea ice formation. As a result, important coastal archaeological sites that were once protected by ice are exposed to increased damage and even complete loss due to a combination of melting permafrost and wave erosion during the extended open water season. With this project the research team will investigate significant prehistoric and historic archaeological deposits at one such threatened site, Iita (Etah) in northwestern Greenland. Research since 2006 has documented rapid erosion of the site and revealed stratified deposits extending back 1000 years. These deposits represent two different cultural groups, the Dorset, who lived there between AD 1050 and 1200, and the Thule (ancestors of the contemporary Inuit) who moved into the area from their homeland in Alaska around 1200. The area around Iita is rich in marine and terrestrial resources, including millions of dovekies, which nest in nearby cliffs. The investigators expect to recover both artifacts and animal bones that will increase our understanding of the different ways in which these two groups used these resources. The research team may also be able to determine whether they occupied the area at the same time, and if so, how they interacted. The nature of contact between Dorset and Thule people, if it happened, is one of the enduring questions in Arctic prehistory. The stratified deposits at Iita provide a rare opportunity to investigate this question. The team will focus their work on areas of the site most prone to erosion, recovering data before it is lost forever. A team of six researchers from Bowdoin, UC Davis, and the National Museum of Greenland will excavate at the site of Iita, Qaasuitsup Kommunia, Greenland. Due to increased ice-free periods in the stormy fall season the site is experiencing rapid erosion, documented over the course of work at this site between 2006 and 2012. Excavations in historic contexts in 2006 revealed a buried early Thule component at the site and hinted at earlier occupations. In 2012 testing by J. Darwent and H. Lange confirmed the presence of a minimum of three discrete stratigraphic levels dating to the Late Dorset period, each separated by sterile sand. These distinct occupation levels offer an unprecedented opportunity to study and compare well-defined relatively brief occupations, in contrast to the often-mixed surface and near-surface sites more commonly found. They offer the opportunity to learn about many aspects of Late Dorset Culture, from the importance of exploiting the massive dovekie colony, to their demise as the ancestors of the contemporary Inughuit moved into the area. The early Thule levels also present at the site offer the possibility of identifying the nature and extent of interaction (if any) between these two groups. In this remote location, evaluation, monitoring, and mitigation of changes due to erosion are difficult. This fieldwork will allow the research team to both continue monitoring and to partially mitigate impending loss of these significant cultural resources.

最近的变暖导致北极永久冻土融化，春季海冰融化较早，秋季海冰形成较晚。 结果，在延长的开放水域季节，由于永久冻土融化和波浪侵蚀的共同作用，曾经受到冰层保护的重要沿海考古遗址受到更大的破坏，甚至完全丧失。通过这个项目，研究小组将调查格陵兰岛西北部伊塔（Etah）这样一个受威胁地点的重要史前和历史考古沉积物。自 2006 年以来的研究记录了该地点的快速侵蚀，并揭示了可追溯到 1000 年前的分层沉积物。这些沉积物代表了两个不同的文化群体：公元 1050 年至 1200 年间居住在那里的多塞特人，以及 1200 年左右从阿拉斯加故乡迁入该地区的图勒人（当代因纽特人的祖先）。伊塔周围地区拥有丰富的海洋和陆地资源，其中包括数以百万计的鸽子，它们在附近的悬崖上筑巢。研究人员希望找到文物和动物骨骼，这将增加我们对这两个群体使用这些资源的不同方式的了解。 研究小组还可以确定他们是否同时占据该区域，如果是，他们是如何互动的。多塞特人和图勒人之间的接触（如果真的发生过的话）的性质是北极史前时期持久的问题之一。 饭田的分层矿床为研究这个问题提供了难得的机会。该团队将把工作重点放在站点最容易受到侵蚀的区域，在数据永远丢失之前恢复数据。来自鲍登学院、加州大学戴维斯分校和格陵兰国家博物馆的六名研究人员组成的团队将在格陵兰岛 Qaasuitsup Kommunia 的 Iita 遗址进行挖掘。由于暴风雨的秋季无冰期增加，该遗址正在经历快速侵蚀，这一点在 2006 年至 2012 年期间对该遗址的工作过程中有记录。2006 年在历史背景下的挖掘工作揭示了该遗址埋藏的早期图勒组成部分，并暗示了早期的职业。 2012 年，J. Darwent 和 H. Lange 进行的测试证实，存在至少三个离散的地层，其历史可以追溯到多塞特晚期，每个地层都被无菌沙隔开。与更常见的经常混合的地表和近地表地点相比，这些不同的职业水平提供了前所未有的机会来研究和比较明确的相对短暂的职业。它们提供了了解晚期多塞特文化的许多方面的机会，从开发庞大的鸽族殖民地的重要性，到当代因纽特人的祖先迁入该地区而导致的灭亡。该地点还存在早期的图勒水平，为识别这两个群体之间相互作用（如果有的话）的性质和程度提供了可能性。 在这个偏远地区，评估、监测和缓解侵蚀引起的变化是很困难的。这项实地工作将使研究团队能够继续监测并部分减轻这些重要文化资源即将发生的损失。