Collaborative Research: A Long Term Perspective on Agricultural Development

Drs。Amber VanDerwarker， Douglas Kennett和Heather Thakar将进行一项研究，研究在过去的12000年里，中美洲的早期植物驯化以及从觅食到食物生产的转变。由于玉米驯化对整个中美洲复杂政治制度的发展具有重要意义，以前的学术研究几乎完全集中在玉米驯化上。该项目扩大了对玉米的狭隘关注，包括更广泛的森林和大田农业制度。鉴于当今世界上大多数人口都以农业为生，重建古代种植方式的广度及其所提供的经济和社会弹性具有巨大价值。将田间栽培和树木栽培结合起来的古代类似物，以保持土壤肥力和促进作物多样性的方式，为现代单一作物提供了替代方案。考古学很好地为现代农业实践提供了信息，它记录了世界各地的古代农业实践，并在特定的区域背景下重建了长期以来的种植策略。在像中美洲这样的地区，作为少数几个植物驯化的主要中心之一，农业和树木系统的建立和发展的性质和时间具有重要意义。VanDerwarker、Kennett和Thakar将研究(1)在不断发展的区域粮食经济中采用、传播和强化田间耕作，以及(2)森林管理的程度和树木种植系统的变化。研究小组将通过分析洪都拉斯El Gigante岩石避难所保存完好的植物遗骸来实现这些目标，该避难所断断续续地被占领了11,000年。研究小组由专门研究考古植物学、考古测量学和中美洲史前史的考古学家组成，将采用植物鉴定、计量分析和直接放射性碳定年的综合分析。这种综合方法将使该小组不仅能够记录新驯化的时间和使用情况，而且还将促进重建形成该地区现代森林群落的田野清理和林地管理实践。因此，该团队将为长期的人类景观适应提供新的数据和解释，同时为学生和洪都拉斯当地利益相关者社区创造教育和培训机会。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Drs. Amber VanDerwarker, Douglas Kennett, and Heather Thakar will undertake research to study early plant domestication and the transition from foraging to food production over the last 12,000 years in Central America. Previous scholarship has focused almost exclusively on maize domestication because of its importance for the development of complex political institutions throughout Mesoamerica. This project expands this narrow focus on maize to include the broader forest and field agricultural regimes. Given that most of the world's population today is supported by agriculture, there is enormous value in reconstructing the breadth of ancient cropping practices along with the economic and societal resilience it affords. Ancient analogs that integrate field cultivation and arboriculture provide alternatives to modern mono-cropping in ways that can conserve soil fertility and promote cultigen diversity. Archaeology is well situated to inform modern farming practices through the documentation of ancient agricultural practices worldwide and the reconstruction of cropping strategies practiced through time in particular regional contexts. In regions such as Mesoamerica, which represents one of the few primary centers of plant domestication, the nature and timeline of the establishment and augmentation of agricultural and arboricultural systems is of great significance.Drs. VanDerwarker, Kennett, and Thakar will examine both the (1) adoption, spread, and intensification of field cultigens within an evolving regional food economy, and (2) the extent of forest management and change in tree cropping systems. The research team will accomplish these goals through the analysis of well-preserved plant remains from El Gigante Rockshelter in Honduras, which was occupied intermittently for 11,000 years. The research team is composed of archaeologists specializing in archaeobotany, archaeometry, and Mesoamerican prehistory, and will employ an integrated analysis of plant identification, metric analysis, and direct radiocarbon dating. This combined approach will allow the team to not only document the timing and use of new domesticates, but will also facilitate the reconstruction of field clearance and woodland management practices that shaped modern forest communities in this region. The team will thus generate new data and interpretations for long-term human-landscape adaptations while creating educational and training opportunities for students and local Honduran stakeholder communities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.