Collaborative Research: A Long Term Perspective on Agricultural Development

Amber VanDerwarker博士、Douglas Kennett博士和Heather Thakar博士将进行研究，研究中美洲过去12,000年来的早期植物驯化和从觅食到食物生产的转变。以前的学术几乎完全集中在玉米驯化上，因为它对整个中美洲复杂的政治机构的发展具有重要意义。该项目将这种对玉米的狭隘关注扩大到包括更广泛的森林和田间农业制度。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以及它提供的经济和社会弹性具有巨大的价值。古代的类似物结合了大田栽培和树种栽培，以保护土壤肥力和促进栽培物种多样性的方式提供了现代单一作物的替代方案。考古学处于有利地位，可以通过记录世界各地的古代农业实践和重建在特定区域背景下随着时间推移而实行的种植战略，为现代农业实践提供信息。在中美洲这样的地区，代表着为数不多的主要植物驯化中心之一，建立和加强农业和树木栽培系统的性质和时间表具有重要意义。Vanderwarker、Kennett和Thakar将研究(1)在不断发展的区域粮食经济中采用、推广和强化田间种植者，以及(2)森林管理的范围和树木种植制度的变化。研究小组将通过分析洪都拉斯El Gigante岩洞保存完好的植物遗骸来实现这些目标，该岩洞断断续续地被占据了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的考古学家组成，将采用植物鉴定、公制分析和直接放射性碳测年的综合分析。这一综合办法将使该小组不仅能够记录新驯养动物的时间和使用情况，而且还将有助于重建影响该区域现代森林社区的田野清理和林地管理做法。因此，该团队将为长期的人文景观适应产生新的数据和解释，同时为学生和洪都拉斯当地利益攸关方社区创造教育和培训机会。该奖项反映了国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.