Doctoral Dissertation Research Award: Characterization of Complex Forager Society

人类何时以及为什么选择离开大陆来到岛屿是人类学家提出的基本问题。决策受到今天仍然面临的问题的影响，例如群体内部和群体之间的冲突或环境条件。史前考古沉积物特别适合于研究岛屿大陆的早期殖民，以及早期居住的性质，因为它们通常提供了过去人类活动的第一个也是唯一的实物记录。在更广泛的岛屿定居和使用背景下，Ryan Harke将研究居住在北美唯一的亚热带小岛屿生态系统中的当地渔民-采集者种群。该研究项目还将产生与公众利益相关的具体成果，包括前现代海水温度数据和新的解释性标志，以教育游客了解该地区的文化和环境历史。科学证据表明，热带群岛是相互联系的陆地、近岸和远洋栖息地的总和，其中许多在人类历史上提供了合适的海洋生存资源、庇护所和贸易场所。因此，“边缘”小岛屿生态系统考古学为模拟人类在全球这些地方的生活方式和旅行提供了基础，并比较了文化和/或生物上不同的种群。这项研究将集中在基韦斯特岛的历史、民族历史和动物考古数据集上，以确定史前美洲原住民何时到达该岛，以及他们是否在那里建造了全年的村庄。这些问题将用一种类似于树木年代学（研究树木年轮）的方法来解决，这种方法被称为年代学。将这种技术应用于现代蛤壳和古代人丢弃的蛤壳上，将揭示其同位素（地球化学）特征中包含的海水温度和盐度的年周期，表明居住季节。通过对大量的中壳取样，并评估其他相关动物遗骸的季节性，这项研究将确定渔业经济是否可以全年以缺乏淡水的珊瑚岛为基础。群岛是人类岛屿生物地理学中全球殖民模式的重要研究案例，因为其土著人民提供了非农业群体迁移到小岛屿的罕见情况。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。

When and why humans chose to depart mainlands in favor of islands are fundamental questions asked by anthropologists. Decision-making is shaped by issues still faced today, such as intra- and inter-group conflict or environmental conditions. Prehistoric archaeological deposits are particularly well suited to examining the incipient colonization of island landmasses, as well as the nature of early habitation, because they typically offer the first and only physical records of past human activity. Within a broader context of island settlement and use, Ryan Harke will study native fisher-gatherer populations who inhabited the only subtropical small-island ecosystems in North America. This research project will also have specific outcomes relating to public interest, including pre-modern seawater temperature data and new interpretive signage to educate visitors on the cultural and environmental history of the region. Scientific evidence demonstrates that tropical archipelagoes are the sum of interconnected terrestrial, nearshore, and pelagic habitats, many of which provided suitable marine subsistence resources, shelters, and trading grounds throughout human history. Thus, the archaeology of "marginal" small-island ecosystems offers the foundation to model human lifeways at and journeys to such places across the globe, and compare culturally and/or biologically distinct populations. This research will focus on the historical, ethnohistorical, and zooarchaeological datasets of the island of Key West, to determine when prehistoric Native Americans reached the island, and whether they constructed year-round villages there. These questions will be addressed using a method similar to dendrochronology (the study of tree rings) called sclerochronology. Using this technique on modern clam shells and those discarded by ancient peoples will reveal annual cycles of seawater temperature and salinity contained in their isotopic (geochemical) signatures, indicating season of habitation. By sampling a large collection of midden shells and evaluating the seasonality of other associated animal remains, this research will determine whether a fishing economy could be based on freshwater-deficient coral islands year-round. The Keys are a vital case study for worldwide colonization models in human island biogeography, as their indigenous peoples offer a rare circumstance of non-agricultural groups relocating to small islands.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.