Doctoral Dissertation Research: Technological Choice and Human-Animal Relationships: A Bird's Eye View from the Rat Islands, Alaska

在过去的几十年里，关于人类对环境的影响的问题一直处于科学研究的前沿。考古学由于其深刻的时间视角，能够很好地回答这些问题，使研究人员能够追踪人类社会和环境的长期变化。该项目将通过研究阿留申群岛史前民族对鸟类的各种使用来探索人类与其环境互动的方式。纵观历史，人类利用鸟类的方式多种多样，从食物到工具的原材料，再到衣物。除了它们更实际的用途外，鸟类在土著文化系统中往往扮演着重要的角色，使它们成为人类社会被它们生活的环境塑造的宝贵指标。然而，由于保存和挖掘不力，偏向鸟类遗骸直到最近才开始深入研究。阿留申群岛的考古遗址有非常大的鸟类骨骼组合，这是由于良好的挖掘条件。这些化石的巨大规模和保存完好使我们可以进行严格的研究，从中我们不仅可以研究当地与鸟类的关系，还可以为其他时间和地点开发模型。该项目将比较在拉特群岛考古遗址发现的鸟类骨骼遗骸的模式与口述历史和民族志，以揭示鸟类与阿留申群岛居民之间关系的象征性和‘物质’方面的相互作用。拉特群岛、乌南甘群岛的史前居民和鸟类之间的关系是通过一系列持续的、经常是日常的做法来维持的，从狩猎、讲故事到生存。这些日常活动产生的文物，在这种情况下是鸟骨组合，在社会和文化价值的复制中发挥着重要作用。通过研究Unangan人对鸟类的技术选择，我们可以开始研究Unangan人与鸟类关系中更具社会性和象征性的方面。将在4000年的时间跨度内研究模式，以便研究气候事件对Unangan人开发鸟类的影响。这个项目将考察物质实践是如何被它们发展的文化塑造的，反过来又是被它们创建的环境塑造的。该项目团队将研究人类如何将鸟类遗骸存放在考古遗址中的新方法，这不仅将使人们更好地了解阿留申人与环境之间的相互作用，而且将适用于全球考古遗址。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In the past few decades, questions regarding human impacts on the environment have been at the forefront of scientific research. Archaeology is well-placed to answer these questions due to its deep temporal view, allowing researchers to trace long-term changes in both human society and the environment. This project will explore the ways in which humans interact with their environments by examining the varied usages of birds by prehistoric peoples in the Aleutian Islands. Throughout history, humans have used birds in a variety of ways, from food, to raw materials for tools, to clothing. In addition to their more practical usages, birds often play a significant role in Indigenous cultural systems, making them valuable indicators of the ways in which human society is shaped by the environment in which they live. However, due to poor preservation and excavation bias bird remains have only recently begun to be studied in depth. The archaeological sites of the Aleutian Islands have very large avian bone assemblages due to excellent taphonomic conditions. The large size and excellent preservation of these assemblages allows rigorous study from which we can study not only local relationships with birds but also develop models for other times and places.This project will compare the patterns of skeletal bird remains found at archaeological sites in the Rat Islands to oral histories and ethnographies to reveal the interplay of the symbolic and 'material' aspects of the relationship between birds and the residents of the Aleutian Islands. The relationship between the prehistoric inhabitants of the Rat Islands, the Unangan, and birds was maintained by a suite of continual and often daily practices, from hunting, to storytelling, to subsistence. The resulting artifacts of these day-to-day activities, in this case the avian bone assemblage, play a significant role in the reproduction of social and cultural values. By studying the technological choices that the Unangan made regarding birds we can begin to examine the more social and symbolic aspects of the Unangan-bird relationship. Patterns will be examined over a 4000-year time span allowing for an examination of the impact of climatic events on bird exploitation by the Unangan. This project will examine how material practices are shaped by the culture in which they developed and, in turn, by the environment in which they were created. The project team will generate new methodologies for examining how bird remains are deposited by humans within archaeological sites which will allow for not only a better understanding of the interplay between humans and environment in the Aleutians, but which will be applicable to archaeological sites globally.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.