DDRIG: Exploring Monumental Mound Construction in the Rat Islands, Alaska

DDRIG：探索阿拉斯加拉特群岛的纪念土丘建筑

• 批准号: 1901720
• 负责人: Caroline Funk
• 金额: $ 1.91万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Buffalo
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-05-01 至 2020-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1901720&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DDRIG; Exploring; Monumental; Mound; Construction

More than 114 earth mounds have been documented across five locations within the Rat Islands group of the western Aleutian Islands of Alaska. Common understanding is that these mounds were created by the accumulation of bird guano, but archaeological research has revealed that prehistoric Aleutians constructed at least one of these earth mounds, highlighting the need to more thoroughly research the origins of these mounds. This project investigates these earth mounds to better understand their construction history, then linking to established discussions of Aleut monumentality in the eastern Aleutian Islands and potentially bringing to light a pan-Aleutian tradition of monumental construction spanning at least three millennia. This research will dovetail with regional and global data sets to expand the theoretical understanding of the form and function of monuments and their relationship to human behavior. Better understanding these earth mounds will also advance socioenvironmental theories about the impacts of small-scale societies on their landscapes and will contribute to global anthropological debates regarding group-identity amongst hunter-fisher-gatherer communities.This archaeological research project investigates how earthen mound constructions can signal and reinforce expressions of perceived group identity among prehistoric hunter-fisher-gatherer communities in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. The project has four objectives, (1) examine the depositional history of the Rat Islands mound clusters; (2) examine the role of the mound clusters within Rat Islands Aleut archaeological settlement patterns; (3) contribute knowledge about the human occupation of the Rat Islands; (4) contribute to a global discourse about the archaeological identification of hunter-fisher-gatherer group identity. Stratigraphic analyses, lithic artifact analyses, spatial analyses, and radiometric dating will be employed in the examination of the depositional history of the earth mounds and their role within Aleut prehistoric settlement patterns. The project will also produce unprecedented high-resolution drone imagery of the Rat Islands, which will be an invaluable resource for future researchers, wildlife management, and environmental monitoring. This research is especially pressing, as these cultural sites are threatened by climate change because they occur along coastlines that have already begun to face the effects of erosion.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.

在阿拉斯加阿留申群岛西部的拉特群岛群的五个地点，有超过114个土丘被记录在案。一般认为这些土丘是由鸟粪堆积而成，但考古研究表明，史前阿留申人至少建造了其中一个土丘，这突出表明需要更彻底地研究这些土丘的起源。这个项目调查这些土丘，以更好地了解他们的建设历史，然后连接到阿留申群岛东部阿留申纪念碑的既定讨论，并可能揭示一个泛阿留申传统的纪念碑建设跨越至少三千年。这项研究将与区域和全球数据集相吻合，以扩大对纪念碑的形式和功能及其与人类行为关系的理论理解。更好地了解这些土丘也将推进关于小规模社会对其景观影响的社会环境理论，并将有助于全球人类学关于狩猎-捕鱼-采集社区群体身份的辩论。本考古研究项目调查土墩建筑如何发出信号并加强阿留申群岛史前狩猎-捕鱼-采集社区中感知的群体身份的表达，阿拉斯加该项目有四个目标：（1）研究拉特群岛土墩群的沉积历史;（2）研究土墩群在拉特群岛阿留申人考古定居模式中的作用;（3）提供关于人类占领拉特群岛的知识;（4）促进关于狩猎-捕鱼-采集群体身份考古鉴定的全球讨论。地层学分析，石器分析，空间分析和放射性测年将采用在检查的土丘的沉积历史和阿留申史前定居模式中的作用。该项目还将制作前所未有的高分辨率无人机图像，这将是未来研究人员，野生动物管理和环境监测的宝贵资源。这项研究尤其紧迫，因为这些文化遗址受到气候变化的威胁，因为它们位于沿着，已经开始面临侵蚀的影响。该奖项反映了NSF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。