Paleoecology and new perspectives on domesticated animals from faunal and stable isotope analyses

该奖项是作为NSF社会、行为和经济学博士后研究奖学金(SPRF)计划的一部分提供的。SPRF计划的目标是为学术界、工业界或私营部门和政府的科学职业生涯培养有前途的、早期职业博士水平的科学家。SPRF奖项包括在知名科学家的赞助下进行两年的培训，并鼓励博士后研究员进行独立研究。国家科学基金会致力于促进科学界所有阶层的科学家参与其研究方案和活动，包括那些来自代表性不足的群体的科学家；博士后阶段被认为是实现这一目标的专业发展的一个重要水平。每个博士后研究员都必须解决推动各自学科领域向前发展的重要科学问题。在佛罗里达大学John Krigbaum博士的赞助下，这一博士后奖学金奖项支持一位早期职业科学家研究将驯养动物(牛、绵羊、山羊、猪)引入不同的生态系统及其对当地和地区层面的人类行为和环境的长期影响。通过将传统的动物考古学分析与创新的考古技术相结合，这项研究将有助于我们理解驯化对景观、环境和其他物种产生的不同和持久的影响。数据收集还将积极参与和培训本科生和研究生。该项目开发动物考古学、同位素和空间数据，以评估从胆石早期(约公元前4500年)到铁器时代(约公元前35年)的当地畜牧业实践的规模、时间和持续影响。从胆石、青铜和铁器时代遗址中恢复的动物考古组合将被系统地分析。将重建动物群的种群概况，以帮助描述畜牧业做法中更广泛的区域和时间趋势。通过传统的考古方法，牲畜管理的一些不可或缺的方面，如饲料和围栏，不太明显，对不同身体组织的同位素研究提供了一种系统的方法来绘制这些不同的活动图。为了考察管理策略在不同时间和空间尺度上的变化，将对不同驯化物种的牙釉质进行采样，以检测碳、氧、锶(87Sr/86Sr)和铅(20nPb/204Pb)的同位素。然后，数据将被并入地理信息系统数据库，以更好地了解区域模式，并检验有关运输等新管理系统开发的理论。新的动物管理策略预计会随着时间的推移而发展，首先是为了适应独特的环境，然后是为了适应青铜时代晚期开始时不断增加的种群。预计结果将为当前关于全球生物多样性和保护的辩论提供信息，并将引起所有致力于弹性、可持续性和人与环境相互作用问题的学者的兴趣。该奖项反映了NSF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。

This award was provided as part of NSF's Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (SPRF) program. The goal of the SPRF program is to prepare promising, early career doctoral-level scientists for scientific careers in academia, industry or private sector, and government. SPRF awards involve two years of training under the sponsorship of established scientists and encourage Postdoctoral Fellows to perform independent research. NSF seeks to promote the participation of scientists from all segments of the scientific community, including those from underrepresented groups, in its research programs and activities; the postdoctoral period is considered to be an important level of professional development in attaining this goal. Each Postdoctoral Fellow must address important scientific questions that advance their respective disciplinary fields. Under the sponsorship of Dr. John Krigbaum at the University of Florida, this postdoctoral fellowship award supports an early career scientist examining the introduction of domesticated animals (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs) to different ecosystems and their long-term impact on human behavior and environments at local and regional levels. By combining traditional zooarchaeological analyses with innovative archaeometric techniques, this research will contribute to our understanding of the diverse and enduring impacts domestication has had on landscapes, environments, and other species. Data collection will also actively involve and train undergraduate and graduate students.This project develops zooarchaeological, isotopic, and spatial data to evaluate the scale, timing, and continuing effects of local animal husbandry practices from the early Chalcolithic (ca. 4500 BC) until the end of the Iron Age (ca. 35 BC). Zooarchaeological assemblages recovered from Chalcolithic, Bronze, and Iron Age sites will be systematically analyzed. Population profiles of fauna will be reconstructed to help characterize broader regional and temporal trends in livestock and husbandry practices. Some integral aspects of livestock management, such as foddering and penning, are less visible through traditional archaeological methods and isotopic studies of different bodily tissues offer a systematic approach to mapping these diverse activities. In order to examine changes in management strategies at various temporal and spatial scales, dental enamel from different domesticated species will be sampled for carbon, oxygen, strontium (87Sr/86Sr), and lead (20nPb/204Pb) isotopes. Data will then be incorporated into a GIS database to better contextualize regional patterns and test theories about the development of new management systems such as transhumance. Novel animal management strategies are expected to have developed over time, first in response to the unique environment and then to accommodate increasing populations at the start of the Late Bronze Age. Results are expected to inform current debates about biodiversity and conservation globally, and be of interest to all scholars working on issues of resilience, sustainability, and human-environment interaction.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.