Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Isotopic Reflections of Mobility and Labor Patterns

加州大学戴维斯分校的博士生坎迪斯·拉尔斯顿将进行考古研究，研究狩猎-采集人口的社会组织和劳动分工之间的关系。婚后居住地或婚后居住地影响社会结构及其亲属关系网络。拉尔斯顿的论文研究将调查男性和女性在生存和饮食方面的相对重要性与婚后居住之间的关系。人类骨骼组织稳定同位素分析的进步，使考古学家能够产生细微差别的数据集，用来研究古代饮食和流动性。稳定同位素分析为个体的古迁徙和饮食提供了更直接的证据，可以区分个体层面的居住和饮食模式，并可以比较男性和女性的流动性和饮食模式。这项研究使用了五个同位素判别器(锶、氧、硫、碳和氮)。结合多种同位素证据可以增强这些分析的解释力，以了解人类的流动性和他们所利用的食物网。该项目还将进一步促进拉尔斯顿的学术和智力发展。证据将来自加州中央山谷的两个考古遗址，CA-SAC-107和CA-SJO-68，可以追溯到早期(约5000-2500 BP)。加州的考古记录显示了1)自给自足经济的转变和2)性别劳动力日益分化的时间趋势。因此，该地区是测试自给自足和劳动如何与婚后住所共同变化的理想地区。在加州中央山谷进行的考古研究传统上将资源集约化、人口强迫和资源萧条作为文化变革的驱动力。相比之下，文化发展和社会组织的动态问题没有得到充分解决。跨文化分析表明，经济制度、男女分工、战争和领地是婚后居住实践的重要预测因素。这些发现确立了拉尔斯顿研究的中心问题。劳动分工，更具体地说，对总体饮食的偏颇的维持生计的贡献，会影响加州中央山谷早期人口的婚后居住吗？Ralston将通过以下方式解决研究问题：1)使用骨骼组织中的同位素化学(锶、氧和硫)重建婚姻流动性以确定婚后居住地；2)使用先前发表的CA-SAC-107和CA-SJO-68的动物学、植物学和人工数据来解释生存实践；以及3)使用骨胶原中的碳和氮以及生物磷灰石中的碳的稳定同位素重建这两个地点的埋葬人口的饮食。拉尔斯顿的论文研究将澄清早期婚后居住的共时性模式，但当与不同时期的特定地点数据相结合时，也将提供历时视角，将阐明加州土著群体以及更广泛地说，狩猎-采集者婚后居住实践的演变。此外，这项研究将展示使用多同位素方法理解古人类行为的重要性。这一奖项反映了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。

Candice Ralston, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California-Davis, will conduct archaeometric research to study the relationship between social organization and the division of labor for hunter-gatherer populations. Place of residence after marriage, or postmarital residence, impacts the structure of societies and their kinship networks. Ralston's dissertation research will investigate the relationship between the relative importance of male versus female contributions to subsistence and diet, and postmarital residence. Advancements in stable isotope analysis of human skeletal tissues, permit archaeologists to generate nuanced data-sets with which to investigate ancient diet and mobility. Stable isotope analysis provides more direct evidence of paleomigration and diet for individuals, can distinguish individual-level residential and dietary patterns, and permit comparison between male- and female-mobility and dietary patterns. This study uses five isotopic discriminants (strontium, oxygen, sulfur, carbon, and nitrogen). Incorporating multiple lines of isotopic evidence enhances the interpretive power of these analyses for understanding human mobility and the food webs they exploit. This project will also further Ralston's academic and intellectual development.Evidence will come from two California Central Valley archaeological sites, CA-SAC-107 and CA-SJO-68, dating to the Early Period (ca. 5000-2500 BP). The California archaeological record shows temporal trends for 1) shifting subsistence-economies and 2) increasing differentiation of gendered labor. As such, the region is ideal to test how subsistence and labor co-vary with postmarital residence. Archaeological research conducted in California's Central Valley has traditionally focused on resource intensification, demographic forcing, and resource depression as drivers of cultural change. By contrast, the dynamics of cultural development and social organization have not been adequately addressed. Cross-cultural analyses suggest that economic systems, the division of labor between women and men, warfare, and territoriality are significant predictors of postmarital residence practices. These findings set up the central question of Ralston's research. Does the division of labor, and more specifically, a biased subsistence contribution to the overall diet, influence postmarital residence for Early Period populations in the Central Valley of California? Ralston will address the research question by 1) reconstructing marital mobility using isotope chemistry (strontium, oxygen, and sulfur) in skeletal tissues to ascertain postmarital residence, 2) interpreting subsistence practices using previously published faunal, botanical, and artifactual data from CA-SAC-107 and CA-SJO-68, and 3) reconstructing the diet of burial populations from the two sites using stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in bone collagen, and carbon in bioapatite. Ralston's dissertation research will clarify synchronic patterns of postmarital residence for the Early Period but also, when combined with site-specific data from different periods, provide a diachronic perspective that will elucidate the evolution of postmarital residence practices of indigenous groups of California and, more broadly, hunter-gatherers. Additionally, this study will demonstrate the significance of using multi-isotopic approaches to understanding ancient human behavior.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.