Isotopic reconstruction of social networks: geochemistry, ethnoarchaeology, and recent prehistory

社交网络的同位素重建：地球化学、民族考古学和近期史前史

• 批准号: 2018010
• 负责人: Pauline Wiessner
• 金额: $ 18.93万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-08-15 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2018010&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Isotopic; reconstruction; social; networks; geochemistry

A milestone in the evolution of human cooperation was the formation of social networks linking individuals to others outside of the residential group. This project will investigate the development of social networks and their applications in pre-industrial societies by studying the movement of symbolic objects through gift exchange. Networks broadened spheres of interaction for the transmission of goods, norms, institutions, beliefs, and ideas, providing the building blocks for development of ever more complex culture. Understanding social and exchange networks in recent and ancient hunter-gatherers will shed light on how human populations were able to adapt to climatic fluctuations in the past and spread throughout the planet, using networks to buffer risk and become more resilient. The archaeological component will augment our knowledge of how ancient pastoral nomads adapted to hyper-aridity by tracking changes in network configuration in response to availability of natural resources and competition with neighbors. It will also provide a baseline for understanding the intended and unintended consequences of radically scaling up networks by electronic means today. By documenting recent changes in networks, the research will provide valuable insights for development efforts to assist groups in acquiring sustainable economic activities and alleviating poverty. Additional broader impacts derive from the chemical and geospatial data products developed in this project; landscape-scale models of environmental chemistry can be used to determine the source of illegally procured plant and animal products. The project will provide training and international collaborative opportunities for students and senior researchers.The project will apply analytical chemistry and geospatial modeling to determine the area of geographic origin, or provenience, of ostrich eggshell (OES) beads relative to their location of deposition or collection. In desert regions, ancient and recent hunter-gatherers and pastoralists used OES beads to make valued personal ornaments that were gifted to underwrite relations of mutual support that increased resilience to environmental, demographic, and social pressures. The distance between these origin and deposition points and the diversity in origin for beads in an object (e.g. a necklace) will be used as proxies for the scale of social networks. It is possible to determine the provenience of OES by measuring the ratio of two isotopes of the element strontium (Sr). The 87Sr/86Sr ratio is transmitted up the food chain from rock to soil and water to plants and ultimately into animals, creating a chemical signature linking an organism to the place where it acquired nutrition. This project has three major objectives: 1) construct geostatistical models of 87Sr/86Sr variation across the landscape in both study areas, 2) determine if well-documented exchange networks among recent foragers are detectible from 87Sr/86Sr analysis of OES beadwork collected by anthropologists in the 1950s-1970s, and 3) explore the potential of isotope analysis of OES for uncovering networks in desert regions over the last 4000 years when there was increasing aridity, plant and animal exploitation, and ritual activity.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.

人类合作进化的一个里程碑是将个人与居住群体之外的其他人联系起来的社交网络的形成。 该项目将通过研究象征性物体通过礼物交换的运动来研究社交网络的发展及其在前工业社会中的应用。 网络拓宽了商品、规范、制度、信仰和思想传播的互动领域，为更加复杂的文化的发展提供了基石。 了解近代和古代狩猎采集者的社会和交换网络将有助于揭示人类如何能够适应过去的气候波动并在全球范围内传播，利用网络来缓冲风险并变得更具弹性。 考古部分将通过跟踪网络配置的变化来响应自然资源的可用性和与邻居的竞争，从而增强我们对古代游牧民族如何适应极度干旱的了解。它还将为理解当今通过电子手段从根本上扩大网络的预期和非预期后果提供基准。 通过记录网络的最新变化，该研究将为发展努力提供宝贵的见解，以帮助群体获得可持续的经济活动和减轻贫困。 该项目开发的化学和地理空间数据产品还产生了更广泛的影响；环境化学的景观尺度模型可用于确定非法采购的植物和动物产品的来源。 该项目将为学生和高级研究人员提供培训和国际合作机会。该项目将应用分析化学和地理空间建​​模来确定鸵鸟蛋壳（OES）珠相对于其沉积或收集位置的地理起源或来源区域。 在沙漠地区，古代和现代的狩猎采集者和牧民使用 OES 珠子制作珍贵的个人装饰品，这些装饰品可以用来保障相互支持的关系，从而增强对环境、人口和社会压力的抵御能力。这些起源点和沉积点之间的距离以及物体（例如项链）中珠子起源的多样性将被用作社交网络规模的代理。 通过测量元素锶 (Sr) 的两种同位素的比率，可以确定 OES 的来源。 87Sr/86Sr 比率沿着食物链向上传播，从岩石到土壤，从水到植物，最终进入动物体内，形成一种化学特征，将生物体与其获取营养的地方联系起来。 该项目有三个主要目标：1) 构建两个研究区域景观中 87Sr/86Sr 变化的地质统计模型，2) 确定是否可以从人类学家在 1950 年代至 1970 年代收集的 OES 珠饰的 87Sr/86Sr 分析中检测到近期觅食者之间有据可查的交换网络，以及 3) 探索 OES 同位素分析在揭示沙漠网络中的潜力 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。

项目成果

Trace element concentrations as proxies for diagenetic alteration in the African archaeofaunal record: Implications for isotope analysis

微量元素浓度作为非洲考古动物记录中成岩变化的代理：同位素分析的意义

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104403
• 发表时间: 2024
• 期刊: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
• 作者: Bertacchi, Alex;Zipkin, Andrew M.;Giblin, Julia;Gordon, Gwyneth;Goepfert, Tyler;Asael, Dan;Knudson, Kelly J.
• 通讯作者: Knudson, Kelly J.