Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant: The Interactive Effects of Risk and Climatic Variation on Food Storage Behavior

该项目将研究风险，人类条件的一个固有部分，如何可能导致采用复杂的行为模式，特别是因为它涉及到生存农民面临动荡的气候条件的决定。人类学家和考古学家先前对这一主题的研究依赖于经济效用理论来预测在特定的社会环境下是否会出现风险规避或风险倾向行为。考古学是研究人们如何科普风险的独特场所，因为它能够借鉴人类经验的历史深度。虽然工业化农业在当今全球粮食供应中占主导地位，但世界许多地区仍然依赖自给农业。随着全球气温的升高，这些自给农民面临着越来越多的可持续性问题，他们可能没有建立政府安全网来保护他们免受作物歉收的影响。人们将设计和适应什么样的行为来科普日益增加的气候波动和伴随的风险？通过研究过去的人们如何实施减轻风险的做法，研究人员和政策制定者可以更好地了解今天的人们将如何应对气候变化的经济影响。该项目的重点是犹他州的一个地区，该地区有长期的人类占领历史。 居民们采用了一系列的策略来储存农产品，包括在峡谷壁上建造储存容器，这些容器位于难以进入和危险的位置。是什么推动了这种密集型存储策略的实施？为了解决这个问题，研究人员建立在效用理论和行为生态学的现有框架上，以获得解释不同食物储存策略的预测。 利用考古现场数据，树木年轮的区域古气候重建，以及从储存容器中收集的有机物质中新生成的放射性碳日期，研究人员将评估年降水量和农业生产力的变化如何影响储存农产品的决定。由此产生的模型将是理解人类风险缓解行为的重要工具，具有广泛的适用性。所产生的数据将有助于区域年表，有助于更清楚地了解史前人类对该地区的占领，并帮助资源管理人员更好地保护和保存这些考古资源。该项目的合作重点为公众提供了一个独特的实践教育经验，并为研究生和本科生提供了宝贵的培训机会。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。

This project will examine how risk, an inherent part of the human condition, can result in the adoption of complex behavioral patterns, specifically as it relates to the decisions of subsistence farmers facing volatile climatic conditions. Previous research on the topic by both anthropologists and archaeologists relies on economic utility theory to derive predictions about whether to expect risk-averse or risk-prone behavior in specific socio-environmental circumstances. Archaeology is uniquely situated for investigating how people cope with risk because of its ability to draw on the historical depth of the human experience. While industrialized agriculture dominates the global food supply today, many regions of the world still rely on subsistence agriculture. With increasing global temperatures, these subsistence farmers face growing concerns about sustainability and may not have established government safety nets in place to protect them from crop failures. What behaviors will people devise and adapt to cope with increasing climatic volatility and accompanying risk? By studying how past people implemented practices to mitigate risk, researchers and policymakers can better understand how people today will respond to the economic effects of a changing climate. The project focuses on a region in Utah with a history of long-term human occupation. Inhabitants employed a range of strategies for storing agricultural products, including the construction of storage containers placed high in canyon walls in difficult and dangerous to access locations. What drove the imposition of such intensive storage strategies? To address this question, the researchers build upon existing frameworks of utility theory and behavioral ecology to derive predictions explaining the diverse food storage strategies. Using archaeological field data, a regional paleoclimatic reconstruction from tree rings, and newly generated radiocarbon dates from organic material collected from storage containers, the researchers will evaluate how changes in annual precipitation and agricultural productivity affected decisions to store agricultural products through time. The resultant model will be an important tool for understanding risk mitigation behaviors in humans, with broad applicability. The data generated will contribute to regional chronologies, helping to build a clearer picture of prehistoric human occupation of the region, and help resource managers better protect and preserve these archaeological resources. The collaborative focus of the project provides a unique hands-on educational experience for members of the public, as well as providing invaluable training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students.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.