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

该项目将研究风险--人类状况的固有部分--如何导致采取复杂的行为模式，特别是当它与自给自足的农民面临动荡的气候条件的决定有关时。人类学家和考古学家之前对这一主题的研究都依赖于经济效用理论来推导预测，即在特定的社会环境条件下，是预期风险厌恶行为还是风险倾向行为。考古学在研究人类如何应对风险方面具有独特的地位，因为它能够利用人类经验的历史深度。虽然工业化农业在今天的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。随着全球气温上升，这些自给自足的农民面临着对可持续性的日益担忧，他们可能没有建立起政府安全网，以保护他们免受作物歉收的影响。人们将设计和调整哪些行为来应对日益加剧的气候波动和随之而来的风险？通过研究过去人们如何实施实践来减轻风险，研究人员和政策制定者可以更好地理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一个长期被人类占领的地区。居民采用了一系列储存农产品的战略，包括在难以进入和危险的地点建造高高放置在峡谷墙上的储存容器。是什么推动了如此密集的存储策略的实施？为了解决这个问题，研究人员建立了现有的效用理论和行为生态学框架，以推导出解释不同食物储存策略的预测。研究人员将利用考古现场数据、根据树木年轮重建的区域古气候以及从储存容器中收集的有机物质新生成的放射性碳数据，评估随着时间的推移，年降水量和农业生产力的变化如何影响农产品的储存决定。由此产生的模型将成为理解人类风险缓解行为的重要工具，具有广泛的适用性。产生的数据将有助于制定区域年表，有助于更清楚地了解史前人类对该地区的占领情况，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独特的实践教育体验，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 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.