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

博士论文研究资助：风险和气候变化对食品储存行为的交互影响

• 批准号: 2028087
• 负责人: Brian Codding
• 金额: $ 1.36万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 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: 2020-08-01 至 2022-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2028087&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Grant; Interactive

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.

该项目将研究风险（人类状况的固有部分）如何导致采用复杂的行为模式，特别是因为它与面临挥发性气候状况的生存农民的决策有关。人类学家和考古学家对该主题的先前研究依靠经济效用理论来得出有关在特定社会环境环境中是否期望规避风险或易风险的行为的预测。考古学的位置是研究人们如何应对风险，因为它能够借鉴人类经验的历史深度。尽管工业化农业在当今的全球粮食供应中占主导地位，但世界上许多地区仍然依靠生存农业。随着全球温度的升高，这些自给自足的农民面临着对可持续性的日益关注，并且可能没有建立政府安全网以保护他们免受农作物疾病的侵害。人们将设计什么行为并适应应对日益增加的气候波动和伴随风险的行为？通过研究过去的人们如何实施降低风险的做法，研究人员和政策制定者可以更好地了解当今的人们将如何应对不断变化的气候的经济影响。该项目着重于犹他州具有长期人权历史的地区。 居民采用了一系列策略来存储农产品，包括建造在峡谷墙中高高且危险地进入位置的储存容器。是什么推动了这种密集的存储策略？为了解决这个问题，研究人员建立在实用性理论和行为生态学的现有框架的基础上，以得出解释多样化食品存储策略的预测。 研究人员将使用考古田地数据，是树环的区域古气候重建，以及从存储容器中收集的有机材料的新生成的放射性碳，研究人员将评估如何随着时间的推移储存农业产品的年度降水和农业生产力的变化。最终的模型将是了解人类中具有广泛适用性的风险缓解行为的重要工具。产生的数据将有助于区域时间表，有助于建立对该地区史前人类占领的更清晰的了解，并帮助资源经理更好地保护和保留这些考古资源。该项目的合作重点为公众提供了独特的动手教育经验，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的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的审查标准来通过评估来支持的。