Doctoral Dissertation Research: Investigating Variability in the Frequency of Fire Use in the Archaeological Record

这个博士论文项目将研究火的使用，人类史前史中的一个重要适应，以及它与波动的环境条件的关系。燃烧的石制品将被量化（频率）作为火的使用措施，在几个石制品组合从旧石器时代的考古遗址，从广泛的时间，地理和气候条件。其他使用火的证据，如壁炉，往往是定性的（有/没有），因此在记录这些地点使用火的强度或范围方面用处有限。该项目将推进人类行为可塑性与不断变化的环境方面的知识。它还将利用博物馆收藏的可用但往往被忽视的数据，并将通过出版物和数据库使这些数据可供一系列学者使用。将在博物馆环境中公开介绍这些发现，以吸引更广泛的观众，该项目的背景信息和结果也将通过公共考古播客和社交媒体分享。外联活动将促进妇女和成人学习者参与科学探究，培养对考古和古人类学研究的兴趣，将根据大小等级分布，采用三种不同的抽样策略（两种计数方法以及重量），比较各阶层被烧毁的石器的频率。将所得到的数据与其他直接的和地质考古学证据的火的使用将有助于记录在何种程度上使用火在占领期间与每个寒冷和温暖的间隔在旧石器时代。此外，还将使用超低温冷冻机进行对照实验，以评估霜冻风化自然过程对石器的影响，通过区分霜冻暴露和燃烧引起的表面变化，提高识别燃烧燧石的准确性和可靠性。岩相学和扫描电子显微镜，以及傅立叶变换红外光谱，将用于检测宏观和微观的实验霜冻风化文物的表面上的变化。该项目的成果将有助于旧石器时代考古学领域的进步采样方法和实验设计的分析烧石文物，以及记录烧毁文物从广泛的地理范围。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

This doctoral dissertation project will investigate the use of fire, an important adaptation in human prehistory, and its relationship to fluctuating environmental conditions. Burned stone artifacts will be quantified (frequencies) as measures of fire use in several stone artifact assemblages from Paleolithic archaeological sites selected from a wide range of temporal, geographic, and climatic conditions. Other evidence of fire use, such as hearths, is often qualitative (presence/absence) and therefore of limited utility in documenting the intensity or extent of fire use at these sites. The project will advance knowledge about human behavioral plasticity with respect to changing environments. It will also leverage available, but often neglected, data from museum collections, and will make these data accessible to a range of scholars through publications and databases. Public presentations about the findings will be made in museum settings to engage wider audiences, and background information and results of the project also will be shared through public archaeology podcasts and social media. Outreach activities will promote the participation of women and adult learners in scientific inquiry, and foster interest in archaeological and paleoanthropological research.The frequency of burned stone artifacts will be compared across strata using three different sampling strategies (two types of counting methods, as well as weight) based on a size-grade distribution. Integrating the resulting data with other direct and geoarchaeological evidence of fire use will help to document the extent to which fire was used during the period of occupation associated with each cold and warm interval during the Paleolithic period. In addition, a controlled experiment using an ultra-low freezer will be conducted to assess the impact of the natural process of frost weathering on stone artifacts, to increase the level of accuracy and reliability in the identification of burned flints by distinguishing surface alterations that are caused by frosting exposures from those of burning. Petrographic and scanning electron microscopy, as well as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, will be used to detect macro- and microscopic alterations on the surface of experimentally frost-weathered artifacts. The results of this project will contribute to the field of Paleolithic archaeology by advancing sampling methods and experimental designs for the analysis of burned stone artifacts, as well as documenting burned artifacts from an extensive geographic range.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.