Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Livestock Management Practices

该奖项全部或部分由2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。世界上最早的农业社会对驯化植物和动物的传播和繁殖将景观重组为适合农业的生态位。当今全球农业产业的规模已经引起了人们对粮食生产碳足迹的合理担忧，研究人员试图解释这些过程规模的变化为何以及如何发生。许多辩论都集中在增加人口规模作为生产集约化的一个关键因素;但人口规模和集约化之间的关系可能更为复杂。考古证据表明，几千年来，非工业化农业经济在小规模和大规模上都采取了一系列生存战略，有时是并行不悖的。此外，自给农民决定在单个田地和耕作制度的规模上每单位土地的投资水平。因此，生产的集约化可能不是人口规模增加等外部压力的反映，而更直接地取决于农民如何科普作物或牲畜产品不能满足生存需要的风险。在这一更广泛的背景下，本研究将探讨如何通过采用创新技术来提高单位耕地或牲畜的产量，从而改变生产规模和土地利用。乳品发酵是数千年前出现的一项关键创新。加工乳制品，如奶酪，酸奶和黄油可以比原料奶储存更长时间，更容易运输，使它们成为在粮食短缺时期最大限度地减少饥饿风险的重要资源。发酵技术的最早证据出现在大约7,000年前，并逐渐被小规模农民采用。这些农民居住在永久性的露天农场里，种植小麦和大麦，并放牧少量的山羊、绵羊、牛和猪。然而，目前尚不清楚牲畜是如何管理的，以及在采用乳制品发酵技术后发生了哪些变化（如果有的话），这些变化将激励牛奶的使用增加。该项目将使用来自六个考古遗址的牲畜骨骼和牙齿的稳定同位素分析来评估动物饮食，繁殖和流动性的变化或停滞。调查人员将提供考古发掘，动物考古学分析，并在实验室设置为西班牙裔服务机构的本科生准备骨骼和牙齿样本的实践培训。学生助理也将有机会共同撰写同行评审的期刊文章，并在会议上合作演示。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得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的支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).The spread and propagation of domesticated plants and animals by the world’s earliest farming societies restructured landscapes into ecological niches suitable for agriculture. The scale of today’s global agricultural industry has raised legitimate concerns about the carbon footprint of food production, and researchers have sought to explain why and how changes in the scale of these processes occur. Many debates have focused on increasing population size as a key factor in the intensification of production; but the relationship between population size and intensification is likely more complicated. Archaeological evidence indicates that non-industrial farming economies through the millennia engaged in a range of subsistence strategies at both small and large scales, sometimes pursued in parallel. Moreover, subsistence farmers make decisions about the level of investment per unit land on the scale of individual field and cropping systems. Therefore, intensification of production may be less a reflection of external pressures such as increasing population size and more directly shaped by how farmers cope with the risk of crop or livestock products falling short of subsistence needs. Within this broader context, this research will examine how changes in the scale of production and land use can occur through the adoption of innovative technologies that enable increased yields per unit land farmed or livestock raised.Dairy fermentation was a key innovation that emerged millenia ago. Processed dairy foods such as cheese, yogurt, and butter can be stored for longer than raw milk and more easily transported making them vital resources for minimizing the risk of starvation during times of food scarcity. The earliest evidence for fermentation technology appeared approximately 7,000 years ago and was gradually adopted by small-scale farmers. These farmers resided in permanent open-air farms where they grew wheat and barley, and herded small numbers of goats, sheep, cattle, and pigs. However, it is unclear how livestock were managed and what, if any, changes followed the adoption of dairy fermentation technology that would have incentivized increased use of milk. This project will use stable isotope analysis of livestock bones and teeth from six archaeological sites to assess change or stasis in animal diet, breeding, and mobility. The investigators will provide hands-on training in archaeological excavation, zooarchaeological analysis, and preparation of bone and tooth samples in a laboratory setting to undergraduate students at a Hispanic Serving Institution. Student assistants will also have opportunities to coauthor peer-reviewed journal articles and collaborate on conference presentations.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.