Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Livestock Management Practices

博士论文改进奖：牲畜管理实践

• 批准号: 2131489
• 负责人: Sarah McClure
• 金额: $ 3.11万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Barbara
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-01 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2131489&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Award; Livestock

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.

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构为适合农业的生态位。当今全球农业产业的规模引起了人们对食品生产碳足迹的合理担忧，研究人员试图解释这些过程规模发生变化的原因和方式。许多辩论集中于人口规模的增加是生产集约化的一个关键因素；但人口规模和强化之间的关系可能更为复杂。考古证据表明，数千年来，非工业农业经济在规模和规模上都采用了一系列生存策略，有时是并行的。此外，自耕农还决定单田规模和耕作制度下的单位土地投资水平。因此，生产集约化可能较少反映诸如人口规模增加等外部压力，而更直接取决于农民如何应对作物或牲畜产品达不到生存需要的风险。在这一更广泛的背景下，本研究将研究如何通过采用创新技术来提高单位土地或牲畜的产量，从而发生生产规模和土地利用的变化。乳制品发酵是千年前出现的一项关键创新。加工过的乳制品，如奶酪、酸奶和黄油，比生牛奶储存的时间更长，也更容易运输，因此在粮食短缺时期，它们是将饥饿风险降至最低的重要资源。发酵技术最早的证据出现在大约7000年前，并逐渐被小规模农民采用。这些农民居住在永久的露天农场，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，以及如果有的话，在采用乳制品发酵技术之后发生了什么变化，从而刺激了牛奶的使用。该项目将对来自六个考古遗址的牲畜骨骼和牙齿进行稳定同位素分析，以评估动物饮食、繁殖和流动性的变化或停滞。调查人员将为西班牙裔服务机构的本科生提供考古挖掘、动物考古分析以及在实验室环境中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，并在会议演讲中合作。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。