Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Village Organization in Non-complex Societies

采集者和农人之间的互动被广泛认为是世界范围内文化、技术、语言和基因变化的关键过程。本博士论文研究评估了狩猎采集者群体对首次引入农民及其产品的反应。这不仅对理解这些相互作用的本质具有重要意义，而且对重建现代后代种群变化的分水岭时刻也很重要。该项目的产出将用于为州和联邦一级的遗产组织，特别是国家公园管理局编写新的解释性材料。此外，研究人员将在北达科他州国家历史学会为公众和土著社区成员提供基本动物识别和分析的培训。这些产出将提高科学素养和参与度。这项研究涉及与Mandan、Hidatsa和Arikara部落成员制定合作计划，为部落学校计划讲座和/或课程开发。因此，将增加学术界、公共遗产组织和土著民族之间的伙伴关系，产生更广泛的影响。本研究通过对从公元前6450年到公元1880年17个先前挖掘的遗址的狗遗骸进行同位素和古代DNA分析，调查了北美大平原上狩猎采集者和农民之间接触的性质。它将通过使用狗粮作为玉米存在的代表，跟踪社区在首次引入农业之前、期间和之后对玉米的使用情况。古代DNA分析将区分狗与狼和土狼，稳定同位素分析将确定狗的饮食中玉米的含量。在北部平原的几乎所有考古集合中都发现了狗，它们和今天一样，消耗着主人产生的食物和废物。当这些数据集与考古数据结合使用时，将有助于说明采集者-农民相互作用的本质，主要是拒绝、经济交换和采用。具体来说，这项研究解决了这些关系最初是如何以及何时形成的，以及它们是如何随着时间的推移而变化的。本项目使用犬类代理方法作为识别这些相互作用的新工具。尽管狗对许多不同的历史上的北美土著群体的生计至关重要，但对大平原上的狗的古代DNA研究是有限的。古代DNA，虽然在这项研究中主要用于识别野生土狼和狼的狗遗骸，也将有助于更好地了解美洲狗的可变性，并有可能阐明与来自欧洲的非本地品种的繁殖时间。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。

Interactions between foragers and agriculturalists are widely recognized as pivotal processes of cultural, technological, linguistic, and genetic changes worldwide. This doctoral dissertation research assesses the responses of hunter-gatherer groups to the first introduction of farmers and their products. This is not only significant to understanding the nature of these interactions, but also for reconstructing watershed moments of change for modern descendant populations. Outputs from this project will be used to develop new interpretive materials for heritage organizations at the state and federal levels, especially the National Park Service. Additionally, the researchers will provide training on basic animal identification and analyses at the State Historical Society of North Dakota to the public and Indigenous community members. These outputs will increase scientific literacy and engagement. This research involves the formulation of a collaboration plan with members of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, with planned lectures and/or curriculum development for tribal schools. As such, a broader impact will be increased partnership between academia, public heritage organizations, and Indigenous nations.This research investigates the nature of contact between hunter-gatherers and farmers on the North American Great Plains using isotopic and ancient DNA analysis of dog remains from 17 previously excavated sites spanning from BC 6450 to AD 1880. It will do so by tracking the use of maize by communities, before, during, and after the first introduction of farming by using dog diet as a proxy for maize presence. Ancient DNA analyses will differentiate dogs from wolves and coyotes, and stable isotope analyses will determine the degree of maize in the dogs’ diets. Dogs are found in almost all archaeological assemblages on the northern Plains and consumed food and waste produced by their owners just as they do today. These datasets, when used in concert with archaeological data, will help illustrate the nature of forager-farmer interactions, mainly rejection, economic exchange, adoption. Specifically, this research addresses how and when these relationships originally formed, and how they changed over time. This project uses the Canine Surrogacy Approach as a new tool for identifying these interactions. Although dogs were crucial to the livelihoods of many different historic North American Indigenous groups, ancient DNA research of dogs from the Great Plains is limited. Ancient DNA, while used primarily in this research to identify dog remains from wild coyotes and wolves, will also contribute to the greater understanding of the variability of dogs in the Americas and potentially shed light on the timing of breeding with non-indigenous breeds from Europe.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.