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

博士论文改进奖：非复杂社会中的村庄组织

• 批准号: 2211991
• 负责人: Kacy Hollenback
• 金额: $ 2.41万
• 依托单位: Southern Methodist University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-06-01 至 2024-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2211991&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Award; Village

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.

采集者和农业家之间的互动被广泛认为是全世界文化、技术、语言和基因变化的关键过程。这项博士论文研究评估了狩猎采集群体对首次引入农民及其产品的反应。这不仅对于理解这些相互作用的本质具有重要意义，而且对于重建现代后代群体变化的分水岭时刻也具有重要意义。该项目的成果将用于为州和联邦层面的遗产组织（特别是国家公园管理局）开发新的解释材料。此外，研究人员还将在北达科他州历史学会向公众和土著社区成员提供基本动物识别和分析培训。这些产出将提高科学素养和参与度。这项研究涉及与曼丹族、希达察族和阿里卡拉族成员制定合作计划，并为部落学校规划讲座和/或课程开发。 因此，学术界、公共遗产组织和土著民族之间的伙伴关系将得到加强。这项研究利用对公元前 6450 年至公元 1880 年 17 个先前挖掘地点的狗遗骸进行同位素和古代 DNA 分析，调查了北美大平原狩猎采集者和农民之间接触的性质。它将通过跟踪社区在首次引入之前、期间和之后对玉米的使用情况来实现这一目标。 通过使用狗的饮食作为玉米存在的代理来进行农业种植。古代 DNA 分析将把狗与狼和土狼区分开来，稳定同位素分析将确定狗饮食中玉米的含量。在北部平原的几乎所有考古遗址中都发现了狗，它们像今天一样消耗主人产生的食物和废物。这些数据集与考古数据结合使用时，将有助于说明采集者与农民互动的本质，主要是拒绝、经济交换和采用。具体来说，这项研究探讨了这些关系最初是如何、何时形成的，以及它们如何随着时间的推移而变化。该项目使用犬代孕方法作为识别这些相互作用的新工具。尽管狗对许多不同历史北美原住民群体的生计至关重要，但对大平原狗的古代 DNA 研究仍然有限。古代DNA虽然主要用于这项研究中识别野生土狼和狼的狗遗骸，但也将有助于更好地了解美洲狗的变异性，并有可能揭示欧洲非本土品种的繁殖时机。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并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，被认为值得支持。