Collaborative Research: Environmental Context of Long Term Cultural Adaptation

本研究的目的是了解蒙德维尔遗址被占领和废弃期间的环境条件，蒙德维尔遗址是亚拉巴马地区重要的史前晚期遗址。该研究包括收集和分析位于该地点以西2公里处的牛轭Touson湖的湖泊沉积物岩心。确定内容物可提供有用的数据，用于推断人类的影响，可适用于广泛的情况，产生有用的信息，而不需要破坏遗址的方法。此外，了解社会如何应对过去的气候变化和/或当地环境退化对于了解21世纪的挑战如何影响人口非常重要。其中包括与蒙德维尔考古公园博物馆分享结果，并与联邦承认的部落民族分享每月最新情况，部落民族的几位代表参与了数据的取样和解释。该项目还在多个大学培训了一名研究生和两名本科生，他们在多学科环境中学习，结合考古学和古环境研究表明，人类与环境直接和不断地相互作用。虽然有相当多的信息，气候环境，人类的相互作用的文化在中美洲和南美洲，有一个缺乏这样的信息密西西比州的土墩建设社会在北美。该项目解决了两个首要的研究问题：1）环境条件是否影响了蒙德维尔的人口和农业变化？以及2）环境变化是否产生了导致最终场地废弃的应力？为了回答这些问题，我们分析了图森湖的沉积物岩心：1）有机质中碳和氮的稳定同位素，2）粒度分布，3）磁化率，4）木炭颗粒，5）花粉组合，6）蓝藻色素，7）粪便甾醇，所有这些都表明了过去的环境条件。汇编了关于当地和区域人口统计的现有考古文献，与蒙德维尔有关的讲语言的部落用他们的土著传统和与该地区有关的文化历史为数据解释做出了贡献。该奖项反映了NSF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进行评估，被认为值得支持的搜索.

The goal of this research is to understand the environmental conditions that occurred during occupation and abandonment of the Moundville site, a regionally important late prehistoric site in Alabama. The research includes collection and analysis of lake sediment cores from Touson Lake, an oxbow located 2 km west of the site. Identification of the contents provides useful data for inferring human impacts that can be applied at a wide range of situations, yielding useful information without methods that are destructive to sites. Furthermore, understanding how societies responded to past climate change and/or local environmental degradation is important for understanding how challenges of the 21st century might impact populations. Included are sharing of results with the Moundville Archaeological Park Museum and sharing monthly updates to federally recognized Tribal Nations with several representatives of which are involved with both sampling and interpreting the data. This project also trains one graduate and two undergraduate students at multiple universities in a multi-disciplinary setting.Combined archaeological and paleoenvironmental studies demonstrate that humans are in direct and constant interaction with their environment. While there is considerable information about climate-environment-human interactions for cultures in central and South America, there is a lack of such information for Mississippian mound-building societies in North America. This project addresses two overarching research questions: 1) did environmental conditions influence shifts in population and agriculture at Moundville? and 2) did environmental changes create stresses that caused eventual site abandonment? To answer these questions, sediment cores from Touson Lake are analyzed for: 1) stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in organic matter, 2) grain size distribution, 3) magnetic susceptibility, 4) charcoal particles, 5) pollen assemblages, 6) cyanobacteria pigments, and 7) fecal sterols, all of which indicate past environmental conditions. Compilation of existing archaeological literature on the demography of the local and regional populations are compiled and representatives of Muskogean-speaking tribes affiliated with Moundville contribute to data interpretation with their indigenous traditions and culture histories associated with the region.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.