Reassessing plants and pastoralist foodways in ancient eastern Africa

重新评估古代东非的植物和牧民饮食方式

• 批准号: 2243593
• 负责人: Mary Prendergast
• 金额: $ 35.03万
• 依托单位: William Marsh Rice University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-05-01 至 2026-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2243593&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Reassessing; plants; pastoralist; foodways; ancient

In the world today, tens of millions of people rely on livestock such as cattle, sheep, and goat to feed their families and drive local economies. Researchers and policymakers now recognize that this way of life – known as pastoralism – is highly dynamic and flexible, and therefore enables people to thrive when climate change threatens food security and, by extension, creates social or political instability. In Africa, pastoralism has been a mainstay of life for at least seven millennia. Yet archaeologists lack basic data with which to understand how pastoralism developed, expanded across the continent, and changed over time. This limits the extent to which archaeologists can use data from the past to inform present-day discussions of land use and pastoralist resilience. In particular, a key missing element of archaeological research is the plant component of pastoralism food systems. While it is known that pastoralists commonly incorporate crops and wild plants into their food systems today, past pastoralist plant use in Africa is poorly known, due to relatively poor preservation, and a lack of research in this area. This three-year, multidisciplinary research project tackles this research gap with fieldwork and associated laboratory work. The project includes training for undergraduate and graduate students. Results will be made available to a broader public via a US-based archaeological open access database.An international team of researchers investigates the roles of plants in ancient pastoralist foodways by focusing on a single location with exceptionally good preservation and a three thousand year history. Preliminary evidence for the culinary importance of plants includes plant traces detected in pottery and on grinding stones. In order to holistically reconstruct past food systems, this project supports excavation and study of ancient plant and animal remains informed by an ethnobotanical study. The latter includes interviews with pastoralist and farmer communities on plant identifications and traditional uses; collection of modern plant samples for comparison to and improved identification of ancient remains; and the development of an ethnobotanical database that pairs physical plant samples with text, audio, and video data on traditional plant knowledge and use. Broader impacts of this research also includes the creation of a permanent botanical research collection in two international locations.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.

在当今世界，数千万人依靠牛、绵羊和山羊等牲畜养家糊口，拉动当地经济。研究人员和政策制定者现在认识到，这种被称为牧业的生活方式具有高度的活力和灵活性，因此，当气候变化威胁到粮食安全，进而造成社会或政治不稳定时，这种生活方式使人们能够蓬勃发展。在非洲，至少七千年来，牧业一直是生活的支柱。然而，考古学家缺乏基本的数据来了解牧业是如何发展、扩展到整个大陆，并随着时间的推移而发生变化的。这限制了考古学家利用过去的数据为当今关于土地利用和牧民恢复能力的讨论提供信息的程度。特别是，考古学研究中缺少的一个关键因素是畜牧业食物系统中的植物成分。虽然众所周知，牧民今天通常将农作物和野生植物纳入他们的食物系统，但由于保存相对较差，以及在这一领域缺乏研究，过去非洲牧民植物的使用情况鲜为人知。这个为期三年的多学科研究项目通过实地考察和相关的实验室工作来解决这一研究差距。该项目包括对本科生和研究生的培训。结果将通过设在美国的考古开放获取数据库向更广泛的公众公布。一个国际研究小组调查了植物在古代牧民食物中的作用，他们专注于一个保存得特别好、有3000年历史的单一地点。植物在烹饪上的重要性的初步证据包括在陶器和研磨石上检测到的植物痕迹。为了全面重建过去的食物系统，该项目支持对民族植物学研究提供信息的古代动植物遗骸的挖掘和研究。后者包括就植物鉴定和传统用途与牧民和农民社区进行访谈；收集现代植物样本，以便与古代遗骸进行比较和改进鉴定；开发民族植物学数据库，将实物植物样本与有关传统植物知识和用途的文本、音频和视频数据配对。这项研究的更广泛的影响还包括在两个国际地点创建永久的植物学研究收藏。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的学术价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。