Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Phytolith Analysis in Determination of Environmental Change

博士论文改进奖：植硅体分析测定环境变化

• 批准号: 2324863
• 负责人: Alexia Smith
• 金额: $ 4.03万
• 依托单位: University of Connecticut
• 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: 2023-08-01 至 2025-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2324863&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Award; Phytolith

This project investigates the relationship between environment and the shift in hominin stone tool technology and behavior occurring during the Late Middle Paleolithic LMP ~60–40 ka) and Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP ~46—30 ka). This shift is associated with the territorial expansion of Homo sapiens and the gradual disappearance of Homo neanderthalensis. The timing and nature of this transition differs across geographic regions. Why and how it occurred remains one of the major questions in late Paleolithic archaeology. In this study, microscopic plant remains from three geographically and environmentally distinct sites spanning the LMP—EUP are investigated. Comparing the environment to the technology and geographical movement of Neanderthals and modern humans sheds light on the degree to which changes in the local landscape influenced changes in behavior. The methods utilized here are applicable to late Paleolithic archaeology providing researchers a straightforward tool to investigate the same questions. During the last ice age, the region acted as a climatic refuge for plants, and possibly also Neanderthals and modern humans. Today, the region is a biodiversity hotspot with over 6000 species of plants. Understanding past local environment change as a result of climate change can therefore be important to understand not only behavior of earlier hominins, but also how the environment responds to future climate change. Archaeology is particularly well placed to study the influence of climate on local environments owing to the extended periods of time studied. This project uses phytolith analysis to recreate past environments. Phytoliths are silica imprints of plant cells, and therefore direct evidence of the plants present at the time. The use of phytoliths for environmental recreation is well established and can be applied in virtually any place where there are or have been plants. Previously, regional modern soil samples were taken from different environments, and analyzed to create vegetation fingerprints, associating phytolith assemblages with particular vegetation types. The result of this work provides a proxy, showing what type of phytoliths can be expected in a particular environment. Through statistical analysis of the archaeological phytolith assemblages in conjunction with the modern data, a detailed recreation of past environments are produced. These results are analyzed alongside archaeological data of hominin behavior acquired over the last two decades by different research groups in 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.

本项目研究了中旧石器时代晚期（LMP ~60 ~ 40 ka）和上旧石器时代早期（EUP ~46 ~ 30 ka）人类石器技术和行为的转变与环境的关系。这种转变与智人的领土扩张和尼安德特人的逐渐消失有关。这种转变的时间和性质因地理区域而异。它为什么以及如何发生仍然是旧石器时代晚期考古学的主要问题之一。在这项研究中，微观植物遗骸从三个地理上和环境上不同的地点跨越LMP-EUP进行了调查。将环境与尼安德特人和现代人的技术和地理运动进行比较，可以揭示当地景观的变化对行为变化的影响程度。这里使用的方法适用于旧石器时代晚期的考古学，为研究人员提供了一个直接的工具来研究同样的问题。在最后一个冰河时期，该地区是植物的气候避难所，也可能是尼安德特人和现代人的气候避难所。如今，该地区是生物多样性的热点地区，拥有6000多种植物。因此，了解气候变化导致的过去当地环境变化不仅对了解早期人类的行为，而且对了解环境如何应对未来的气候变化都很重要。由于研究时间较长，考古学在研究气候对当地环境的影响方面处于特别有利的地位。该项目使用植物岩分析来重建过去的环境。植物岩是植物细胞的硅质印记，因此是当时植物存在的直接证据。植物岩在环境娱乐中的应用已经得到了很好的确立，几乎可以应用于任何有植物或曾经有植物的地方。以前，从不同的环境中提取区域现代土壤样本，并对其进行分析以创建植被指纹，将植物岩组合与特定的植被类型联系起来。这项工作的结果提供了一个代理，表明在特定的环境中可以预期哪种类型的植物岩。通过对考古植物岩组合的统计分析，结合现代数据，对过去的环境进行了详细的再现。这些结果与该地区不同研究小组在过去二十年中获得的古人类行为考古数据一起进行了分析。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。