Agricultural Adaptation in a Geographic Context.

本研究的目的是研究长时间和长距离的农业扩散。这种早期粮食全球化的进程对社会和生态产生了深远的长期影响，改变了过去的社会，其后果一直持续到今天。以前关于这个主题的工作主要集中在作物运动的路线和年表。然而，确定其种植和加工的具体方式已证明是有问题的。 了解过去的农业和饮食条件也有助于了解人们今天面临的一些挑战。传统耕作技术对全球粮食安全和现代边缘环境中的耕作做法有着深刻的启示。这个项目通过具体的问题来解决这些问题：小米是什么时候从它的地理起源向西传播的？蒸和煮等烹饪方法是否也随之而来？小麦和大麦是什么时候向东传播的？古代农民是灌溉作物还是在干旱条件下耕种作物？研究小组专注于鉴定保存在陶器碎片中的有机残留物，以评估远离小米原产地的相关接收地区的烹饪技术。他们检查和评估了保存在41个地点的小麦和大麦的同位素组成，以深入了解这些地区的水管理策略。通过解决这些问题，该项目的影响超越了区域重点。调查的核心是非本土创新如何在土著社会和文化领域内转化。在这种情况下，该项目将有助于理解实践和代理为基础的早期全球化的全球主题。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得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的支持。

The goal of this research to study long term and long-distance farming dispersals. Such process of early food globalization had profound long-term social and ecological impacts, which transformed past societies with consequences lasting until this day. Previous work on this topic has focused on the routes and chronologies of crop movements. However, identifying the specific manner of their cultivation and processing has proven problematic. Understanding past farming and dietary conditions can also help to understand some of the challenges people face today. Traditional farming techniques can be insightful to global food security and cultivation practices in modern-day marginal environments. This project addresses these issues by specifically asking: When did millet spread westward from its point of geographic origin? Did culinary practices such as steaming and boiling travel with it? When did wheat and barley spread eastward? Did ancient farmers irrigate the crops or cultivate them under water stress conditions in rainfed systems? The research team focuses on identifying organic residues preserved in pottery sherds to assess relevant receiving areas cooking techniques far from millet’s origin. They examine and evaluate the isotopic compositions of wheat and barley preserved at 41 sites to enable insights into the water management strategies in those regions. By addressing those questions, the implication of the project moves beyond the regional focus. Central to the inquiry is how non-native innovations were transformed within the indigenous social and cultural spheres. In this context, the project will contribute to a global theme in understanding practice- and agent-based early globalization.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.