Doctoral Dissertation Research: Effect of Colonial Policy on Land Use

本博士论文项目的目标是研究土地利用实践与美国西南部等新世界周边地区不断发展的殖民权力动态之间的关系。这位博士生调查了殖民地为应对帝国政策而实施的土地管理实践，通过土地使用实践确定了殖民控制的长期遗产。这项工作整合了考古植物遗迹的多个数据集，解决了当前知识中关于土地利用实践如何反映殖民边境社会政治机制的关键空白。树木人类学（树木年轮）技术用于研究考古木炭，从而确定具体的林地管理和木材利用做法。通过关注遗产收集，该研究不仅综合了区域古民族植物学调查和土地利用重建，而且还利用先前收集的数据集最大限度地保护考古遗址。研究成果的传播是通过同行评议的期刊和一个开放的平台来完成的，同时还制作了一个全面的木材解剖图谱。该项目通过对学生进行木材木炭分析培训来促进包容性。研究小组分析并整合了来自一系列殖民遗址的考古种子和木炭数据集，以研究过去的土地利用策略，并追踪殖民主义的历时性环境遗产，包括过度放牧、新环境生态位的建设和森林砍伐。项目地点分布在具有不同环境和社会属性的景观中，因此代表了理想的案例研究，以研究具有不同条件的社区如何应对殖民期望和当地环境现实带来的挑战。该项目应用树木人类学技术来确定具体的林地管理和木材利用做法，这些做法可能被用来在特定地区最大限度地提高木材产量。通过对种子植物组合的分析，绘制出了跨环境带和历史边界的农业模式，有助于更广泛地了解殖民地西南地区的农业机遇和制约因素。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。

The goal of this doctoral dissertation project is to examine the relationship between land-use practices and evolving colonial power dynamics in peripheral regions of the New World such as the US Southwest. The doctoral student investigates the land-management practices implemented in response to imperial policies in colonies, identifying long-lasting legacies of colonial control manifested through land-use practices. The work integrates multiple datasets of archaeological plant remains, addressing a critical gap in the current knowledge regarding how land-use practices reflect socio-political mechanisms on the colonial frontier. Dendroanthracological (tree-ring) techniques are used to study archaeological wood charcoal, enabling the identification of specific woodland management and wood-use practices. By focusing on legacy collections, the study not only synthesizes regional paleoethnobotanical investigation and land-use reconstructions but also uses previously collected datasets to maximize preservation of archaeological sites. Dissemination of research results is accomplished through peer-reviewed journals and an open-access platform, coupled with the production of a comprehensive wood anatomy atlas. This project fosters inclusivity through student training in wood charcoal analysis.The research team analyzes and integrates archaeological seed and charcoal datasets from a series of colonial sites to study past land-use strategies and trace the diachronic environmental legacies of colonialism, including overgrazing, the construction of new environmental niches, and deforestation. The project sites are distributed across landscapes with diverse environmental and social attributes, and so represent ideal case studies to examine how communities with differing conditions coped with the challenges posed by colonial expectations and local environmental realities. The project applies dendroanthracological techniques to identify specific woodland management and wood-use practices that may have been used to maximize wood production in specific areas. Through the analysis of botanical assemblages of seeds, agricultural patterns are mapped across environmental zones and historical boundaries, contributing to a broader understanding of agricultural opportunities and constraints in the colonial Southwest.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.