Dissertation Research: Prehispanic Subsistence Patterns in the Middle Orinoco Basin, Venezuela

在岛田泉博士和乔纳森·希尔博士的指导下，琳达佩里女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她将开发一种技术来测试考古沉积物中是否存在苦木薯（Manihot esculenta Crantz），然后将其应用于从委内瑞拉亚马逊中部奥里诺科河地区的一系列遗址中挖掘出的石器。苦木薯是亚马逊河流域一种重要的传统食物，根据间接证据，据信已在该地区驯化。人类社会组织的一个重大转变与“新石器时代革命”有关，即从以狩猎和采集食物为基础的生存转变为对驯养动植物的依赖。考古学家希望了解导致世界许多地区各种物种驯化的独立过程。由于动物的骨骼在考古遗址中保存得很好，所以人们对哺乳动物的驯化有很多了解。然而，植物，特别是热带环境中的块根作物，受到迅速破坏，其历史不太清楚。植物学家早就认识到，许多这样的植物产生淀粉粒，可以作为独特的物种标记，并在考古学的情况下保存完好。这些颗粒经常附着在用于加工植物的石器上，对这些石器的检查可以提供关于特定物种存在的明确信息。然而，该技术尚未应用于苦木薯。MS佩里将分析苦木薯样品，以确定苦木薯淀粉粒的结构，然后采用现有的技术，并制定适当的分析协议。然后，她将在目前存放在美国的一个挖掘得很好的收藏品上进行测试。成功完成后，她将前往委内瑞拉，并检查一系列中奥里诺科河遗址的材料。该地区有几个主要的文化传统，这些遗址共同追溯了一段时间的历史。三千年。这项研究将把这一复杂的文化历史与苦木薯的驯化和利用联系起来。它将开发一种在热带新世界具有广泛考古适用性和价值的分析技术。它将为一种重要的传统驯化动物的驯化提供新的线索，并有助于阐明南美文化史。它还将有助于培养一个有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Drs. Izumi Shimada and Jonathan Hill, MS Linda Perry will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will develop a technique to test for the presence of bitter manioc (Manihot esculenta Crantz) in archaeological deposits and then apply it to stone artifacts excavated from a series of sites from the Amazonian Middle Orinoco region of Venezuela. Bitter manioc is an important traditional Amazonian food and, based on indirect evidence, is believed to have been domesticated in this region. A major transformation in human social organization is associated with the "Neolithic Revolution", the shift from subsistence based on hunted and gathered foods to reliance on domesticated plants and animals. Archaeologists wish to understand the process that led independently to the domestication of a variety of species in many parts of the world. Because animal bones are often well preserved in archaeological sites, a great deal is known about domestication of mammalian species. However plants, especially root crops in tropical environments, are subject to rapid destruction and their history is less well understood. Botanists have long recognized that many such plants produce starch grains which are can serve as unique species markers and which are well preserved in archaeological situations. These grains often adhere to stone implements used to process the plants and examination of these lithics can provide unequivocal information on the presence of specific species. The technique however has not yet been applied to bitter manioc.MS Perry will analyze samples of bitter manioc to determine the configuration of bitter manioc starch grains and then adapt available techniques and develop an appropriate analytic protocol. She will then test it on a well excavated collection currently housed in the United States. When successfully completed she will then travel to Venezuela and examine materials from a series of Middle Orinoco sites. Several major cultural traditions were present in the region and together the sites trace each over a period of ca. 3,000 years. The research will relate this complex culture history to bitter manioc domestication and utilization.This project is important for several reasons. It will develop an analytic technique of wide archaeological applicability and value in the tropical New World. It will shed new light on the domestication of an important traditional domesticate and help to elucidate South American culture history. It will also help to train a promising young scientist.