Dissertation: Large Mammal Resource Depression and Agricultural Intensification: A Test in the Mimbres Valley, New Mexico

在唐纳德·格雷森博士的指导下，迈克尔·坎农先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。这次考古研究的重点是新墨西哥州明布雷斯山谷的一系列遗址，这些遗址的时间跨度从公元500年到1300年。这大约800年的跨度见证了复杂社会的发展，这在西南的许多其他地区也得到了回应。聚落模式由小型坑屋村转变为大型多层村落，人口和文化复杂性显著增加。与世界上许多地方的类似情况一样，这一进程还伴随着对农业的日益依赖，以牺牲传统的狩猎和采集为代价。虽然这一事实已得到充分证实，但人们对这种转变的原因却知之甚少。一些人类学家认为，使用传统方法的农业生产比狩猎和采集产生更高的回报，随着人口压力的增加，这一方向被迫改变。另一些人则认为，造成这种现象的原因是由于不断增加的持续狩猎，而不是农业的内在优势。在他的研究中，坎农先生将评估这两种假设。他将分析从一系列米布雷斯考古遗址中发现的动物遗骸，以确定物种组成随时间的变化。他将研究更大、更有价值的物种与更小、热量回报更少的物种之间的比例变化。他还将重建年龄分布，以确定狩猎压力和身体部位分布，这些分布提供了猎人被迫离开定居点多远的信息。（随着大型猎物变得稀少，获得的年轻动物数量增加；猎人离营地越远，从猎物身上带回来的肉就越少。）这些数据将在最佳觅食理论的框架内进行解释。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为美国史前记录的一个重要方面提供新的线索，并为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据。它将为从狩猎和采集到农业的转变提供新的见解——这一过程在世界许多地方独立地重复着。它还将帮助培训一名有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Donald Grayson, Mr. Michael Cannon will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. The focus of this archaeological research is a series of sites in the Mimbres Valley of New Mexico which span the time period from ca. 500 to 1,300 AD. This approximately 800 year span witnessed the development of complex society which is echoed in many other parts of the Southwest. Settlement patterns changed from small pithouse villages to large multistory pueblos and both population and cultural complexity increased significantly. In common with similar situations in many part of the world, this process was also accompanied on increased reliance on agriculture at the expense of traditional hunting and gathering. While this fact is well established, the reason for this shift is poorly understood. Some anthropologists argue that agriculture using traditional methods produces higher returns that hunting and gathering and that with increased population pressure forced change in this direction. Others believe that depletion of large game through increased sustained hunting rather than any intrinsic advantage in agriculture is the causal factor. In his study Mr. Cannon will evaluate these two alternative hypotheses. He will analyze faunal remains recovered from a series of Mimbres archaeological sites to determine changes in species composition over time. He will examine changes in ratio between larger more highly valued species vs. smaller ones with less caloric return. He will also reconstruct age distributions to determine hunting pressure and body part distributions which provide information on how far from a settlement hunters are forced to range. (As large game becomes scarce, the number of younger animals obtained increases; the further hunters go from camp the fewer less meaty parts from kills are carried back to it.) These data will be interpreted within a framework derived from optimal foraging theory. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed new light on an important aspect of the American prehistoric record and provide data of interest to many archaeologists It will yield new insight into the shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture - a process which was repeated independently in many parts of the world. It will also assist in training a promising young scientist.