Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Upper San Pedro Revisited: Early Paleoindian Subsistence and Geochronology in Southeastern Arizona

最早进入北美的无可争议的人类种群被考古学家认为是克洛维斯复合体。 当在考古遗址中发现时，他们的工具往往与已灭绝的大型哺乳动物如猛犸有关。 人类对大型猎物（如猛犸）的捕食是美国考古学中最有争议和最重要的研究课题之一。 人类与猛犸象互动的最有力记录发生在亚利桑那州东南部的圣佩德罗河谷，放射性碳年代测定表明，冰河时代的猎人在大约13,000年前杀死并屠杀了猛犸和一种灭绝的野牛。 在15公里半径范围内共有6个地点，这些地点的集中不仅用于展示以大型猎物为重点的狩猎经济，还用于展示其对巨型动物生态和灭绝的影响。在圣佩德罗河谷寻找其他克洛维斯复杂地点和猛犸地点很重要，原因有三。 首先，几乎所有以前的猛犸遗址都是由牧场主发现的，他们注意到大骨头从他们的财产中侵蚀出来。 这种情况造成了对大型哺乳动物的发现偏见，并可能歪曲了克洛维斯人的日常饮食。 为了测试克洛维斯工具与大型游戏的关联，需要对圣佩德罗河沿线的所有形式的考古证据进行沿着的系统调查。 第二，人类“过度杀戮”在更新世灭绝中的作用受到不完整的遗址样本的影响。 研究区域内密集的猛犸捕杀地点必须与猛犸自然死亡地点的样本相联系，以确定人类狩猎对猛犸种群的影响。 第三，人类殖民的时间设置了重要的条件，以适应更新世“过度杀戮”的大型狩猎的作用。 需要额外的放射性碳年代测定，以更好地评估克洛维斯群体在研究区域的到达和持续时间。将记录研究中心的位置、生存和地理年代信息。将通过行人调查和少数地点的有限考古发掘收集数据。重要的地质和考古人才和资源可在亚利桑那大学，以协助实现这些目标。更新世记录的圣佩德罗河是流行在美国考古学，古生物学，地质考古学和古生态学的历史。 作为圣佩德罗河国家保护区的一部分，该项目仍然与土地管理局（BLM）及其使命更广泛地相关，以促进对过去和现在文化的理解，改善社会研究和科学教育，并加强公民教育，以帮助保护考古遗产。 在项目层面，这一外联活动包括K-12学校访问、公开讲座、当地媒体机会、网站开发以及为亚利桑那大学的几名本科生和研究生提供考古培训。

The earliest uncontested human population to enter North America is recognized by archaeologists as the Clovis complex. When found in archaeological sites, their tools are often associated with extinct large mammals such as mammoth. Human predation on big-game prey such as mammoth is one of the most debated and significant research topics in American archaeology. The most robust record of human-mammoth interaction occurs in the San Pedro River valley of Southeastern Arizona, where radiocarbon dates indicate that Ice Age hunters killed and butchered mammoth and an extinct form of bison approximately 13,000 years ago. A total of six sites occur within a 15 km radius, and this concentration of sites is used to demonstrate not only a hunting economy focused on big game, but also its impact on megafauna ecology and extinction.The search for additional Clovis complex sites and mammoth sites in the San Pedro River valley is important for 3 reasons. First, nearly all of the previous mammoth sites were discovered by ranchers who noticed large bones eroding from their property. This circumstance creates a discovery bias for large mammals and perhaps misrepresents the everyday diet of Clovis people. A systematic survey along the San Pedro River for all forms of archaeological evidence is needed to test the association of Clovis tools with large game. Second, the role of human "overkill" in Pleistocene extinction suffers from an incomplete sample of sites. The dense cluster of mammoth kill sites in the study area must be considered in relation to a sample of mammoth natural death sites to determine what impact, if any, human hunting could have had on mammoth populations. And third, the timing of human colonization sets important conditions necessary to accommodate the role of big-game hunting on Pleistocene "overkill". Additional radiocarbon dates are required to better assess the arrival and duration of Clovis groups in the study area.To address these questions a one-year study of the upper San Pedro will be conducted. Site location, subsistence and geochronological information will be recorded. Data will be collected using pedestrian surveys and limited archaeological excavations at a small number of sites. Significant geological and archaeological talent and resources are available at the University of Arizona to assist in the fulfillment of these goals.The Pleistocene record of the San Pedro River is popular in the history of American archaeology, paleontology, geoarchaeology, and paleoecology. As part of the San Pedro River National Conservation Area, the project is still more widely relevant to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and their mission to foster understanding of past and present cultures, improve social studies and science education, and enhance citizenship education to help preserve archaeological legacy. At the project level, this outreach includes K-12 school visits, public lectures, local media opportunities, website development, and archaeological training for several undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Arizona.