Prelude to Plant Domestication in Eastern North America

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Jane Buikstra博士将带领来自亚利桑那州立大学和美国考古中心的跨学科研究团队探索北美东部农业的起源，北美东部是世界上已知的见证植物独立驯化的十个地区之一。农业是人类历史上最重大的发展之一，但某些群体究竟是如何、何时和为什么开始种植农作物的，仍然是一个谜。北美东部植物驯化的前奏将通过对几个考古遗址保存完好的文物和植物遗骸的深入调查来解决这个问题，这些遗址可以追溯到从纯粹的狩猎和采集生活方式向主要以农业为基础的史前经济转型之前和期间。这项研究将通过探索下伊利诺伊州山谷考古记录中的多条证据来完成，那里存在着种子植物驯化的最早证据。研究将集中在古代时期(约公元前8,000-1,000年)，科斯特遗址丰富而保存完好的地平线是研究的中心。将对几个古代遗址的研磨石和其他工具进行显微镜检查，以确定是否存在植物微化石，如淀粉颗粒，这些微化石可以识别考古记录中未保存的某些植物。还将对石器进行微观研究，以寻找表明不同类型的植物加工活动的磨损和抛光图案。土壤样本将被分析植物植硅体和有机遗骸的存在，这有助于深入了解与气候变化和人类操纵相关的植被变化，以及种植和食用的植物种类。将开发一个由地理信息系统生成的这些地平线的三维模型，以帮助样本选择和分析。该项目涉及具有考古学、植物学、石器和计算机空间分析专业知识的高级研究人员，致力于统一目标，了解食品采购、食品加工及其与农业发展的关系的变化。在这项研究中采用的尖端方法，包括淀粉粒分析和计算机现场建模，在北美东部从未被结合起来解决这些问题。这个项目使研究人员能够最准确地了解史前种群所使用的各种植物资源，以及人们如何、何时以及为什么开始密集的互动，导致只有几个精选物种的驯化。这一信息有望在全球比较范围内对农业起源提供新的见解和理论上的理解。该项目还将进一步推动有关机构的教育和外联工作。考古调查可以作为关于人类历史、自然环境、气候变化和科学研究性质的公共教育的引人注目的工具。该项目的一个重要成果将是建立一个面向公众的教育网站，探索该地区的古代考古学和一般农业的起源。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Jane Buikstra will lead an interdisciplinary team of researchers from Arizona State University and the Center for American Archeology in exploring the origins of agriculture in Eastern North America, one of ten regions worldwide known to have witnessed the independent domestication of plants. Agriculture is one of the most significant developments in human history, but mystery still surrounds exactly how, when and why certain groups of people first began to grow crops. Prelude to Plant Domestication in Eastern North America will address this question through intensive investigation of well-preserved artifacts and plant remains from several archaeological sites dating immediately before and during the transition from a purely hunting and gathering way of life to a prehistoric economy based largely on agriculture. This research will be accomplished by exploring multiple lines of evidence from the archaeological record of the Lower Illinois Valley where exists the earliest evidence for the domestication of seed plants. Research will focus on the Archaic time period (approximately 8,000 - 1,000 B.C.), with the rich and well-preserved horizons of the Koster site serving as the study's centerpiece. Grinding stones and other tools from several Archaic period sites will be examined microscopically for the presence of plant microfossils, such as starch granules, which allow certain plants to be identified that are not otherwise preserved in the archaeological record. Stone tools will also be studied microscopically for patterns of wear and polish that indicate different types of plant processing activities. Soil samples will be analyzed for the presence of plant phytoliths and organic remains which provide insight into alterations in vegetation associated with climate change and human manipulation as well as the species of plants cultivated and eaten. A GIS (geographic information system) generated three-dimensional model of these horizons will be developed to assist in sample selection and analysis.This project involves senior researchers with expertise in archaeology, botany, stone tool, and computer spatial analysis working towards a unified goal of understanding changes in food procurement, food processing, and their relationship to the development of agriculture. Cutting-edge methods employed in this research, including starch grain analysis and computer site modeling, have never been combined to address these questions in eastern North America. This project offers researchers the ability to provide the most accurate understanding of the full range of plant resources used by prehistoric populations as well as how, when, and perhaps why people began the intensive interaction that led to the domestication of only a few select species of plants. This information promises to contribute new insight and theoretical understanding of the agricultural origins on a global comparative scale.This project will also further the educational and outreach efforts of the institutions involved. Archaeological investigations can serve as compelling vehicles for public education about the human past, the natural environment, climate change, and the nature of scientific research. An important outcome of this project will be an educational, public-oriented website that explores the Archaic-period archaeology of the region and the origins of agriculture in general.