Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Holocene Hunter-gatherer Plant Use and Foraging Choice, a Test from Minas Gerais, Brazil

桃金娘休克的博士研究重点是对巴西稀树大草原两个出土考古遗址的植物遗骸进行分析。在狩猎-采集种群的古代栖息地，植物遗骸通常保存得很差。然而，这项研究中考虑的考古遗址保存了极好的植物遗迹，因为它们位于巴西米纳斯吉拉斯北部的石灰岩避难所中。由于这些遗址有多个离散的人类居住层，可以追溯到11500年前，收集的数据将为了解狩猎采集饮食和11500到2500年前农业引入该地区时的饮食变化提供一个窗口。在加州大学圣巴巴拉分校的迈克尔·乔希姆博士的监督下，Shock女士正在与巴西学者合作。为她的研究提供数据的两个考古遗址已经被安德里·普鲁斯博士和雷纳托·基普尼斯博士挖掘出来。这些学者对米纳斯吉拉斯北部遗址的挖掘和分析提供了放射性碳年代学和对这些狩猎-采集职业的基本了解。这项研究项目建立在他们调查的基础上，考虑了以前没有考虑过的场地分析的一个方面，即植物遗骸的分析。对植物残骸的分析是理解生存不可或缺的一部分，包括人们吃什么及其起源。目前对巴西中部狩猎-采集行为的一种解释是，随着时间的推移，群体漫步的地区流动性减少。以前记录的定居点模式的变化和石器的使用证明了流动性的下降。在其他狩猎-采集群体中，流动性减少导致饮食变化。对米纳斯吉拉斯北部遗址的动物遗骸的分析并没有显示出预期的饮食变化伴随着流动性的下降。该项目对植物遗骸的分析将有助于对生存的了解，将植物和动物的使用纳入狩猎-采集者在挖掘地层中所代表的9000年期间的饮食全貌中。随着时间的推移，植物使用的变化可能有助于解释狩猎-采集群体是如何适应流动性下降的，包括人力资源使用和觅食选择的变化。此外，了解饮食变化的时机和机制是通向对文化变化的整体解释的一步。该项目的植物遗骸分析将在巴西进行，在那里，Shock女士将有机会咨询巴西植物学家，与其他考古学家合作，并对巴西学生进行考古植物学专业培训。植物分析是巴西考古学中一个新兴的研究课题。与巴西国家植物标本馆的初步协商使馆长们对植物种子收藏对考古有多重要感兴趣。该项目将培训米纳斯吉拉斯州北部的个人收集标本，以供植物学参考收藏，提高他们对当地本土植物潜在价值的认识。这些参考藏品将捐赠给S大学的民族志和考古博物馆，用于未来的考古植物学研究。

The doctoral research of Myrtle Shock focuses on the analysis of plant remains from two excavated archaeological sites in the Brazilian savanna. Plant remains are usually poorly preserved at ancient habitations of hunter-gatherer populations. However, the archaeological sites considered in this study have excellent preservation of plant remains because they are in limestone rock shelters in northern Minas Gerais, Brazil. Since the sites have multiple, discrete depositional layers of human habitation dating back to 11,500 BP, the data collected will provide a window into hunter-gatherer diet and diet changes from 11,500 to 2500 BP, when agriculture was introduced to the area.Supervised by Dr. Michael Jochim of the University of California, Santa Barbara, Ms Shock is working in collaboration with Brazilian scholars. The two archaeological sites furnishing data for her research have been excavated by Dr. Ándre Prous and Dr. Renato Kipnis. These scholars' excavations and analysis of sites in northern Minas Gerais provide the radiocarbon chronology and a basic understanding of these hunter-gatherer occupations. This research project builds upon their investigations by considering an aspect of site analysis which has not previously been considered, the analysis of botanical remains. The analysis of the remains of plants is integral to understanding subsistence, both what people ate and its origin. One of the current interpretations of hunter-gatherer behavior in central Brazil is that over time mobility, the area over which groups roamed, decreased. Decreased mobility is evidenced from previously documented changes in settlement patterns and the use of stone tools. Among other hunter-gatherer groups decreased mobility resulted in dietary changes. The analysis of animal remains from the sites in northern Minas Gerais did not show the expected dietary changes accompanying decreased mobility. The analysis of plant remains by this project will contribute to understanding about subsistence, incorporating both plant and animal use into a full picture of the diet of hunter-gatherers through the 9000 years represented in the excavation stratigraphy. Changes in plant use over time may help explain how the hunter-gatherer groups adapted to decreased mobility, including changes in human resource use and foraging choices. Furthermore, understanding the timing and mechanisms of dietary change is a step toward the overall interpretation of cultural change. Analysis of plant remains for this project will be conducted in Brazil where Ms Shock will have the opportunity to consult with Brazilian botanists, work alongside other archaeologists, and train Brazilian students in the archaeobotanical specialty. Plant analysis is an emerging research topic in Brazilian archaeology. Preliminary consultation with the Brazilian national herbarium has interested the curators in how important plant seed collections could be to archaeology. This project will train individuals in northern Minas Gerais to collect specimens for a botanic reference collection, increasing their awareness of the potential value of local native plants. The reference collection will be donated to the Museum of Ethnography and Archaeology at the University of São Paulo for future archaeobotanical studies.