Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Behavioral Adaptations and Mobility of Early Holocene Hunter-Gatherers, Santa Cruz Island, California

在Michael Glassow博士的指导下，艾米·E·古西克女士将在圣克鲁斯岛对全新世早期(7500-10000 BP)的流动性进行考古研究。这个岛屿是组成北海峡群岛的四个岛屿之一，这些岛屿位于加利福尼亚州的圣巴巴拉海峡地区。虽然这些岛屿是同一岛链的一部分，但在大小、环境和生物多样性方面差异很大；然而，它们都提供了丰富的海洋资源。因此，生活在这些岛屿上的人类群体是海洋狩猎-采集文化，饮食主要由海洋资源组成。研究人员认为，海洋狩猎采集者生活的独特生态环境鼓励这些群体减少流动性，居住在一个地点，而不是在位于整个景观的不同居住基地之间迁徙。这种久坐不动的生活方式与社会和政治复杂的狩猎采集社会的发展有关。古西克的研究重点将放在为居住在北海峡群岛的狩猎-采集者提出更久坐的生活方式的最早时期。虽然了解这些早期时期的流动性不会直接导致确定社会和政治复杂性的原因，但它为理解影响这种复杂性的性质和时机的适应的发展提供了基线。以前从北海峡群岛的两个岛屿收集的数据被用来表明，早期全新世岛屿狩猎采集者有一个中心地点，所有的觅食活动都是从这个地点开始的。然而，在北海峡群岛中最大、最具生态多样性的圣克鲁斯，缺乏支持或反对这一假说的数据。生态和资源分配是影响群体组织流动性和生存决策的主要因素。因此，由于北海峡群岛之间的环境差异很大，基于其他岛屿数据的广泛假设可能不适合考虑圣克鲁斯岛的机动性。古西克的研究将侧重于通过挖掘四个已确定的早期全新世沉积物来收集考古数据，从而确定圣克鲁斯岛上的早期全新世流动性。将对人工、动物和植物组合进行分析，以确定地点间的差异、地点功能、栖息地用途和古环境。这项研究很好地评估了群体在同一地区使用不同的移动策略的可能性。认识到行为的变异是人类学中的一个重要问题，因为适应性行为的泛化并不考虑可能在文化发展中发挥关键作用的局部变量。该项目将对美洲原住民社区产生积极影响，因为成员将参与该项目。他们的参与不仅将促进知识在他们部落内的传播，而且还将促进科学界和美洲原住民社区之间的关系。此外，该项目的所有阶段都将包括本科生助理，从而提供现场和实验室技术方面的指导。

Under the supervision of Dr. Michael Glassow, Ms. Amy E. Gusick will conduct archaeological research on the nature of mobility during the Early Holocene (7500-10000 BP) on Santa Cruz Island. This island is one of four that comprise the Northern Channel Islands, which are located in the Santa Barbara Channel region of California. Though part of the same island chain, these islands differ extensively in size, environment, and biodiversity; however, they all offer abundant marine resources. As such, the human groups that lived on these islands were maritime hunter-gatherer cultures with diets comprised of mainly marine resources. Researchers have argued that the unique ecological context in which maritime hunter-gatherers lived encouraged these groups to reduce their mobility and reside at one locale, instead of migrating between various residential bases located across the landscape. This type of sedentary lifestyle has been associated with the development of socially and politically complex hunter-gatherer societies. Ms. Gusick's research will focus on the earliest time period in which a more sedentary lifestyle has been proposed for the hunter-gatherers living on the Northern Channel Islands. While understanding mobility during these earlier periods will not lead directly to determining the causes of social and political complexity, it provides a baseline for understanding the development of adaptations that influence the nature and timing of this complexity. Data previously collected from two of the Northern Channel Islands have been used to suggest that Early Holocene island hunter-gatherers had one central locale from which all foraging activity originated. Yet, data to support or reject this hypothesis from Santa Cruz, the largest and most ecologically diverse of the Northern Channel Islands, is lacking. Ecology and resource distribution are major factors in the mobility and subsistence decisions that affect group organization. Therefore, due to the pronounced environmental variation between the Northern Channel Islands, broad hypotheses based on data from other islands may not be appropriate for consideration of mobility on Santa Cruz Island. Ms. Gusick's research will focus on identifying Early Holocene mobility on Santa Cruz Island by collecting archaeological data through excavation of the four identified Early Holocene deposits. Artifactual, faunal, and floral assemblages will be analyzed to determine inter-site variation, site functionality, habitat use, and paleoenvironment. This research is well positioned to evaluate the possibility that groups may utilize varying mobility strategies within the same region. Recognizing variation in behavior is an important issue within anthropology, as generalization of adaptive behavior does not account for local variants that can play a crucial role in cultural development. This project will have a positive impact on the Native American community, as members will be involved with the project. Their participation will not only promote dissemination of knowledge within their tribe, but it will also foster relations between the scientific and Native American communities. Additionally, all stages of this project will include undergraduate assistants and thus provide instruction in field and laboratory techniques.