Collaborative Research: Woodland Seasonality on the Northern Coast of the Gulf of Mexico

在国家科学基金会的支持下，由Gregory A.Waselkov博士(南阿拉巴马大学)、Elizabeth J.Reitz博士(佐治亚大学)和C.Frederick T.Andrus博士(阿拉巴马大学)领导的三个合作小组将调查墨西哥湾北部海岸阿拉巴马州中部和后期(公元325-1040年)沿阿拉巴马州部分河口捕鱼和捕贝类的季节性。在这个为期两年的项目中，团队成员将比较考古学家用来评估世界各地沿海遗址栖息地开发和居住流动性的季节性的分析方法。佐治亚大学的部分将专注于脊椎动物和无脊椎动物遗骸的动物考古分析，目标是将这两种动物遗骸整合到一个动态的生存开发模型中。阿拉巴马大学的团队将带头将氧同位素温度代理分析大规模应用于多种鱼类和贝类，以产生精确的季节性解释。南阿拉巴马大学项目成员将开发贝叶斯统计分析，以关联不同物种的温度代理曲线，并实现对考古沉积物更准确的季节性解释。该小组将对选定的鱼类和陆生脊椎动物进行元素和同位素分析，以提供有关个体发育(个体一生)栖息地变化的信息，以及捕获的季节性影响。UGA和美国的团队还将准备标本进行同位素分析，并记录生长模式的数据。其中一个结果将是可靠和准确地了解阿拉巴马州海岸林地生存适应的季节性维度，这是考古学家很少研究的地区。第二个更广泛的结果将是基于足够的多个猎物物种样本的更高的分析标准，这些样本产生对季节性栖息地开发和地点占用的信心评估，为世界各地的海岸沉积和流动性模型提供坚实的基础。该项目汇集了考古学、动物考古学、地球化学、材料科学和海洋生物学的专家，以创造具有超越正常学科界限的好处的协同效应。该项目的学术价值来自于一项严格的分析方案，该方案针对具有多条证据的特定季节性事件，提高了季节性解释的精度，并对不同栖息地的季节性开发进行了校准，这是考古学的一种新方法。这些分析方法协同工作，使之成为一种非常强大的解释方法，可以改变对沿海沉积和流动性的考古调查。在更基本的层面上，对考古遗迹的同位素分析将深入了解支配所有骨骼生长的基本过程。这项研究还有更广泛的影响。所有三个项目实验室都将有意义地让本科生参与这项研究，学习同位素化学和动物考古分析的基础知识。该项目的分析程序和结果将在积极的公共推广计划中得到特别强调，包括在实验室有监督的志愿者机会，工作人员和学生访问K-12教室，接待学校团体访问实验室，以及目前正在为南阿拉巴马大学考古博物馆开发的展览。

With National Science Foundation support, three collaborative teams led by Dr. Gregory A. Waselkov (University of South Alabama), Dr. Elizabeth J. Reitz (University of Georgia), and Dr. C. Frederick T. Andrus (University of Alabama) will investigate the seasonal nature of fishing and shellfishing during the Middle Woodland and Late Woodland periods (AD 325-1040) along estuaries of the Alabama portion of the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. In this two-year project, team members will compare methods of analysis used by archaeologists to assess seasonality of habitat exploitation and residential mobility at coastal sites around the world.The University of Georgia's component will focus on zooarchaeological analysis of vertebrate and invertebrate remains with the goal of integrating the two kinds of animal remains into a dynamic model of subsistence exploitation. The team from the University of Alabama will take the lead on a large-scale application of oxygen isotope temperature proxy analysis to multiple species of fish and shellfish to produce refined seasonality interpretations. University of South Alabama project members will develop a Bayesian statistical analysis to correlate temperature proxy curves from different species and achieve more precise seasonality interpretations of archaeological deposits. That team will investigate elemental and isotopic analyses of selected fish and terrestrial vertebrates to provide information on ontogenetic (individual lifetime) habitat changes, with seasonality-of-capture implications. The UGA and USA teams will also prepare specimens for isotopic analysis and record data on growth patterns.One outcome will be a reliable and precise understanding of the seasonal dimensions of Woodland subsistence adaptations along the Alabama coast, an area little studied by archaeologists. A second broader outcome will be a higher standard of analysis based on adequate samples of multiple prey species that yield confident assessments of seasonal habitat exploitation and site occupation, providing a firm basis for models of coastal sedentism and mobility around the world.This project brings together specialists in archaeology, zooarchaeology, geochemistry, materials science, and marine biology to create a synergy with benefits that transcend normal disciplinary boundaries. The intellectual merit of the project derives from a rigorous protocol for analysis that targets specific seasonal events with multiple lines of evidence, increased precision of seasonal interpretations, and calibration of seasonal exploitations of different habitats, an approach new to archaeology. These analytical methods work in concert, making this a very powerful interpretive approach that can transform archaeological inquiries on coastal sedentism and mobility. At a more basic level, isotope analysis of the archaeological remains will give insight into the fundamental processes that govern all skeletal growth.There are broader impacts to this study. All three project labs will meaningfully involve undergraduates in this research, learning the basics of isotope chemistry and zooarchaeological analysis. Analytical procedures and results of this project will be particularly highlighted in active public outreach programs, including supervised volunteer opportunities in the labs, staff and student visits to K-12 classrooms, hosting visits by school groups to the labs, and in an exhibit currently in development for the University of South Alabama's Archaeology Museum.