Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Early Human Settlement of the High-Altitude Pucuncho Basin, Southern Peruvian Andes

在丹尼尔·桑德韦斯博士的指导下，库尔特·拉德梅克先生将为他的博士论文研究收集数据。他的项目集中于确定早期人类在安第斯山脉居住的时间。人类在地球高海拔山区和高原的定居是我们物种最近的生物地理扩张之一。目前的人类学模型强调这些极端环境所固有的自然地理和生物挑战，以解释安第斯山脉和青藏高原海拔3500米以上缺乏11,000年前的考古证据。然而，在这些地区进行的狩猎采集遗址考古研究很少，这一跨学科项目的主要目标是更好地了解秘鲁南部高安第斯山脉的人类定居的时间，环境设置和适应。到目前为止，Rademaker的调查已经在Pucuncho盆地发现了早期考古遗址，这是一个被冰川火山环绕的湿地绿洲，海拔约4500米（约14，760英尺）。其中一个地点，Cuncaicha rockshelter，已经产生了初步的放射性碳年代，表明这个高海拔地区的最初定居点在12，400年至11，800年前。这些日期确立了Cuncaicha作为安第斯山脉最古老的已知直接定年考古遗址之一，也是世界上迄今为止发现的最高的冰河时代遗址。这将大大加强Cuncaicha收容所的初步年代数据，并提供有关对安第斯动物和人民至关重要的当地生境发展的信息，高海拔地区的殖民化。Rademaker将获得Cuncaicha岩石避难所和附近里奥布兰科地质剖面的额外放射性碳年代。这些考古和古生态数据将直接与当地冰川地质记录进行比较，这些比较将揭示晚冰期气候变化，安第斯栖息地的形成和早期人类定居极端高海拔环境之间的联系。该项目将产生广泛的影响。通过在亚利桑那大学加速器质谱实验室进行样品预处理，Rademaker将接受考古科学方法学方面的宝贵培训。本论文项目的完成将产生许多同行评议的期刊出版物，并最终导致出版一个编辑量更一般的观众。该项目小组除了在国内外专业会议上介绍科学成果外，还在秘鲁和北美的大学作了客座讲座，并将继续这样做。自2005年以来，该项目为Pucuncho盆地的一些当地居民提供了有限的临时经济利益，他们协助调查和挖掘，并为项目小组提供了相关支持。该小组为普昆乔的三个村庄的学童带来了药品、维生素和教育材料，并努力灌输有关该地区考古遗迹的保护伦理。继续在Pucuncho地区的科学工作，这将建立在这个博士学位。博士论文项目，无疑将加强这种伦理，并产生额外的有价值的信息，气候变化，生态和人类史前。

Under the direction of Dr. Daniel Sandweiss, Mr. Kurt Rademaker will collect data for his doctoral dissertation research. His project focuses on determining the timing of early human occupation in the Andes Mountains. Human settlement of Earth's high-altitude mountains and plateaus is among the most recent of our species' bio-geographic expansions. Current anthropological models emphasize the physiographic and biological challenges inherent to these extreme environments to explain a lack of pre-11,000 year-old archaeological evidence above 3500 m elevation in the Andes and on the high Tibetan Plateau. However few archaeological studies targeting hunter-gatherer sites have been conducted in these areas.This interdisciplinary project's primary objectives are to better understand the timing, environmental setting, and adaptations involved in human settlement of the high Andes of southern Peru. Rademaker's investigations so far have led to the discovery of early archaeological sites in the Pucuncho Basin, a wetland oasis ringed by glaciated volcanoes and situated at ~4500 m (~14,760 ft) elevation. One of these sites, Cuncaicha rockshelter, has yielded preliminary radiocarbon dates that indicate an initial settlement of this high-altitude area between 12,400 and 11,800 years ago. These dates establish Cuncaicha as one of the oldest known directly-dated archaeological sites in the Andes Mountains and the highest ice-age site yet discovered anywhere in the world.The final laboratory phase of this dissertation project, to be funded by NSF, will significantly strengthen the preliminary chronological data from Cuncaicha shelter and provide information on the development of local habitats important to Andean animals and people for successful colonization of high-altitude zones. Rademaker will obtain additional radiocarbon dates for the Cuncaicha rockshelter site and the nearby Rio Blanco geologic section. These archaeological and paleoecologic data will be directly comparable with local glacial geologic records, and these comparisons will shed light on links between late ice-age climatic change, the formation of Andean habitats, and early human settlement of extreme high-altitude environments. This project will have several broad impacts. By conducting pretreatment of samples at the University of Arizona accelerator mass spectrometry lab, Rademaker will receive valuable training in archaeological scientific methodology. Completion of this dissertation project will yield numerous peer-reviewed journal publications and ultimately lead to publication of an edited volume for a more general audience. The project team has given, and will continue to give, guest lectures at Peruvian and North American universities, in addition to presenting scientific results at professional meetings at home and abroad. Since 2005 this project has provided limited temporary economic benefits to some local inhabitants of the Pucuncho Basin who have assisted in surveys and excavation and provided related support for the project team. The team has brought medicine, vitamins, and educational materials for the school children in Pucuncho's three villages and worked to instill a conservation ethic about archaeological remains in the region. Continued scientific work in the Pucuncho area, which will build upon this Ph.D. dissertation project, will undoubtedly reinforce this ethic and yield additional valuable information on climatic change, ecology, and human prehistory.