Collaborative Research: Long-term Anthropogenic Influences on the Crater Lake Environmental Landscape of Western Uganda

在国家科学基金会的支持下，由梅根·豪伊博士、彼得·施密特博士、迈克尔·宫殿博士、乔尔·哈特博士、劳伦斯·凯奇博士和邦尼·莱朱博士组成的跨学科团队将对乌干达西部的恩达利火山口湖景观进行一个野外季节的考古和古生态研究，这是鲁文佐里山脉以东一系列复杂的火山口湖泊和充满火山口的沼泽，形成了艾伯丁裂谷中一个特别独特的背景。人口的指数增长和无节制的土地转换使艾伯丁裂谷成为世界上最受威胁的生物多样性热点之一。这项研究旨在利用深厚的历史来揭示艾伯丁裂谷景观变化的现在和未来的轨迹。为了实现这一目标，有必要测试是否可以在当地考古记录和古生态记录之间建立联系。恩达利火山口湖泊和沼泽是记录过去景观证据(生物和非生物)的极好环境，因此，它们一直是古生态研究的重点。这些记录一直显示出人类干扰的可能证据，但有一种趋势是将变化归因于气候变化，而不是人为影响。其中一个原因是，这些湖泊周围缺乏考古证据，可能会将历史上的人类占领与这些发现联系起来。我们有充分的理由期待这里活跃的文化活动，因为恩达利湖位于维多利亚湖以西东非发展炼铁技术的震中东北不到200公里处，而且位于同一片森林地带，可以提供薪柴和其他资源，支持人们的工业生产。的确，施密特博士17年前的初步工作证实，人类曾在最北部的火山口湖周围占据过很深的时间，这是铁器时代早期和晚期的强烈迹象。到目前为止，还没有任何工作扩展这些初步发现。通过对火山口边缘和毗邻的梯田进行扩大的考古测试，以及在充填的火山口、沼泽和火山口湖泊中建立新的古生态核心，这一试点研究计划将确定是否可以成功地将考古学和古环境数据联系起来。火山口湖泊和人类住区之间的密切联系使人们有可能直接推断人类对景观的影响、人力资源开发以及陆地和水生生态系统对人类干扰的恢复能力。需要新的方法和答案来解决艾伯丁裂谷目前面临的人口和生态危机。这项试点工作将有助于建立一个研究计划，通过跨越人文科学、社会科学和自然科学，既回顾又展望，优先考虑当地历史知识对应对当前压力的重要性，从而提供新的答案。

With National Science Foundation support, an interdisciplinary team of Drs. Meghan Howey, Peter Schmidt, Michael Palace, Joel Hartter, Lawrence Kiage, and Bunny Lejju will conduct one field season of archaeological and paleoecological research on the Ndali crater lake landscape in western Uganda, a complex series of crater lakes and in-filled crater swamps east of the Rwenzori mountains which forms a particularly distinct setting in the Albertine Rift. Exponential population growth and unchecked land conversion have made the Albertine Rift one of the world's most threatened biodiversity hotspots. This research aims to use deep history to inform present and future trajectories of landscape change in the Albertine Rift. To build towards that goal, it is necessary to test whether linkages can be established between local archaeological and paleoecological records. The Ndali crater lakes and swamps are excellent environments for archiving evidences (biotic and abiotic) of past landscapes and as such, they have been the focus of paleoecological research. These records consistently show possible evidence of human-driven disturbance but there has been a tendency to attribute change to climate change rather than anthropogenic influences. One reason for this is the absence of archaeological evidence around these lakes that might connect historical human occupation to these findings. There is good reason to expect robust cultural activity here, as the Ndali lakes are located less than two hundred kilometers northeast of the epicenter for the development of iron smelting technology in East Africa west of Lake Victoria and are located in the same forest band that would have provided fuelwood and other resources to support people in industrial production. Indeed, preliminary work 17 years ago by Dr. Schmidt confirmed deep-time human occupation around the northern-most crater lakes with strong signatures from the Early and Later Iron Age. To date no work has expanded these preliminary findings. Through a combination of expanded archaeological testing on crater rims and contiguous terraces and new paleoecological cores in filled calderas, swamps, and crater lakes, this pilot research program will establish if archaeology and paleoenvironmental data can be successfully articulated. The close proximities between crater lakes and human settlements opens the potential to make direct inferences about human influence on the landscape, human resource exploitation, and the resilience of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to human disturbance. New approaches and answers are needed to address current demographic and ecological crises facing the Albertine Rift. This pilot work will help build a research program that offers new answers by crossing the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, looking backwards as well as forwards, and prioritizing local historical knowledge as important to address current stresses.