Doctoral Dissertation Research Award: Establishing A Wild Resource Isotopic Baseline For Behavioral Reconstruction

在琼·科林博士的指导下，迈克尔·刘易斯先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。这些数据由犹他州东南部雪松台地上现存植物的同位素组成。有了这些信息，就有可能深入了解科罗拉多高原史前农民的饮食。这项研究的目标是使用来自人类骨骼材料的同位素数据来重建个人的饮食，然后洞察群体社会组织。该项目将人类骨骼化学中基于性别的差异转化为明显的饮食差异，阐明了史前社会中男性和女性的经济角色。虽然将收集的数据将用于重建过去，但这些信息也将与理解西部沙漠中的水、土壤和植物的相互作用有关，并将有助于制定负责任地平衡科罗拉多高原上的保护、娱乐和经济发展的战略。这个项目有四个组成部分。首先，调查人员将分析2014年在犹他州东南部雪松台地收集的现代植物群。将选择采样地点，以确定环境变化对单一物种内同位素比率的影响程度。其次，从雪松台地考古遗址的动物标本中提取骨胶原，并进行分析。这将使研究人员能够估计史前猎人消耗的瘦肌肉的同位素值。第三，将在受控条件下模拟香蕉丝兰“心”的坑烤，这是雪松台地史前饮食的重要组成部分，允许对心脏的可食用部分与考古经常发现的丝兰纤维的组成进行同位素比较。最后，上面的植物和动物将结合雪松台地地区公布的人类埋葬数据来重建饮食。这将允许研究人员在跨性别比较中确定植物性食物和动物性食物的相对贡献。结果将向科学界公布，并通过当地教育宣传向公众展示。

Under the direction of Dr. Joan Coltrain Mr. Michael Lewis will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. These consist of isotope values derived from present day plants located on the Cedar Mesa in southeast Utah. With this information it will be possible to gain insight into the diet of prehistoric farmers on the Colorado Plateau. The goal of the research is to use isotopic data derived from human skeletal material to reconstruct individuals' diets and then gain insight into group social organization. This project translates sex-based differences in human bone chemistry into distinct dietary differences, clarifying the economic roles of men and women in prehistoric society. While the data to be collected will be used to reconstruct the past, the information will also have relevance for understanding water, soil and plant interactions in the desert west, and will contribute to developing strategies for responsibly balancing preservation, recreation and economic development on the Colorado Plateau. This project has four components. First, the investigators will analyze modern flora collected on Cedar Mesa, southeast Utah in 2014. Sampling locations will be selected to determine the extent to which environmental variation can influence isotope ratios within a single species. Second, bone collagen from faunal specimens from archaeological sites on Cedar Mesa will be obtained, extracted and analyzed. This will permit researchers to estimate the isotopic values of lean muscle consumed by prehistoric hunters. Third, pit-roasting of banana yucca "hearts", an important component of Cedar Mesa prehistoric diet, will be simulated under controlled conditions, permitting the isotopic comparison of the edible portion of the heart with the composition of yucca fibers which are often recovered archaeologically. Finally, the above plant and animal will then combined with published data on human burials from the Cedar Mesa area to reconstruct diet. This will permit researchers to determine the relative contributions of plant and animal foods in a cross gender comparison. Results will be published to the scientific community and presented to the public through local educational outreach.