Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: The Development Of Pastoral Based Subsistence Economies

来自世界不同地区的人类学研究强调，在依赖多种生存系统的社区的发展中，采用畜牧业是重要的。几项考古研究表明，与狩猎-采集-捕鱼策略相结合的畜牧业持续了数千年。因此，对早期游牧取向在传统狩猎-采集-捕鱼生存系统中所起作用的详细调查，有助于对多资源游牧的起源及其在更广泛的社会、文化和政治复杂性中所起作用的人类学研究。在这一更广泛的背景下，在匹兹堡大学Bryan Hanks博士的指导下，博士候选人Chuenyan Ng将研究位于俄罗斯乌拉尔东南部Stepnoye（公元前2100-1500年）青铜时代定居点的史前晚期草原社区使用的多资源畜牧业策略。这些社区的长期生存模式被定义为以牲畜为主导的定居农牧战略。然而，根据最近的研究，人们对自给经济的性质和变化，特别是对人类和牲畜的野生植物资源开发，还没有很好地了解。在定居的牧区，提高牲畜生产力与降低与资源可持续性相关的风险之间的关系是一个持续的过程。只有通过控制放牧用地、规定畜群的组成和规模以及制定包括饲料在内的季节性放牧策略，才能实现这一目标。多资源畜牧业和流域资源可持续性是否影响了这些社区的发展？为了解决这个问题，该项目将开发一个新的本地人与环境关系模型，以更好地理解作为这些社区重要经济组成部分的多资源畜牧业。研究的更广泛贡献反映在与俄罗斯机构，教师和学生建立的重要和富有成效的合作关系中。该项目将对史前晚期牧民群体的生存模式进行系统的考古植物学和植物地理学研究。这一多学科方法从民族志、人类学和考古学证据中富有成效地提取了证据，以研究古代定居点、当地遗址集水区和与早期狩猎、采集和捕鱼传统相结合的新形式畜牧业之间的关系。详细的宏观植物学研究、实验考古学和通过地理信息系统软件进行的计算机模拟建模相结合，将产生一个新的模型来理解早期的多资源畜牧业传统。该研究将为辛塔什塔文化的区域研究做出重要贡献，并为理解多资源自给经济的定居游牧社会的关键转变提供重要的比较案例研究。该项目将建立详细的考古植物学数据库和计算机模拟社会经济模型，为未来研究欧亚大陆史前晚期的生存模式和游牧生活方式提供重要基础大草原。

Anthropological studies from different regions of the world have emphasized that the adoption of pastoralism is important in the development of communities relying on multiple subsistence systems. Several archaeological studies have indicated that pastoralism, in conjunction with hunter-gatherer-fisher strategies, persisted for several millennia. Thus, a detailed investigation of the role that early pastoralist orientations played within traditional hunter-gatherer-fisher subsistence systems contributes importantly to anthropological studies on the origins of multi-resource pastoralism and the part this played in broader social, cultural and political complexity. Within this broader context, and under the supervision of Dr. Bryan Hanks of the University of Pittsburgh, doctoral candidate Chuenyan Ng will investigate multi-resource pastoralism strategies used by late prehistoric steppe communities at the Bronze Age settlement of Stepnoye (2100-1500 BC) located in the Southeastern Urals region of Russia. The long-standing subsistence model for these communities has been defined as a sedentary agro-pastoral strategy with dominant use of livestock. However, based on recent studies, the nature and variability of the subsistence economy, especially wild plant resource exploitation for both human and livestock, are not well understood. Within sedentary pastoral communities the relationship between increasing livestock productivity and decreasing risk associated with resource sustainability is a continuous process. It is achieved only through control of land for grazing, regulations of the composition and size of herds, and the establishment of seasonal herding strategies including foddering. Did multi-resource pastoralism and catchment resource sustainability influence the development of these communities? To address this question, this project will develop a new model for local human-environmental relationships to better understand multi-resource pastoralism as an important economic component of these communities. . A broader contribution of the research is reflected in the important and productive collaborative relationships that have been developed with Russian institutions, faculty and students.This project will undertake a systematic archaeobotanical and phytogeographical study of subsistence patterns among late prehistoric pastoralist communities. The multi-disciplinary approach draws productively from ethnographic, anthropological, and archaeological evidence, to examine relationships between ancient settlements, local site catchments, and the emergence of new forms of livestock herding that integrated with earlier traditions of hunting, gathering and fishing. A combination of detailed macro-botanical study, experimental archaeology, and computer simulation modeling through Geographic Information System software will produce a new model for understanding early traditions of multi-resource pastoralism. This research will contribute importantly to regional studies of the Sintashta culture and provide an important comparative case study for understanding key transitions among sedentary pastoralist societies with multi-resource subsistence economiesThis project will establish a detailed archaeobotanical database and computer simulation socio-ecnomic model that will provide a crucial foundation for future studies of late prehistoric subsistence patterns and pastoralist lifeways in the Eurasian steppes.