Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Underwater Remote Sensing of Walker Lake, Nevada

德克萨斯A M大学的Neil Puckett和Kelly Graf博士将研究在快速变化的环境条件下，史前人类如何使用和适应大盆地的湖泊环境。该地区之前的研究表明，人类与湖泊之间存在早期关系，但随着过去14，000年来湖泊的消退，大盆地居民逐渐远离湖泊和湿地环境，因为他们对湖泊波动做出了反应。考古研究对于了解人类如何适应环境的变化至关重要。不幸的是，除了洞穴和岩石掩体，大盆地的侵蚀和最小的沉积物积累导致表面考古遗址的年龄或相关环境的信息很少。然而，这是露天网站，而不是洞穴和岩石掩体，有最大的潜力，以了解湖泊的使用和景观适应。埋藏在湖泊下面的地点是回答有关露天环境、湖泊使用和年表的问题的理想场所。人们如何应对不断变化的环境，这些反应有多快？同样，经历了快速变化的湖泊及其周围的遗址保存和埋藏得有多好？大盆地周围的干湖盆地反映了湖泊对人类的重要性及其对了解人类如何适应气候变化的价值。同样，人类在其整个历史中一直受到快速和剧烈的气候变化的影响，水是强烈反映气候事件的重要资源。对这些环境进行广泛而深入的研究，将为管理当今美国重要的自然资源提供有用的数据和类比。该项目还将深入了解美国史前史的一个鲜为人知的方面。评估水下保护状况还将有助于政府机构在水位突然变化期间妥善管理历史资源，例如在过去10年中德克萨斯州和加州干旱前后观察到的水位变化。 Puckett先生和Graf博士将探索大盆地的淹没景观，以确定在低湖水位期间被占领的保存地点。研究将用于了解过去的环境，人类湖泊的使用，景观适应，并通过恢复沉积物样品，保存的有机材料和考古文物的年表。该项目将在内华达州的步行者湖进行，这是一个位于大盆地西部边缘的天然常年湖泊。该湖经历了多次快速的湖平面上升和下降事件，使其成为研究不断变化的环境的理想地点。过去的湖泊低地允许水下考古遗址的埋葬，并增加了文物和可确定年代的有机材料保存的机会。将根据海底沉积物调查数据确定水下试挖地点。人工制品、沉积物岩心和有机物质的恢复将允许进行空间、时间和环境分析，确定史前人类如何利用环境并适应过去14，000年来当地水资源的广泛变化。这些数据将使研究人员更好地了解人类对过去和现代环境变化的反应。

Neil Puckett and Dr. Kelly Graf of Texas A&M University will investigate how prehistoric peoples used and adapted to lake environments in the Great Basin during rapidly changing environmental conditions. Previous research in the region indicates an early relationship between people and lakes, but as lakes receded over the past 14,000 years, Great Basin inhabitants gradually shifted away from lake and wetland environments as they responded to lake fluctuations. Archaeological research is essential for understanding how humans adapted to shifts in the environment. Unfortunately, except in caves and rockshelters, erosion and minimal sediment accumulation in the Great Basin result in surface archaeological sites with little information about their age or associated environment. However, it is open air sites, not caves and rockshelters, that have the greatest potential to inform on lake use and landscape adaptations. Buried sites underneath lakes are ideal for answering questions about open air environments, lake use, and chronology. How do people respond to changing environments, and how quick are these responses? Similarly, how well preserved and buried are sites in and around lakes that have undergone rapid transformation? Sites surrounding dry lake basins across the Great Basin reflect the importance of lakes to human populations and their value for understanding how humans adapted to climate change. Similarly, humans have been subject to rapid and dramatic climate change throughout their history, and water is an essential resource that strongly reflects climactic events. Broad and thorough research of such environments will provide useful data and analogies for managing important natural resources in the United States today. The project will also provide insight into a poorly known aspect of United States prehistory. Assessing the state of underwater preservation will also help government agencies properly manage historical resources during sudden water level changes such as those observed before and after the droughts in Texas and California over the last 10 years. Mr. Puckett and Dr. Graf will explore submerged, buried landscapes in the Great Basin to identify preserved sites occupied during low lake levels. Research will be used to understand past environments, human lake use, landscape adaptations, and chronology by recovering sediment samples, preserved organic materials, and archaeological artifacts. The project will be conducted in Walker Lake, NV, a natural perennial lake located at the western margin of the Great Basin. The lake has undergone repeated, rapid lake level rise and fall events, making it an ideal location to investigate changing environments. Past lake low-stands allow for the burial of archaeological sites underwater and increase chances for the preservation of artifacts and datable organic materials. Underwater test excavation locations will be placed based on data from sub-bottom sediment surveys. Recovery of artifacts, sediment cores, and organic material will allow for spatial, temporal, and environmental analyses, determining how prehistoric peoples used the environment and adapted to extensive shifts in local water resources during the last 14,000 years. These data will allow researchers to better understand human responses to both past and modern environmental change.