Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: The Effect of Population Aggregation on Food Acquisition Behavior

食品安全，即安全健康食品的供应和获取，是全球社会理论中的一个关键问题，也是发展中国家主要关注的问题。随着世界人口的增加，需要纵向数据来了解如何最好地衡量现代社区的粮食不安全状况，并随着环境的变化预测、准备和应对粮食供应和获取的未来趋势。考古学完全可以研究过去的社区如何集体管理重要的动物蛋白资源，以及这种做法如何导致粮食主权（粮食的民主生产和分配）和经久不变的传统。在B. Sunday Eiselt博士的指导下，Rachel Burger将调查祖先普韦布洛动物管理实践是如何在新墨西哥州北部里约热内卢Grande地区人口快速增长期间确保粮食安全的。这项研究对理解史前和当代社会在环境和社会变化时期人类对食物短缺的反应具有深远的意义，并可以为当今的动物保护工作提供信息。在与西班牙人接触之前，格兰德北部是人口快速增长的一个非常集中的地区。大量居住在聚集村庄的人口突然出现在该地区，从公元1300年到1400年，人口从不到300人增长到大约11500人。许多学者认为，人口的突然增长是社区融合的一个结果，或者是不同的人口以这样一种方式聚集在一起，创造了一个新的、有凝聚力的社区身份。人们一直认为，融合会增加经济、政治和社区福祉，但过去的研究表明，人口密度的增加会导致野生动物种群数量的减少。新兴社区如何应对这种资源萧条带来的挑战尚未得到充分研究。动物管理实践和制度是在什么时候、什么条件下出现在普韦布洛祖先社区的？它们在动物资源的获取和管理中扮演了什么角色？他们在维持大型聚集村庄的过程中扮演了什么角色？为了解决这些问题，项目活动将侧重于分析里约热内卢Chama流域Sapa'owingeh遗址的大型动物骨骼组合。这些分析将检查动物蛋白质丰度和使用的变化，然后将其与现有的人口增长和树木气候重建数据集进行比较，以评估规范获取猎物的社会机构的起源和运作条件。所产生的数据将用于解决一种新的方法，以了解复杂的社会宗教发展是如何出现的，并评估对普韦布洛人聚集模式的某些期望。在一个以史前农业研究为主的地区，这项研究有可能改变我们对新生社区的理解，以及管理机构在调节动物产品获取和应对不同自然、社会环境和人口条件下的压力方面的作用。

Food security, the available of and access to safe and healthy food, is a key question in global social theory and a primary concern for developing nations. As the world's population increases, longitudinal data is necessary to understand how best to measure food insecurity in modern communities and to predict, prepare for, and respond to future trends in food availability and access as the environment changes. Archaeology is perfectly poised to examine how communities in the past collectively managed crucial animal protein resources and how such practices can lead to food sovereignty (the democratic production and distribution of food) and enduring traditions over time. Under the guidance of Dr. B. Sunday Eiselt, Rachel Burger will investigate how Ancestral Pueblo animal management practices ensured food security during a period of rapid population growth in the northern Rio Grande region of New Mexico starting in the early AD 1300s. This research has far-reaching implications for understanding human responses to food scarcity in prehistoric and contemporary societies during periods of environmental and social change and can inform present-day animal conservation efforts. The northern Rio Grande prior to Spanish contact was the site of rapid population growth in a very concentrated area. Large populations living in aggregated villages appeared in the region suddenly and grew from just under 300 to approximately 11,500 people from A.D. 1300 to 1400. Many scholars view this abrupt demographic rise as one outcome of community coalescence, or the coming together of disparate populations in such a way that creates a new and cohesive community identity. The assumption has been that coalescence increases economic, political, and community well-being, but past research has shown that increased population density results in a decreased availability to wild animal populations. How coalescent communities managed the challenges presented by this resource depression is understudied. When and under what conditions did animal management practices and institutions emerge among Ancestral Pueblo communities and what was their role in the acquisition and management of animal resources? What role did they play in the maintenance of large aggregated villages? To address these questions project activities will focus on the analysis of a large animal bone assemblage from the site of Sapa'owingeh in the Rio Chama watershed. These analyses will examine changes in animal protein abundance and use, which will then be compared to existing datasets for population growth and dendroclimatic reconstructions to evaluate the conditions under which the social institutions that regulated access to game originated and operated. The data generated will be used to address a novel approach to understand how complex socio-religious developments emerged and to evaluate certain expectations regarding models of Pueblo aggregation. In a region dominated by studies of prehistoric agriculture, this research has the potential to transform our understanding of coalescent communities and the role of managerial institutions in regulating access to animal products and coping with stress under different natural and social environmental and demographic conditions.