Collaborative Research: A Long Term Perspective on Agricultural Development

Amber VanDerwarker博士、道格拉斯肯内特博士和石楠·塔卡博士将在中美洲进行研究，研究早期植物驯化以及过去12,000年来从觅食到粮食生产的转变。以前的奖学金几乎完全集中在玉米驯化，因为它对整个中美洲复杂的政治制度的发展的重要性。该项目扩大了对玉米的狭隘关注，包括更广泛的森林和田间农业制度。鉴于当今世界大多数人口都是靠农业养活的，重建古代耕作方式的广度及其提供的经济和社会复原力具有巨大价值。古代的类似物，结合田间耕作和树木栽培提供了替代现代单一种植的方式，可以保持土壤肥力和促进栽培多样性。考古学通过记录世界各地的古代农业实践和重建特定区域背景下的种植策略，为现代农业实践提供信息。在中美洲等地区，它代表了植物驯化的少数几个主要中心之一，农业和树木栽培系统的建立和扩大的性质和时间轴具有重要意义。VanDerwarker博士，肯内特博士和Thakar博士将研究（1）在不断发展的区域粮食经济中采用，传播和强化田间栽培，（2）森林经营的程度和树木种植制度的变化。研究小组将通过分析洪都拉斯El Gigante Rockshelter保存完好的植物遗骸来实现这些目标，该植物曾被断断续续地占领了11，000年。该研究小组由专门从事考古植物学，考古学和中美洲史前史的考古学家组成，并将采用植物鉴定，公制分析和直接放射性碳测年的综合分析。这种结合的方法将使该团队不仅能够记录新驯化的时间和使用，而且还将促进重建塑造该地区现代森林社区的田间清理和林地管理实践。因此，该团队将为长期的人类景观适应产生新的数据和解释，同时为学生和洪都拉斯当地利益相关者社区创造教育和培训机会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的评估被认为值得支持智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。

Drs. Amber VanDerwarker, Douglas Kennett, and Heather Thakar will undertake research to study early plant domestication and the transition from foraging to food production over the last 12,000 years in Central America. Previous scholarship has focused almost exclusively on maize domestication because of its importance for the development of complex political institutions throughout Mesoamerica. This project expands this narrow focus on maize to include the broader forest and field agricultural regimes. Given that most of the world's population today is supported by agriculture, there is enormous value in reconstructing the breadth of ancient cropping practices along with the economic and societal resilience it affords. Ancient analogs that integrate field cultivation and arboriculture provide alternatives to modern mono-cropping in ways that can conserve soil fertility and promote cultigen diversity. Archaeology is well situated to inform modern farming practices through the documentation of ancient agricultural practices worldwide and the reconstruction of cropping strategies practiced through time in particular regional contexts. In regions such as Mesoamerica, which represents one of the few primary centers of plant domestication, the nature and timeline of the establishment and augmentation of agricultural and arboricultural systems is of great significance.Drs. VanDerwarker, Kennett, and Thakar will examine both the (1) adoption, spread, and intensification of field cultigens within an evolving regional food economy, and (2) the extent of forest management and change in tree cropping systems. The research team will accomplish these goals through the analysis of well-preserved plant remains from El Gigante Rockshelter in Honduras, which was occupied intermittently for 11,000 years. The research team is composed of archaeologists specializing in archaeobotany, archaeometry, and Mesoamerican prehistory, and will employ an integrated analysis of plant identification, metric analysis, and direct radiocarbon dating. This combined approach will allow the team to not only document the timing and use of new domesticates, but will also facilitate the reconstruction of field clearance and woodland management practices that shaped modern forest communities in this region. The team will thus generate new data and interpretations for long-term human-landscape adaptations while creating educational and training opportunities for students and local Honduran stakeholder communities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.