Bioarchaeological and Forensic Applications of Oxygen and Strontium Isoscape Methods

该奖项是美国国家科学基金会社会、行为和经济科学博士后研究奖学金（SPRF）计划的一部分。SPRF计划的目标是为学术界、工业界或私营部门和政府的科学事业准备有前途的早期职业博士级科学家。SPRF奖励包括在知名科学家的赞助下进行为期两年的培训，并鼓励博士后进行独立研究。美国国家科学基金会寻求促进科学界各阶层的科学家，包括那些未被充分代表的群体的科学家，参与其研究项目和活动；博士后阶段被认为是实现这一目标的一个重要的专业发展阶段。每个博士后必须解决各自学科领域的重要科学问题。在亚利桑那州立大学凯利·克努森博士的赞助下，该博士后奖学金支持一位早期职业科学家，研究如何在复杂的水文系统中使用稳定和放射性同位素的空间变化来“地理定位”或将未知地理来源的人类或动物个体分配到特定的原产地，沿着同位素景观或“等景观”哺乳动物组织记录发育期间消耗的食物，水和空气中的氧和锶同位素的特征。比较氧和锶组织值可以识别异常个体，或第一代移民。然而，为了将迁移者与其原产地相匹配，首先有必要在整个研究区域建立预测的、空间明确的氧和锶同位素模型。本项目将系统收集10个主要河谷的水、土壤、植物和动物样本，对这些材料进行分析，建立同位素基线值，并生成预测双同位素和单同位素模型。然后，人类考古价值将使用概率统计方法与他们最可能的起源地点相匹配。该项目由生物考古研究中心考古化学实验室和亚利桑那州立大学环境生物地球化学W. M. Keck基金会实验室共同开展，分析生物地球化学变化，以生成预测同位素模型，用于概率确定来源和同位素生活史。研究员将进行旱季和雨季取样活动，系统地从固定的海拔间隔收集水、土壤、植物和动物的环境样本。来自100个控制点的样本将在干湿季节重新采样，以了解季节性天气模式对同位素值的影响。这些方法的考古应用可用于追踪特定地点之间的古代移民和贸易网络，或确定重要人物或文物的同位素来源。重要的是，该项目还将建立一个数据库，这将是一个协作的、基于云的应用程序，用于收集和共享同位素基线数据发布前后的数据。数据库的实地收集方面对于基线数据收集的标准化至关重要，这将使科学界能够探索景观条件与同位素值之间的关系。数据库的数据共享方面将允许专业人员和科学家访问同位素数据和等地貌模型，这将为法医和其他研究人员提供一个工具，帮助他们确定个人可能的起源。这些数据和方法将作为地质统计学可靠基线图的基础，人类学家可以使用这些基线图来了解人类对环境和文化变化的反应，生态学家或生物学家可以使用这些物种，或者研究人员可以在世界各地调查类似的问题。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award was provided as part of NSF's Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowships (SPRF) program. The goal of the SPRF program is to prepare promising, early career doctoral-level scientists for scientific careers in academia, industry or private sector, and government. SPRF awards involve two years of training under the sponsorship of established scientists and encourage Postdoctoral Fellows to perform independent research. NSF seeks to promote the participation of scientists from all segments of the scientific community, including those from underrepresented groups, in its research programs and activities; the postdoctoral period is considered to be an important level of professional development in attaining this goal. Each Postdoctoral Fellow must address important scientific questions that advance their respective disciplinary fields. Under the sponsorship of Dr. Kelly Knudson at Arizona State University, this postdoctoral fellowship award supports an early career scientist investigating how spatial variation in stable and radiogenic isotopes throughout complex hydrological systems can be used to "geo-locate" or assign human or animal individuals of unknown geographic origin to specific places of origin along an isotopic landscape or "isoscape" Mammalian tissues record the signature of oxygen and strontium isotopes from the food, water, and air consumed during the period of development. Comparing oxygen and strontium tissue values enables the identification of outlier individuals, or first-generation migrant. However, to match migrants to their places of origin, it is first necessary to develop predictive, spatially-explicit isotope models of oxygen and strontium values throughout a study region. This project will systematically collect samples of water, soil, plants, and animals from ten major river valleys, analyze these materials to establish isotopic baseline values, and generate predictive dual-isotope and single-isotope models. Human archaeological values will then be matched to their most likely place of origin using probabilistic statistical methods. This project, conducted with the Archaeological Chemistry Laboratory of the Center for Bioarchaeological Research and the W. M. Keck Foundation Laboratory for Environmental Biogeochemistry at Arizona State University, analyzes biogeochemical variation in order to generate predictive isotope models for the probabilistic determination of provenience and isotopic life histories. The Fellow will carry out dry and wet season sampling campaigns, systematically collecting environmental samples of water, soil, plants, and fauna from regular altitudinal intervals. Samples from 100 control points will be re-sampled in the wet and dry season to understand the impact of seasonal weather patterns on isotope values. Archaeological applications of these methods can be used to trace ancient migration and trade networks between specific locations, or to identify the isotopic provenience of important people or artifacts. Importantly, this project will also establish a database, which will be a collaborative, cloud-based application for collecting and sharing isotope baseline data before and after publication. The field collection side of the database will be critical in standardizing the collection of baseline data, which will allow the scientific community to explore the relationships between landscape conditions and isotope values. The data-sharing side of the database will allow professionals and scientists access to isotope data and isoscape models, which will provide a tool for helping forensic and other researchers to pinpoint likely origins for individuals. These data and methods will serve as the foundation for geostatistically robust baseline maps, which can be used by anthropologists to understand human responses to environmental and cultural change, by ecologists or biologists working with these species, or by researchers investigating similar questions throughout the world.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.