Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Long Term Human Adaptation in Beringia

安吉拉戈尔，博士候选人在得克萨斯州A M大学，将进行研究，在阿拉斯加中部，以了解时间和定居过程的第一美国人和他们的后代。考古学和基因组学证据表明，东白令吉亚是古代人首次从东北亚迁移的门户，因此阿拉斯加中部丰富的考古记录是解开最早期阿拉斯加人适应和行为问题的关键。阿拉斯加的记录显示，从14000年到5000年前，技术变化相当大，关于第一批阿拉斯加人的问题的答案仍然难以捉摸：古代白令人如何利用和学习他们第一次遇到的周围景观？他们如何在数千年的气候变化和由此产生的资源波动中调整自己的技术和移动的战略？这项研究扩展了现代人类适应和定居极端北方环境的知识，并揭示了气候变化对人类人口的影响。这项研究为研究生提供了一个变革性的研究经验，与学者，公众以及与它直接相关的阿拉斯加原住民和第一民族人民分享。戈尔将开始解开景观学习和行为变化的问题，在阿拉斯加中部的考古记录，通过透镜的石器采购和使用，在古代工具包明显。在Nenana河谷地区的岩屑来源的绘图和采样，从露头到小溪和河流冲积层将重建史前阿拉斯加人开发的岩屑景观。在山谷中的非黑曜石火山石来源的地球化学分析提供了这些来源的指纹，对文物从考古遗址跨越14万年至5万年将进行比较，重建移动的战略，景观的使用，并通过时间在这些行为的变化。戈尔将整合地球化学工具石采购与这些相同的考古收藏品的岩性分析，以提供一个全面的描述行为和行为变化的古代阿拉斯加人从殖民定居的景观。总之，这些方法提供了一个更好的理解之间的细微差别和复杂的相互作用景观，环境和人类culture.This奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得的支持，通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准.

Angela Gore, PhD candidate at Texas A&M University, will undertake research in central Alaska to understand the timing and settling-in processes of the First Americans and their descendants. Archeological and genomic evidence point to eastern Beringia as a gateway through which ancient peoples first migrated from Northeast Asia, therefore the rich archaeological record of central Alaska is key in unraveling questions of adaptation and behavior of the earliest Alaskans through time. The Alaskan record exhibits sizeable technological variability from 14 thousand to 5 thousand years ago and answers to questions about the first Alaskans are still elusive: how did ancient Beringians utilize and learn the landscape around them as they first encountered it? How did they adapt their technologies and mobile strategies through millennia of shifting climate and resulting resource fluctuation? This research expands knowledge of modern human adaptation and settlement of extreme northern environments and sheds light on the impact of climate change on human populations. This research provides a graduate student with a transformative research experience to be shared with academics, the public, and with Native Alaskans and First Nations peoples to whom it is directly relevant. Gore will begin to unravel questions of landscape learning and behavioral variation in the archaeological record of central Alaska through the lens of stone tool procurement and use as evident in ancient toolkits. Mapping and sampling of the lithic sources within the Nenana River valley area, from outcrop to creek and river alluvium will reconstruct the lithic landscape exploited by prehistoric Alaskans. Geochemical analysis of non-obsidian volcanic stone sources in the valley provides a fingerprint of these sources against which artifacts from archaeological sites spanning 14 ka to 5 ka will be compared to reconstruct mobile strategies, landscape use, and changes in these behaviors through time. Gore will integrate geochemical toolstone sourcing with lithic analysis of these same archaeological collections to provide a comprehensive description of behavior and behavioral change of ancient Alaskans from colonization to settling-in on the landscape. Together, these methods provide a better understanding of the nuanced and complex interactions between landscape, environment and human culture.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.