Doctoral Dissertation Research: Genetic and Isotopic Investigations of Human Population Origins and Dispersals in Island Settings

现代人几乎已经分散并定居在地球上的每一个地区。过去人口、文化和技术的复杂时间、流动和互动是我们人类故事的重要组成部分。这个博士论文项目结合了对来自西密克罗尼西亚帕劳Chelecholra Orrak遗址的人类骨骼材料的遗传和地球化学分析，以调查在人类历史上最广泛和最快速的扩散之一期间一个岛屿的史前殖民。尽管这是最后一个被人类殖民的主要地理区域，但关于定居的时间、方向和起源的信息在许多方面仍然不清楚。这项研究还将通过俄勒冈大学的本科生培训和指导，通过公共演讲和分发关于帕劳考古学中aDNA的漫画，为当地、国家和全球社区做出更广泛的贡献；实施一个学习模块，向俄勒冈州人数不足的中小学生传授科学方法、考古田野工作和遗传技术。调查人员将分析密克罗尼西亚的人类古代DNA(ADNA)和地球化学流动性数据，并为该地区未来的同位素和基因研究提供关键的基线信息。这项研究的目的是调查史前帕劳人在区域范围内的起源以及定居后群岛内随后的当地人口流动。虽然语言学、计算机模拟和生物距离研究导致了确定密克罗尼西亚人口起源的广泛一般地区的假设，但关于早期密克罗尼西亚人与其他地区人口的关系以及更具体的起源地区的许多问题仍然存在。在为西密克罗尼西亚生成aDNA数据的过程中，该项目将把早期帕劳人置于一个区域框架内，以检查更广泛的遗传关系。通过对人类遗骸中的锶(87Sr/86Sr)和铅(206Pb/204Pb，207Pb/204Pb)同位素分析--结合从群岛各地采集的生物和地质样本--进行的流动性检查，将有助于确定埋葬在Chelecholra Orrak的个人一生中可能居住的地方，并阐明在帕劳定居的早期阶段岛屿间的流动性。这一裁决反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，认为值得支持。

Modern humans have dispersed and settled nearly every region on the planet. The complex timing, movements, and interactions of populations, cultures, and technology in the past are an important part of our human story. This doctoral dissertation project combines genetic and geochemical analyses of human skeletal material from the Chelechol ra Orrak site in Palau, western Micronesia, to investigate prehistoric colonization of an island setting during one of the most widespread and rapid dispersals in human history. Despite this being the last major geographical region to be colonized by humans, information regarding the timing, direction, and origins of settlement in many respects remains unclear. This research will also make broader contributions to local, national, and global communities through undergraduate training and mentorship at the University of Oregon; community involvement and outreach through public talks and the distribution of comics about aDNA in archaeology in Palau; and the implementation of a learning module that teaches the scientific method, archaeological fieldwork, and genetic techniques to underrepresented elementary and middle school students in Oregon.The investigators will analyze human ancient DNA (aDNA) and geochemical mobility data for Micronesia and provide critical baseline information for future isotopic and genetic research in the region. The objective of this research is to investigate the origins of prehistoric Palauans on a regional scale and subsequent local human mobility within the archipelago following settlement. While linguistic, computer modeling, and biodistance studies have resulted in hypotheses identifying broad general regions of Micronesian population origins, numerous questions regarding the relationship of early Micronesians to other regional populations, and a more specific area of origin still remain. In generating aDNA data for western Micronesia, this project will place early Palauans in a regional framework to examine broader scale genetic relationships. Examination of mobility via strontium (87Sr/ 86Sr) and lead (206Pb/204Pb, 207Pb/204Pb, 208Pb/204Pb) isotope analysis from human remains--in conjunction with biological and geological samples taken from locations across the archipelago--will help to identify where individuals buried at Chelechol ra Orrak may have been residing during their lifetime and shed light on inter-island mobility during the earliest phases of settlement in Palau.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.