Stable Isotope Insights into Shellfish Consumption and Transport

在与几个部落组织在加州的合作伙伴关系，本研究探讨贝类在接触前的加州土著人的饮食中的作用，并通过扩展，社交网络和组织的维护和演变。贝类在旧金山弗朗西斯科湾的考古遗址中很常见，从几千年前形成的巨大贝壳堆来判断，贝类是生活在这个地区的人们的主要饮食主食。然而，令人惊讶的是，在距离海湾数十公里的内陆考古遗址中发现了大量的贝类。这些食物资源将被人们背在背上，没有冷藏手段，这引发了一个问题，贝类在内陆自给经济中扮演了什么角色？它们是饮食中的斯台普斯，重要但次要的营养来源，如碘，后备/饥饿食品，还是仪式或宴会活动的一部分？该项目将提供关于人类生态适应和贸易网络组织的信息。 它还将为学生创造和加强教育和培训机会，开发一个向公众开放的博物馆展览，并加强考古学家和特定后裔群体之间的合作。人类的骨骼是由我们吃的食物合成的。相对于陆地食物，海洋资源含有独特的化学和稳定同位素特征。这些细胞会嵌入生长中的骨骼组织，包括牙齿。研究小组将利用质谱法的进步，促进牙本质胶原蛋白和外壳碳酸盐的小微样品的分析。对牙齿和贝壳进行微量取样将使他们能够追踪不同人群、不同季节以及一个人一生中不同时间尺度的贝类运输和消费。新的数据将使研究小组能够在距离旧金山弗朗西斯科湾一定距离的范围内测试贝类在人类饮食中所起作用的特定模型。总之，这项研究将为复杂环境中人类生态适应的多样性、古代人类饮食的年际和个体间变化的性质、饮食中微量和微量营养素的作用、以及社交网络的发展，为内陆地区提供获取河口资源的途径。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得支持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。

In partnership with several tribal organizations in California, this research examines the role of shellfish in the diets of pre-contact Native Californians, and by extension, the maintenance and evolution of social networks and organizations. Shellfish is common in archaeological sites on San Francisco Bay, and judging by the huge shellmounds that formed up to several millenia ago, was a major dietary staple for people living in this region. Somewhat surprising, however, are large amounts of shellfish at inland archaeological sites that are up to dozens of kilometers from the bay. These food resources would have been carried on the backs of people, without means of refrigeration, prompting the question, what role did shellfish play in inland subsistence economies? Were they staples in the diet, important but minor sources of nutrients such as iodine, fallback/starvation foods, or part of ritual or feasting events? The project will provide information on human ecological adaptation and organization of trade networking. It will also create and enhance educational and training opportunities for students, develop a museum display open to the public, and enhance collaboration between archaeologists and particular descendant groups. The human skeleton is synthesized from the foods we eat. Relative to terrestrial foods, marine resources contain distinctive chemical and stable isotopic signatures. These become embedded in growing skeletal tissues, including teeth. The research team will take advantage of advances in mass spectrometry that facilitate analysis of small micro-samples of dentinal collagen and shell carbonate. Micro-sampling of teeth and shells will allow them to trace the transportation and consumption of shellfish across different people, different seasons, and across different time scales within a person’s life. The new data will allow the team to test particular models about the role that shellfish played in human diets, across a range of distances from San Francisco Bay. Together, the research will provide new insights into the diversity of human ecological adaptations within a complex environment, the nature of inter-annual and inter-individual variation in ancient human diets, the role of micro- and macro-nutrients in diets, and the development of social networks in providing access to estuarine resources in more inland settings.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.