Collaborative Research: Environmental Context of Long Term Cultural Adaptation

这项研究的目的是了解蒙德维尔遗址被占领和废弃期间发生的环境条件，蒙德维尔遗址是阿拉巴马州一个重要的史前晚期遗址。这项研究包括收集和分析图森湖的湖泊沉积物岩心，图森湖位于遗址以西2公里处的牛轭状湖泊。对内容的识别为推断人类影响提供了有用的数据，这些数据可以在广泛的情况下应用，产生有用的信息，而不会对遗址造成破坏。此外，了解社会如何应对过去的气候变化和/或当地环境退化，对于了解21世纪的挑战如何影响人口至关重要。其中包括与蒙德维尔考古公园博物馆分享结果，并与参与采样和解释数据的几个代表分享联邦承认的部落国家的月度更新。该项目还在多所大学的多学科环境中培养一名研究生和两名本科生。考古和古环境的综合研究表明，人类与环境直接而持续地相互作用。虽然有相当多的关于中南美洲文化的气候-环境-人类相互作用的信息，但对于北美的密西西比造丘社会却缺乏这样的信息。这个项目解决了两个首要的研究问题：1)环境条件是否影响蒙德维尔的人口和农业的变化？2)环境变化是否造成了压力，导致了最终的场地废弃？为了回答这些问题，我们对土逊湖沉积物岩心进行了分析：1)有机质碳氮稳定同位素，2)粒度分布，3)磁化率，4)木炭颗粒，5)花粉组合，6)蓝藻色素，7)粪便甾醇，所有这些都表明了过去的环境条件。汇编了关于当地和区域人口的现有考古文献，芒德维尔附属的马斯科吉语部落的代表根据他们与该地区有关的土著传统和文化历史对数据进行了解释。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。

The goal of this research is to understand the environmental conditions that occurred during occupation and abandonment of the Moundville site, a regionally important late prehistoric site in Alabama. The research includes collection and analysis of lake sediment cores from Touson Lake, an oxbow located 2 km west of the site. Identification of the contents provides useful data for inferring human impacts that can be applied at a wide range of situations, yielding useful information without methods that are destructive to sites. Furthermore, understanding how societies responded to past climate change and/or local environmental degradation is important for understanding how challenges of the 21st century might impact populations. Included are sharing of results with the Moundville Archaeological Park Museum and sharing monthly updates to federally recognized Tribal Nations with several representatives of which are involved with both sampling and interpreting the data. This project also trains one graduate and two undergraduate students at multiple universities in a multi-disciplinary setting.Combined archaeological and paleoenvironmental studies demonstrate that humans are in direct and constant interaction with their environment. While there is considerable information about climate-environment-human interactions for cultures in central and South America, there is a lack of such information for Mississippian mound-building societies in North America. This project addresses two overarching research questions: 1) did environmental conditions influence shifts in population and agriculture at Moundville? and 2) did environmental changes create stresses that caused eventual site abandonment? To answer these questions, sediment cores from Touson Lake are analyzed for: 1) stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen in organic matter, 2) grain size distribution, 3) magnetic susceptibility, 4) charcoal particles, 5) pollen assemblages, 6) cyanobacteria pigments, and 7) fecal sterols, all of which indicate past environmental conditions. Compilation of existing archaeological literature on the demography of the local and regional populations are compiled and representatives of Muskogean-speaking tribes affiliated with Moundville contribute to data interpretation with their indigenous traditions and culture histories associated with the region.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.