Dendrochronology for Extended Examination of Cultural Adaptation

在公元8世纪开始的干旱地区，文化的发展最终在400年后被气候挑战和移民所改变。这一特定地区历史转型的时间、速度和节奏与社会生态可持续性和人类制度在快速环境和人口变化中的演变等更大问题有关。一组研究人员正在对相关的大型木材和木炭收藏进行树木年轮测年（树木年代学）项目。该项目的目的是为该地区过去的事件提供一个新的目标时间轴。这项工作与相关的后裔社区协调进行。研究结果被纳入纪念碑游客中心的重新设计计划。该项目的另一个重要方面是，它利用了在大型公共考古工作中积累的藏品。通过继续从档案材料中产生新的知识，美国先前对保护的公共投资继续为多个利益相关者创造价值。该项目是研究生和本科生科学培训的跳板，该研究有助于加速干旱地区树木年轮年表的发展，这是地球和环境科学的一个关键数据缺口。该项目提供了一个新的高分辨率，独立，年表的考古记录的基础上，新的树木年轮日期的地区。与目前仅基于陶瓷容器制造的时间范围和不精确的放射性碳年代的现有年表相比，它代表了一个重大的改进。这项研究是可能的，因为最近发展了一种新的树木年代学技术，涉及精确校准的顺序放射性碳日期从个别戒指。这种方法使人们有可能在以前从未实际使用过的地区对木材和木炭进行树木年代学测定。该研究为该地区第一批农民的到来、人口和社会转型、公共建筑的历史背景以及定居点的长期可持续性提供了新的见解。该奖项反映了NSF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。

In a variably arid region beginning in the eighth century AD a culture developed that was ultimately transformed four hundred years later by climate challenges and migration. The timing, rate, and tempo of historical transitions in this particular region are relevant to larger questions about socioecological sustainability and the evolution of human institutions in the face of rapid environmental and population change. A group of researchers are conducting a tree-ring dating (dendrochronology) project on relevant large wood and charcoal collections. The aim of the project is to provide a new objective timeline for past events in this region. The work is coordinated with the relevant descendent communities. Results of the study are incorporated into a planned redesign of a Monument’s visitor’s center. Another important aspect of this project is that it leverages collections amassed during a large public archaeology works. By continuing to produce new knowledge from archival material, this prior US public investment in preservation continues to create value for multiple stakeholders. The project serves as a springboard for graduate and undergraduate training in the sciences, and the research helps accelerate the development of tree-ring chronologies for arid regions, a critical data gap in earth and environmental sciences. The project provides a new high resolution, independent, chronology for the archaeological record of the region based on new tree-ring dates. It represents a major improvement compared to the existing chronology that is currently based only on the time ranges for the manufacture of ceramic vessels and imprecise radiocarbon dates. This study is possible due to the recent development of a new dendrochronology technique involving the precise calibration of sequential radiocarbon dates from individual rings. This method makes it possible to dendrochronologically date wood and charcoal in regions where it has never before been practical. The study produces new insights for the arrival of the first farmers in the area, demographic and social transformations, the historical context of public architecture, and the long term sustainability of settlements.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.