Doctoral Dissertation Research: Long Term Environmental Effects of Metallurgy

冶金是一项革命性的技术，它在我们的世界上留下了不可磨灭的印记。随着社会和文化的转变，它给环境带来了铅、砷和镉等有毒元素的污染。这篇博士论文项目调查了与强化冶金生产扩散相关的有毒元素的影响。考古学特别适合于监测冶金的影响，因为它有能力研究污染随着时间的推移产生的短期和长期影响。该项目为研究技术集约化提供了一种新的理论方法，侧重于当代社区在采用和追求集约化方面的细微差异。通过检查冶金活动造成的污染，这项研究有助于提出更广泛的问题，即社会如何看待和应对环境退化。该项目为来自不同研究领域的学生提供了实地工作和实验室方法方面的研究经验，并促进了对过去和现在环境退化的进一步讨论。研究结果在同行评议的期刊、讲座以及国内、国际和跨学科会议上发表，并通过研讨会、社交媒体、播客和网站向更广泛的公众展示。研究评估不同时期冶金生产和集约化的对比方式。利用来自六个考古遗址的数据，这项研究将冶金活动的考古证据与公共卫生和地质医学中常用的方法结合起来，以追踪环境污染。家养和野生动物的牙齿和遗址沉积物提供了聚落及其周围的冶金生产的直接证据。这项研究的历时性和跨学科性质使其有可能跟踪技术密集型的细微差别的社会和环境影响。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Metallurgy is a transformative technology that left an indelible mark on our world. Along with social and cultural shifts, it introduced contamination by toxic elements such as lead, arsenic, and cadmium into the environment. This doctoral dissertation project investigates the impacts of the toxic elements associated with the spread of intensified metallurgical production. Archaeology is particularly well suited to monitor the impacts of metallurgy, due to its ability to examine the short and long-term impacts of pollution through time. The project offers a new theoretical approach to study technological intensification which focuses on nuanced differences in the adoption and pursuit of intensification among contemporary communities. By examining contamination from metallurgical activity, the research contributes to broader questions of how societies perceive and respond to environmental degradation. The project provides research experience in both fieldwork and laboratory methods for students from different field of studies and promotes further discussion of environmental degradation in the past and present. The results of the research are presented in peer-reviewed journals, lectures, and domestic, international, and interdisciplinary conferences, and presented to the wider public through workshops, social media, podcasts, and websites.The research evaluates the contrasting modalities of metallurgical production and intensification between different time periods. Using data from six archaeological sites, the research merges archaeological evidence of metallurgical activities with methods commonly used in public health and geo-medicine to track environmental contamination. Domestic and wild animal teeth and site sediments provide direct evidence of metallurgical production from settlements and their surroundings. The diachronic and interdisciplinary nature of the research makes it possible to track the nuanced social and environmental impacts of technological intensification.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.