Collaborative Research: Woodland Subsistence Seasonality on the Northern Coast of the Gulf of Mexico

合作研究：墨西哥湾北岸林地生存季节性

• 批准号: 1026166
• 负责人: C. Frederick Andrus
• 金额: $ 3.42万
• 依托单位: University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2013-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1026166&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Woodland; Subsistence; Seasonality

With National Science Foundation support, three collaborative teams led by Dr. Gregory A. Waselkov (University of South Alabama), Dr. Elizabeth J. Reitz (University of Georgia), and Dr. C. Frederick T. Andrus (University of Alabama) will investigate the seasonal nature of fishing and shellfishing during the Middle Woodland and Late Woodland periods (AD 325-1040) along estuaries of the Alabama portion of the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. In this two-year project, team members will compare methods of analysis used by archaeologists to assess seasonality of habitat exploitation and residential mobility at coastal sites around the world. The University of Georgia's component will focus on zooarchaeological analysis of vertebrate and invertebrate remains with the goal of integrating the two kinds of animal remains into a dynamic model of subsistence exploitation. The team from the University of Alabama will take the lead on a large-scale application of oxygen isotope temperature proxy analysis to multiple species of fish and shellfish to produce refined seasonality interpretations. University of South Alabama project members will develop a Bayesian statistical analysis to correlate temperature proxy curves from different species and achieve more precise seasonality interpretations of archaeological deposits. That team will investigate elemental and isotopic analyses of selected fish and terrestrial vertebrates to provide information on ontogenetic (individual lifetime) habitat changes, with seasonality-of-capture implications. The UGA and USA teams will also prepare specimens for isotopic analysis and record data on growth patterns. One outcome will be a reliable and precise understanding of the seasonal dimensions of Woodland subsistence adaptations along the Alabama coast, an area little studied by archaeologists. A second broader outcome will be a higher standard of analysis based on adequate samples of multiple prey species that yield confident assessments of seasonal habitat exploitation and site occupation, providing a firm basis for models of coastal sedentism and mobility around the world. This project brings together specialists in archaeology, zooarchaeology, geochemistry, materials science, and marine biology to create a synergy with benefits that transcend normal disciplinary boundaries. The intellectual merit of the project derives from a rigorous protocol for analysis that targets specific seasonal events with multiple lines of evidence, increased precision of seasonal interpretations, and calibration of seasonal exploitations of different habitats, an approach new to archaeology. These analytical methods work in concert, making this a very powerful interpretive approach that can transform archaeological inquiries on coastal sedentism and mobility. At a more basic level, isotope analysis of the archaeological remains will give insight into the fundamental processes that govern all skeletal growth. There are broader impacts to this study. All three project labs will meaningfully involve undergraduates in this research, learning the basics of isotope chemistry and zooarchaeological analysis. Analytical procedures and results of this project will be particularly highlighted in active public outreach programs, including supervised volunteer opportunities in the labs, staff and student visits to K-12 classrooms, hosting visits by school groups to the labs, and in an exhibit currently in development for the University of South Alabama's Archaeology Museum.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，由格雷戈里·A·瓦瑟科夫（Gregory A.墨西哥湾的海岸。在这个为期两年的项目中，团队成员将比较考古学家使用的分析方法，以评估世界各地沿海地区栖息地剥削和住宅流动性的季节性。佐治亚大学的组成部分将重点介绍脊椎动物和无脊椎动物的动物考古分析，其目的是将两种动物遗骸整合到生存剥削的动态模型中。来自阿拉巴马大学的小组将带头大规模地应用氧同位素温度代理分析到多种鱼类和贝类中，以产生精致的季节性解释。南阿拉巴马大学项目成员将制定贝叶斯统计分析，以将不同物种的温度代理曲线相关联，并实现对考古矿床的更精确的季节性解释。该团队将研究选定的鱼类和陆地脊椎动物的元素和同位素分析，以提供有关个体发生（个人终生）栖息地变化的信息，并具有捕获季节性的影响。 UGA和美国团队还将准备标本以进行同位素分析并记录有关增长模式的数据。一个结果将是对阿拉巴马州沿海林地生存改编的季节性维度的可靠而精确的理解，这是考古学家很少研究的地区。基于多个猎物物种的适当样本，对季节性栖息地剥削和现场职业进行了自信的评估，这将是更高的分析标准，这为全球沿海久坐主义和流动性模型提供了坚定的基础。该项目汇集了考古学，动物考古学，地球化学，材料科学和海洋生物学的专家，从而创造出超越正常学科边界的好处的协同作用。该项目的智力优点源自一项严格的分析方案，该方案针对特定的季节性事件，具有多种证据，季节性解释的精度提高以及对不同栖息地的季节性开发的校准，这是一种新的考古学方法。这些分析方法共同起作用，使这是一种非常有力的解释性方法，可以改变考古探究对沿海久坐和流动性的研究。在更基本的层面上，考古遗骸的同位素分析将洞悉控制所有骨骼生长的基本过程。这项研究有更广泛的影响。这三个项目实验室将有意义地参与本研究，学习同位素化学和动物考量分析的基础知识。该项目的分析程序和结果将在积极的公共外展计划中尤其强调，包括在实验室，员工和学生访问K-12教室的志愿者机会中，在学校团体对实验室的访问以及目前正在南阿拉巴马大学小学博物馆开发的展览中。