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 Gregory A. Waselkov 博士（南阿拉巴马大学）、Elizabeth J. Reitz 博士（佐治亚大学）和 C. Frederick T. Andrus 博士（阿拉巴马大学）领导的三个合作团队将调查墨西哥湾北海岸阿拉巴马州部分河口中部林地和晚期林地时期（公元 325-1040 年）捕鱼和贝类捕捞的季节性特征。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开发和居住流动性的季节性。佐治亚大学的项目将侧重于对脊椎动物和无脊椎动物遗骸进行动物考古学分析，目标是将这两种动物遗骸整合到生存开发的动态模型中。阿拉巴马大学的团队将率先对多种鱼类和贝类进行氧同位素温度代理分析的大规模应用，以产生精细的季节性解释。南阿拉巴马大学项目成员将开发贝叶斯统计分析，将不同物种的温度代理曲线关联起来，并对考古沉积物进行更精确的季节性解释。该团队将对选定的鱼类和陆生脊椎动物进行元素和同位素分析，以提供有关个体发育（个体寿命）栖息地变化的信息，以及捕获的季节性影响。佐治亚大学和美国团队还将准备用于同位素分析的标本并记录生长模式的数据。其成果之一将是对阿拉巴马州海岸林地生存适应的季节变化有可靠而准确的了解，而考古学家对这一地区的研究很少。第二个更广泛的成果将是基于多种猎物物种的充足样本进行更高标准的分析，从而对季节性栖息地开发和场地占用进行可靠的评估，为世界各地的沿海定居和流动模型提供坚实的基础。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领域的专家，以创造超越正常学科界限的协同效应。该项目的智力价值源于严格的分析方案，该方案针对特定的季节性事件，提供多种证据，提高季节解释的精确度，并对不同栖息地的季节性开发进行校准，这是考古学的一种新方法。这些分析方法协同工作，使其成为一种非常强大的解释方法，可以改变对沿海定居和流动性的考古调查。在更基础的层面上，对考古遗迹的同位素分析将深入了解控制所有骨骼生长的基本过程。这项研究有更广泛的影响。所有三个项目实验室都将有意义地让本科生参与这项研究，学习同位素化学和动物考古学分析的基础知识。该项目的分析程序和结果将在积极的公共宣传计划中得到特别强调，包括实验室中受监督的志愿者机会、工作人员和学生参观 K-12 教室、接待学校团体参观实验室以及目前正在举办的展览。南阿拉巴马大学考古博物馆的开发。