Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Paleoenvironmental Context of Ancestral Puebloan Demographic and Subsistence Change in West-Central New Mexico

博士论文改进补助金：新墨西哥州中西部普韦布洛人祖先人口统计和生计变化的古环境背景

• 批准号: 1041950
• 负责人: Vance Holliday
• 金额: $ 2万
• 依托单位: University of Arizona
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-09-01 至 2013-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1041950&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Grant; Paleoenvironmental

Under the direction of Dr. Vance T. Holliday, Jill Onken will investigate the relationship between environmental change and shifting patterns in prehistoric human land use and in the Carrizo Wash watershed in west-central New Mexico. The initial adoption of maize agriculture (2100 B.C.), the Chaco Phenomenon (A.D. 1050-1130), and regional depopulation (A.D. 1300-1350) are among the most significant episodes in Ancestral Puebloan prehistory in the American Southwest. Current perspectives on the cultural processes and circumstances associated with these key prehistoric events, however, are limited by an incomplete understanding of past environmental conditions. Knowing the nature and degree of any environmental changes associated with these major subsistence and demographic changes is essential for refining archaeological interpretations and explanations at both local and regional scales. This geoarchaeological dissertation study will entail documentation of numerous stratigraphic sections. An extensive radiocarbon dating effort will permit the development of a detailed depositional and landscape history for this watershed that will be integrated with existing climatic and archaeological data. Analysis of sediment, soil, pollen, phytolith, carbon isotope, and tree ring records will contribute to the reconstruction of a wide range of environmental variables, including geomorphic, soil, and climatic factors that affected the viability of prehistoric maize agriculture. A geographic information system (GIS) will be used to integrate the archaeological and environmental data and to examine the relations among changing land use, environment, and agricultural potential over time and space.The Carrizo Wash watershed is well suited for this study because of its long history of archaeological research, the presence of one of the oldest known early agriculture sites in the Southwest, an abundance of alluvial exposures in modern arroyo walls with local concentrations of datable materials, and proximity to localities with long, well-studied tree-ring records. Broad similarities among Holocene alluvial records across the Southwest suggest that the Carrizo Wash environmental reconstruction will have regional relevance.The results of the proposed interdisciplinary study will be useful to archaeologists interested in the many influences of environmental change on prehistoric cultural change and human adaptation in the Southwest, as well as in semiarid regions in general. The findings will be equally significant to Quaternary geologists and geomorphologists interested in how hillslopes and streams respond to climate change in semiarid regions. Because land productivity for range, farming, and wildlife habitat is severely compromised by widespread erosion, this study will also be relevant to land managers, especially in light of modern climate change. This study will provide graduate student training, as well as learning opportunities for undergraduate students belonging to minority groups underrepresented in the geosciences through the Southern Arizona Geosciences Union for Academics, Research, and Outreach (SAGUARO) program funded by NSF. Results will be disseminated to the scientific community through publication in refereed journals and presentations at professional conferences and to the public through public interest stories, presentations in K-12 classrooms, and/or posters placed in public buildings in communities near the study area.

在万斯·霍利迪（Vance T. Holliday）博士的指导下，吉尔·奥肯（Jill Onken）将研究史前人类土地使用中环境变化与转移模式之间的关系，以及在新墨西哥州西部的Carrizo Wash流域中的关系。玉米农业（公元前2100年），CHACO现象（公元1050-1130）和区域减少（A.D. 1300-1350）的最初采用是美国西南部祖先普埃布洛族史前历史上最重要的发作之一。然而，当前对与这些关键史前事件相关的文化过程和环境的观点受到对过去环境条件的不完全理解的限制。了解与这些主要生存和人口统计学变化相关的任何环境变化的性质和程度对于完善当地和地区量表的考古解释和解释至关重要。这项地理学论文研究将需要进行许多地层部分的文档。广泛的放射性碳年份工作将允许开发该流域的详细沉积和景观历史，该历史将与现有的气候和考古数据融为一体。分析沉积物，土壤，花粉，植物岩，碳同位素和树环记录将有助于重建广泛的环境变量，包括影响跨历史玉米农业生存能力的地貌，土壤和气候因素。 A geographic information system (GIS) will be used to integrate the archaeological and environmental data and to examine the relations among changing land use, environment, and agricultural potential over time and space.The Carrizo Wash watershed is well suited for this study because of its long history of archaeological research, the presence of one of the oldest known early agriculture sites in the Southwest, an abundance of alluvial exposures in modern arroyo walls with local concentrations of数据材料以及靠近具有长长，经过深思熟虑的树木记录的地方。西南全新世冲积记录之间的广泛相似之处表明，Carrizo Wash环境重建将具有区域相关性。拟议的跨学科研究的结果将对对环境变化对史前文化变化和西南地区的人类适应的影响感兴趣的考古学家有用。这些发现对于第四纪地质学家和对山坡和流如何应对半干旱地区气候变化的响应感兴趣的地质学家将同样重要。由于范围，农业和野生动植物栖息地的土地生产力受到广泛侵蚀严重损害，因此这项研究也将与土地管理者有关，尤其是鉴于现代气候变化。这项研究将为研究生培训提供研究生培训，并为通过NSF资助的学术界，研究和外展（Saguaro）计划通过亚利桑那州南部地球科学家联盟（Arizona Geosciences for Arizona Geosciences of Acciience of Acciiences of Arizona Geosciences Uniun of Geosciences）提供的学习机会。结果将通过在专业会议上的涉及期刊和演讲中出版，通过公共利益故事，K-12教室的演讲和/或在研究区域附近社区的公共建筑物中的海报来传播到科学界。