Archaeological Tree-Ring Dating in Western North America

北美洲西部考古树木年轮测年

• 批准号: 1414518
• 负责人: Ronald Towner
• 金额: $ 17.92万
• 依托单位: University of Arizona
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-01 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1414518&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Archaeological; Tree; Ring; Dating; Western

To understand processes which are best understood over long time scales accurate dating is necessary. Dendrochronology "tree ring dating" often permits events which occurred thousands of years ago to an exact year. Tree rings are also important because of the environmental information then contain. With such data it is possible to examine a wide range of issues, including for example how populations responded and adapted to environmental change.The Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research (LTRR) at the University of Arizona is the sole source of archaeological tree-ring dates in western North America. With continuing National Science Foundation (NSF) support, LTRR operates an analysis program for tree-ring samples collected by LTRR and other archaeologists from Alaska to Peru and from the Pacific Ocean to the Mississippi River. NSF support allows the program to keep pace with the ever growing demand for archaeological tree-ring dating, information, and assistance and to maintain high production levels and short turnaround times. On average, more than 1,000 dates from 4,000+ archaeological tree-ring samples are produced annually. These data are integrated into relevant archaeological contexts to construct refined cultural sequences and examine important issues of past human behavior that cannot be addressed without accurate, high resolution temporal control. Among these topics are absolute site, locality, and regional chronologies, social organization, intergroup interaction, and cultural adaptation to physical and social environments. In addition, the program promotes the expansion of archaeological tree-ring dating into new regions such as the Southwestern deserts, Great Basin, Great Plains, Rocky Mountains, Alaska, and Mexico.The project has additional intellectual merits. Exact dating and chronology building are crucial to understanding human behavior, human-environment interactions, and processes of sociocultural stability, variation, change, and evolution. Either directly or indirectly (through tree-ring dated ceramics), tree-ring dating underlies the chronology of Southwestern prehistory and many aspects of the documented history of the region. The project also generates dendroclimatic reconstructions that are combined with reconstructions produced by other paleoenvironmental disciplines such as geology, pollen analysis, volcanology, and trace element studies. In addition to illuminating past environmental processes, these integrated reconstructions provide a solid empirical foundation for examining the interrelationships between human behavior and environmental variability. Finally, the project's efforts to expand research into areas previously thought to be unsuitable for archaeological tree-ring provide absolutely dated "hinge points" for archaeological chronologies in the Sonoran Desert, the Great Basin, the western Great Plains, and northern Mexico.The project has a wide range of broader impacts. Its findings are almost immediately integrated into undergraduate and graduate classes in anthropology, geosciences, and other disciplines at the University of Arizona and other academic institutions. In addition, the project interacts with K-12 programs, provides instruction for visiting scholars from around the world, and facilitates field and laboratory training for governmental, private, and Native American programs. The LTRR tree-ring sample collections and data archives are unparalleled, easily accessed resources for archaeological research, and an under-construction digital database will enhance the research value of these resources. Increased understanding of long-term human adaptation to cultural and environmental variability and enhanced knowledge of past environmental processes help develop and implement environmental and social policy. Project personnel have contributed directly to formulating policy for managing cultural and natural resources by federal, local, and tribal land management agencies.

要了解在长时间尺度上最好理解准确约会的过程。 Dendrosology“树环约会”通常允许数千年前发生到确切年份发生的事件。树环也很重要，因为其中包含的环境信息。有了这样的数据，可以检查各种各样的问题，包括例如如何应对环境变化的人口和适应环境变化。在继续国家科学基金会（NSF）的支持下，LTRR开展了一项分析计划，该计划针对LTRR和其他考古学家从阿拉斯加到秘鲁以及从太平洋到密西西比河收集的树环样本。 NSF的支持使该计划可以跟上对考古树环约会，信息和援助的不断增长的需求，并保持高生产水平和短期的周转时间。平均而言，每年生产4,000多个考古树环样本中的1,000多个日期。这些数据被整合到相关的考古环境中，以构建精致的文化序列，并检查过去人类行为的重要问题，而这些问题没有准确，高分辨率的时间控制就无法解决。这些主题包括绝对站点，局部和区域时间表，社会组织，群体间的互动以及对物理和社会环境的文化适应。此外，该计划促进了考古树环的扩展，可追溯到西南沙漠，大盆地，大平原，洛矶山脉，阿拉斯加和墨西哥等新地区。该项目具有额外的知识分子优点。确切的约会和年代构建对于了解人类行为，人类环境的相互作用以及社会文化稳定，变异，变化和进化的过程至关重要。直接或间接地（通过树木陈旧的陶瓷），树环的日期是西南史前历史的年代和该地区历史的许多方面的基础。该项目还产生了树状气候重建，这些重建与其他古环境学科（如地质，花粉分析，火山学和痕量元素研究）相结合的重建。除了阐明过去的环境过程外，这些综合重建还为研究人类行为与环境变异性之间的相互关系提供了坚实的经验基础。最后，该项目将研究扩展到以前认为不适合考古树环的领域的努力为索诺兰沙漠，大盆地，西部大平原和墨西哥的考古年代学提供了绝对过时的“铰链点”。该项目具有广泛的广泛影响。它的发现几乎立即纳入了亚利桑那大学和其他学术机构的人类学，地球科学和其他学科的本科和研究生班。此外，该项目与K-12计划进行互动，为来自世界各地的访问学者提供指导，并为政府，私人和美国原住民计划提供了现场和实验室培训。 LTRR树木样品收集和数据档案是无与伦比的，易于访问考古研究的资源，而构建型数字数据库将增强这些资源的研究价值。人们对长期对文化和环境变异性的长期适应性的了解以及对过去环境过程的知识有助于发展和实施环境和社会政策。项目人员直接为制定政策来管理联邦，地方和部落土地管理机构的文化和自然资源。