Doctoral Dissertation Research: Investigating Variability in the Frequency of Fire Use in the Archaeological Record

博士论文研究：调查考古记录中用火频率的变异性

• 批准号: 2029098
• 负责人: Theodore Schurr
• 金额: $ 2.12万
• 依托单位: University of Pennsylvania
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-12-15 至 2023-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2029098&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Investigating; Variability

This doctoral dissertation project will investigate the use of fire, an important adaptation in human prehistory, and its relationship to fluctuating environmental conditions. Burned stone artifacts will be quantified (frequencies) as measures of fire use in several stone artifact assemblages from Paleolithic archaeological sites selected from a wide range of temporal, geographic, and climatic conditions. Other evidence of fire use, such as hearths, is often qualitative (presence/absence) and therefore of limited utility in documenting the intensity or extent of fire use at these sites. The project will advance knowledge about human behavioral plasticity with respect to changing environments. It will also leverage available, but often neglected, data from museum collections, and will make these data accessible to a range of scholars through publications and databases. Public presentations about the findings will be made in museum settings to engage wider audiences, and background information and results of the project also will be shared through public archaeology podcasts and social media. Outreach activities will promote the participation of women and adult learners in scientific inquiry, and foster interest in archaeological and paleoanthropological research.The frequency of burned stone artifacts will be compared across strata using three different sampling strategies (two types of counting methods, as well as weight) based on a size-grade distribution. Integrating the resulting data with other direct and geoarchaeological evidence of fire use will help to document the extent to which fire was used during the period of occupation associated with each cold and warm interval during the Paleolithic period. In addition, a controlled experiment using an ultra-low freezer will be conducted to assess the impact of the natural process of frost weathering on stone artifacts, to increase the level of accuracy and reliability in the identification of burned flints by distinguishing surface alterations that are caused by frosting exposures from those of burning. Petrographic and scanning electron microscopy, as well as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, will be used to detect macro- and microscopic alterations on the surface of experimentally frost-weathered artifacts. The results of this project will contribute to the field of Paleolithic archaeology by advancing sampling methods and experimental designs for the analysis of burned stone artifacts, as well as documenting burned artifacts from an extensive geographic range.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.

该博士论文项目将研究火的使用（人类史前时期的重要适应）及其与环境条件波动的关系。烧焦的石器将被量化（频率），作为从各种时间、地理和气候条件中选择的旧石器时代考古遗址中的几个石器组合中的用火量度。其他用火证据，例如炉灶，通常是定性的（存在/不存在），因此在记录这些地点用火的强度或范围方面作用有限。该项目将增进对人类行为可塑性在不断变化的环境中的认识。它还将利用博物馆藏品中可用但经常被忽视的数据，并将通过出版物和数据库使一系列学者能够访问这些数据。有关研究结果的公开演示将在博物馆环境中进行，以吸引更广泛的受众，该项目的背景信息和结果也将通过公共考古播客和社交媒体分享。外展活动将促进女性和成人学习者参与科学探究，并培养对考古和古人类学研究的兴趣。将使用三种不同的抽样策略（两种计数方法，以及重量）基于尺寸等级分布。将所得数据与其他使用火的直接和地质考古证据相结合，将有助于记录旧石器时代每个寒冷和温暖间隔相关的占领时期使用火的程度。此外，将进行使用超低温冰箱的对照实验，以评估霜冻风化自然过程对石制品的影响，通过区分表面变化来提高识别烧焦燧石的准确性和可靠性。由燃烧造成的结霜暴露引起。岩相学和扫描电子显微镜以及傅里叶变换红外光谱将用于检测实验性霜冻文物表面的宏观和微观变化。该项目的成果将通过改进用于分析烧焦石制品的采样方法和实验设计，以及记录广泛地理范围内的烧焦文物，为旧石器时代考古学领域做出贡献。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被视为值得通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。