Doctoral Dissertation Research: Roots of Complexity: Tubers, Cuisine, and Surplus Production in the Gulf of Alaska

博士论文研究：复杂性的根源：阿拉斯加湾的块茎、美食和剩余生产

• 批准号: 2311294
• 负责人: Catherine West
• 金额: $ 6.59万
• 依托单位: Trustees of Boston University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-06-01 至 2025-05-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2311294&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Roots; Complexity

Anthropologists have long suggested that meat—especially salmon—dominated the North Pacific culinary world. This focus on animal foods has obscured the roles plants played in the subsistence, storage, and culinary systems of coastal hunter-gatherers. Ecological knowledge and historic accounts demonstrate that root-foods, such as tubers, bulbs, corms, rhizomes, and roots, were critical sources of carbohydrates throughout this region. This dissertation research tests hypotheses about the roles tubers played in the emergence of surplus production, hierarchy, and feasting in the Kodiak Archipelago, western Gulf of Alaska. Research results have implications for understanding broader patterns of human adaptation across the North Pacific.This project evaluates multiple lines of evidence from sites and sources in the Kodiak Archipelago, including archaeological samples and ethnohistoric accounts of root-food production and consumption. The co-PI will analyze charred plant remains from household and communal pit-roasting features; the size and shape of ceramic vessels; starch residues preserved on cooking pots, and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios to reconstruct past meals. Radiocarbon dating of selected materials will provide chronological control. Integration of these multiple data sources will clarify the roles of root foods in status-based food production and consumption behaviors. The co-PI will produce a dissertation and peer-reviewed journal articles and present results to local Alaska and academic audiences.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.

人类学家长期以来一直建议肉类（尤其是鲑鱼）统治了北太平洋烹饪世界。这种对动物食品的关注掩盖了植物在沿海猎人采集者的生存，储存和烹饪系统中所扮演的角色。生态知识和历史记录表明，诸如块茎，灯泡，Corms，根茎和根等根食品是整个该地区碳氢化物的关键来源。这项论文研究检验了关于块茎在阿拉斯加西部海湾的科迪亚克群岛出现，层次结构和盛宴中扮演的作用的假设。研究结果对理解北太平洋地区人类适应性的更广泛的模式具有影响。该项目评估了科迪亚克群岛中的地点和来源的多种证据，包括考古样本和种族食品生产和消费的民族历史记载。 Co-Pi将分析烧焦的植物的遗体，这些遗体来自家庭和公共腐蚀特征。陶瓷vissels的大小和形状；淀粉保留在烹饪锅上，以及稳定的碳和氮同位素比，以重建过去的餐点。选定材料的放射性碳年份将提供时间顺序控制。这些多个数据源的整合将阐明根食在基于状态的粮食生产和消费行为中的作用。 Co-Pi将制作论文和同行评审的期刊文章，并向阿拉斯加当地和学术受众提供结果。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用该基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响评估标准来通过评估来表现出珍贵的支持。