Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: Effect of Environment Change in Settlement Occupation and Abandonment

博士论文改进奖：环境变化对定居点占用和废弃的影响

• 批准号: 2313567
• 负责人: Tristram Kidder
• 金额: $ 2.71万
• 依托单位: Washington 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 2024-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2313567&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Award; Effect

This award permits a doctoral dissertation student conduct environmental archaeological research to understand how people interacted with their local environments in a wetland setting. Previous studies have often linked the rise and fall of societies to improvements and deterioration in climatic patterns. Understanding these issues is critical as climate change affects countries worldwide in modern times. However, these studies tend to underestimate human and social resilience to climatic and environmental changes due to the lack of localized, fine-grained data. In this regard, environmental archaeology is particularly enlightening since it involves the collection and interpretation of environmental data in close proximity (both geographically and temporally) to archaeological discoveries. In sensitive and fragile environments such as wetlands, climate change reshapes the landscape even by a small fluctuation of precipitation and temperature. From the long-term perspective of archaeology, people adapted to the new environments through technological innovation and food diversification. This human adaptation also causes environmental consequences. This project sheds light on the complex feedback loop between human adaptation, environmental consequences, and the long-term sustainability of human-environmental interactions. The researchers aim to facilitate knowledge exchange between themselves and today's residents, deepening their understanding of managing the local environments and promoting environmental sustainability. The student investigates how human behavior and settlements evolved with changing environments, particularly the fluctuating lake levels in one study area. The archaeological site is located on the edge of a highland lake, and it is one of the earliest human settlements in the region. The site was continuously occupied for over a millennium, between ~3600 and 2300 cal. BP, providing a unique opportunity to explore environmental changes before, during, and after human occupation. Due to active sedimentation and tectonic activities in the study area, archaeological deposits are buried deeply underground. To reconstruct the environmental conditions, the researchers use coring to retrieve soil samples from the past and analyze them in the laboratory. By comparing the environmental data with findings within the site, the researchers can distinguish whether changes were induced by human or climatic events and whether the changes were significant enough to render the site uninhabitable. This research fills in the gap of environmental archaeology in this part of the world.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.

该奖项允许博士论文学生进行环境考古研究，以了解人们如何在湿地环境中与当地环境互动。先前的研究经常将社会的兴衰与气候模式的改善和恶化联系起来。理解这些问题至关重要，因为气候变化会影响现代全球的国家。但是，由于缺乏局部，细粒度的数据，这些研究倾向于低估对气候和环境变化的人类和社会弹性。在这方面，环境考古学尤其具有启发性，因为它涉及与考古发现密切（地理位置和时间上）对环境数据的收集和解释。在敏感和脆弱的环境（例如湿地）中，气候变化即使通过降水量和温度的微小波动也可以重塑景观。从考古学的长期角度来看，人们通过技术创新和食品多样化适应了新环境。这种人类的适应也会引起环境后果。该项目阐明了人类适应，环境后果和人类环境相互作用的长期可持续性之间的复杂反馈回路。研究人员旨在促进自己与当今居民之间的知识交流，加深他们对管理当地环境的理解并促进环境可持续性。该学生调查了人类行为和定居点如何随着环境的变化而演变，尤其是一个研究区域中波动的湖泊水平。考古遗址位于高地湖的边缘，它是该地区最早的人类定居点之一。该地点连续占用了一千年，介于〜3600至2300 cal之间。 BP提供了一个独特的机会来探索人类职业之前，之中和之后的环境变化。由于研究区域中的积极沉积和构造活动，考古沉积物被深深地埋葬在地下。为了重建环境条件，研究人员使用加油从过去检索土壤样品并在实验室中分析它们。通过将环境数据与站点内的发现进行比较，研究人员可以区分人类或气候事件引起的变化，以及这些变化是否足够显着以使站点无法居住。这项研究填补了世界这一部分环境考古学的空白。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准，被认为值得通过评估来获得支持。