The Development of Human Innovation in an Arid Biodiverse Environment.

The goal of this project is to examine the long-term dynamics of food, farming, and fuel use in relation to a series of large-scale social and environmental changes that took place over several thousand years in an environmentally sensitive region witnessed several, sequential revolutionary social transitions, including the earliest shift from hunting and gathering to agriculture, the emergence of village life, and the construction of cities and empires with distinct social hierarchies. The project examines modifications to the landscape linked with fuel extraction, agricultural changes, morphing population sizes and densities, changing settlement patterns, and responses to climatic events.

Theories explaining why these changes took place often invoke food production or population change, although actual remains of foods are rarely considered; similarly, fuel is rarely discussed in relation to social change, despite the central role that fuel plays in maintaining craft economies and allowing societies to function. This study focuses on the dynamics of long-term change, to explore the ongoing interconnectedness of food, fuel, farming, social organization, and environmental change.

Understanding the depth of their interconnections can help inform responses to the many problems current global warming presents. By examining periods of both stability and flux, it is possible to examine variable adaptive responses to social and environmental change.

Two sites under consideration collectively span roughly 10,000-years and document the earliest transitions in the world from hunting-and-gathering to farming emergent social complexity and the formation and collapse of an empire. Archaeobotany, the study of plant use in the past, provides a powerful tool to document and explore food, fuel and farming, providing insights into these dynamics.

The research team employs newly created reference collections to reexamine curated archaeobotanical flotation samples from each site to supplement existing macro-botanical data and help identify and document: (1) phytoliths, ash pseudomorphs (that allow historically underrepresented taxa to be observed), and dung spherulites within the oft neglected <1mm "residue" fraction; and (2) >4mm amorphous chunks that could represent food, bread, or fuel. FTIR spectroscopy is used to explore depositional sequences and pyric histories to help better inform the interpretation of plant data.

Isotopic analyses of grains are used to help track cultivation strategies through time. Collectively, the integrated approach helps offset preservation and methodological biases inherent to each technique, providing a more comprehensive view of ancient plant use. Digital reference material generated through this project will be openly shared online providing a resource for other researchers.

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.