With National Science Foundation support, Dr. T. Douglas Price and Dr. James Burton of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, along with Dr. Paul Fullager (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill), with continue the investigations of the Laboratory for Archaeological Chemistry, one of the very few institutions for such research in the US. This funding, in the form of a Laboratory Support Award, will permit the laboratory to pursue the study of isotopic measures of past human migration and residence change. One of the major foci of the lab is the application of strontium and lead isotopes to questions of human movement in the past.

This intensive focus involves the characterization of local variation in strontium isotope ratios at three separate localities in Wisconsin, Honduras, and Germany to determine sources of strontium and improve our ability to identify migrants. Preliminary studies of isotopes at these sites have documented the mobility of individuals present, as well as substantial variation among the buried inhabitants. The detailed studies proposed here will provide new insight into the sources of strontium utilized by the inhabitants of the site. This new information will tell us about age/sex differences in diet within the community and the use of the landscape (e.g., agricultural fields, summer pasture, and hunting areas), as well as providing a badly needed determination of the local range of variation.

This project will result in new approaches to the use of isotopic proveniencing in archaeological studies that will provide new information on the human use of the landscape in the past. This information has important implications for understanding the transition to agriculture in the past and the nature of culture change. Did human migration play a major role in the spread of prehistoric agriculture, language, and genetic material, or did local groups adopt the knowledge and materials of farming from outsiders? This research is new and at the cutting edge of isotopic proveniencing studies in archaeology. New perspectives and new techniques resulting from this study will undoubtedly produce new knowledge.

Broader impacts will be felt on the scientific community and society at large. The Laboratory for Archaeological Chemistry provides a service to the archaeological community in the form of education and chemical analyses that involves institutions and colleagues around the globe. These activities in general and the proposed project specifically involve students and colleagues in the development and application of archaeometric methods in archaeology and bioarchaeology. These activities are international in scope and affect substantial numbers of students and colleagues.

Agency
National Science Foundation (NSF)
Institute
Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS)
Application #
0313943
Program Officer
John E. Yellen
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
2003-07-01
Budget End
2006-06-30
Support Year
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$226,228
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Wisconsin Madison
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Madison
State
WI
Country
United States
Zip Code
53715