Under the direction of Dr. R. Lee Lyman, Mr. Steve Wolverton will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will select samples from two archaeological sites, Arnold Research Cave and Graham Cave - both located in Central Missouri - and submit them for radiocarbon dating. The goal of his research is to understand how human populations at a technologically simple hunting and gathering level of subsistence respond to the challenge of environmental change and to accomplish this accurate dating is essential. Although the last Ice Age ended in North America ca. 12,000 years ago, the more recent Holocene period has been characterized by significant climatic change with marked and prolonged changes in temperature and rainfall. From approximately 8,000 to 6,00 years ago the US Midwest underwent a period of drought with decreased rainfall and higher temperatures. Vegetation zones shifted Eastwards as prairie replaced woodland. Both Arnold Research and Graham Caves contain long stratified archaeological sequences which span this drier Hypsithermal period and the subsequent climatic amelioration. Both sites contain abundant faunal material which have the potential to shed light on changing human diet and subsistence strategies. Preliminary analysis by previous researchers suggest that these remains indicate a dietary shift caused by harsh environmental conditions and that local residents were forced to broaden their subsistence base and acquisition strategies to incorporate less desirable harder to obtain items in their diet. Through detailed analysis of both assemblages, Mr. Wolverton will evaluate this hypothesis. Because morphology is related to environment and animals such as deer do not grow as large in stressed situations, Mr. Wolverton will determine how body size changes over time. He will also reconstruct age profiles for several prey species to evaluate the proposition that hunters were forced to obtain increasingly young animals. Finally he will analyze the frequencies of individual bones within a species to reconstruct consumption practices which also relate to relative food availability.
This research is important for several reasons. It will increase understanding of the prehistory of the United States and shed new light on how humans adapt to environmental change. Mr. Wolverton is using a battery of relatively new analytic techniques and his work will help archaeologists evaluate their potential. The project will also assist in training a promising young scientist.
