Archaeological evidence from the period following the 8200 Yr Climate Event indicate major social and economic shifts in settlement/subsistence organization, including procurement of smaller prey species, greater reliance on gathered plant foods, use of ground stone and oven technology, food storage, use of side- and corner-notched weaponry, habitation in pit houses, decreased residential mobility, and burial in cemeteries. Yet few studies focus explicitly on the development of human adaptations during the 8200 Yr Event, which, generally speaking, is characterized as a cool, dry, and windy "blip" in the overall trend of early Holocene climatic drying and warming that ushered in the Altithermal. Though researchers suspect these developments are responses to abrupt climate changes and the resulting necessity for sophisticated social and economic systems for managing resources, we have little evidence upon which to base such theories. In order to better understand how and why these shifts occurred, Dr. Matthew G. Hill and a team of specialists will conduct multidisciplinary investigations at the Clary Ranch site in western Nebraska. The research will document archaeological evidence and develop proxy records on vegetation, temperature, and precipitation, thus providing a mechanism for understanding human response to abrupt, climate-induced changes in resource structure - in this instance, those occurring in the midcontinent during the late early Holocene/early middle Holocene. This will allow researchers to model human responses to abrupt climate change on regional and global scales.
The Clary Ranch site offers a unique opportunity for multidisciplinary investigations on abrupt climate change and concomitant human response. This deeply stratified site contains multiple proxy indicators on past environments and appears to capture a Late Paleoindian response to the 8200 Yr Event, which disrupted the preceding adaptive strategy, and is manifest in intensification of bison carcasses. Specific research objectives include: (1) developing an alluvial geochronology for Ash Hollow Draw to determine how geomorphological variables relate to the local and regional expressions of the 8200 Yr Event as well as the context and formational history of the Clary Ranch site; (2) characterizing the expression of the 8200 Yr Event to serve as a backdrop in reconstructing behavioral responses to severe fluctuations in food security; (3) characterizing bison ecology to clarify how bison populations responded to the 8200 Yr Event to help researchers define concomitant human responses; and (4) deciphering the formational history and subsistence-related activities to provide a reference for profiling Late Paleoindian responses to the 8200 Yr Event and comparing the impacts of this event with previously documented archaeological patterning.
The National Research Council has designated multidisciplinary studies of abrupt climate change and its impact on subsistence systems as critical to addressing current issues relating to biodiversity, conservation, and resource sustainability. Development of vegetation, temperature, and precipitation proxies will fill in the gap of information relating to the regional expression of the 8200 Yr Event for the midcontinent. This new knowledge will be applied to make major contributions to anthropological archaeology by bringing into clear focus human responses to abrupt climate change.
The project provides opportunities to train future scientists in contemporary methods. Undergraduate and graduate students will be directly involved in field and laboratory phases of the project. Ten to twelve students will participate in the archaeology field school, and will work closely with professionals and experienced graduate students. Conference presentations and formal publications will report to the scientists. Public education and stewardship will target various school groups, clubs, and organizations, and highlight the contributions of interdisciplinary research to advancing our knowledge on myriad complex problems facing the world today.
