9310137 Dunnell Under the direction of Dr. Robert Dunnell, Ms. Diana Greenlee will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. Her research focusses on the period between AD 400 - 1650 in the central and upper Ohio River Valley and she will analyze skeletal material from a series of relevant sites. During this interval settlement in the region changed from dispersed to nucleated with the establishment of clearly defined villages. Ms. Greenlee wishes to understand the reasons for this and postulates that a shift to maize cultivation and a reliance on this staple resulted in a subsistence adaptation which permitted population aggregation. She will examine this hypothesis through utilization of bone chemistry. Foods vary in composition and some leave chemical signatures in the bones of consumers. Extensive research has shown that maize has a ratio of carbon isotopes which is different from almost all naturally occurring plant foods in the Midwest region. Through analysis therefore of this ratio in a series of skeletal remains which span the AD 400 - 1650 time interval it will be possible to determine if, when, and to what degree reliance on this cultigen increased. Through analysis of elements such as strongium it is also possible to estimate the amount of meat in the diet. Many archaeologists have noted the pattern towards nucleated settlement which developed over time both in the Midwest as well as in other parts of the world. This change is associated with the development of social complexity and extensive and centrally organized political systems. However the processes responsible for this change are still not well understood. Archaeologists believe that changes in diet and subsistence strategy may, in large part be responsible and Ms. Greenlee will focus directly on this question. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed new light on the prehistory of the United States and Native Americans. It will increase our understanding of how soci al complexity developed and will assist in the training of a promising young scientist. ***
