The Role of Diet in the Process of Long Term Cultural Integration.

Archaeology Southwest, Tucson AZ

Investigators

Abstract

This research examines the processes that produced stable, integrated communities of migrants and local groups in the fourteenth century, by assessing changes over several generations in how people used animals and plants for food, raw materials, and religious purposes. The project contributes to an increased understanding of migration and social integration of groups from diverse cultural backgrounds during a time of upheaval. This work provides insights into how people in the past formed multicultural communities that lasted more than a century. Some of the forces that divide Americans of different backgrounds today were also challenges to building sustainable diverse communities in the past. Project results haver value to archaeologists and to other social scientists interested in how multi-cultural communities form and maintain long-term stability. Team members include professional archaeologists, American Indian tribal member advisors, and undergraduate research assistants who obtain educational and research experience while working as part of the project team. Data is archived and publicly available online via the cyberSW platform, which displays and analyzes data from thousands of archaeological sites across the US in a format accessible to professional and public audiences. The project compares plant and animal datasets obtained from decades of academic and cultural resource management projects from the 1000–1450 CE time period. Data characterize the periods before, during, and after migrant influx. Plant and animal data illuminate how some aspects of local plant and animal use shifted after migrant arrival and the development of a new ideology. First, plant and animal data are used to identify culturally distinctive signatures for each original group. Then, for new resultant communities, researchers identify which distinctive practices were linked to expressing varied heritage. Which practices were signals of the new identity and group membership; and in what contexts were different expressions were used. Understanding how, where, and when these multiple types of practices were expressed provides insights into the processes behind the formation of stable multicultural communities. 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.