Refining Techniques for Understanding Floodplain Resilience

William Marsh Rice University, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

This project seeks to understand how communities flourish in seasonally dynamic landscapes over long periods of time. Researchers investigate the details of past livelihoods that required people to be mobile and sedentary at different times, for both economic and social reasons, and how these contrasting practices may have enabled the long-term success of these communities. Archaeology is particularly well-suited to investigate these issues, with access to economic and subsistence data from centuries-long timeframes. Situated in a seasonally active floodplain, this research investigates the ways that humans came to thrive within these complex ecosystems and thus provides important insights for contemporary communities around the world as they seek to make their communities more resilient in similar dynamic floodplain environments. The research also provides crucial comparative data for environmental assessment and histories for settlement in dynamic floodplains. Research experiences and training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students are included in the project; students create a public database and description that will make the work accessible to a wide audience and allow for comparative research. The research team examines evidence from permanent settlements, mobile activities, and the movement of goods within and across a dynamic floodplain region to reveal how mobility and long-distance linkages were key to settlement permanence. The research uses archaeological data already collected where a series of fourteen mounded settlements were founded and inhabited during a long period of stable occupation. Laboratory analyses of excavated samples (including charred seeds, soil samples, animal bones, and shell beads) provide evidence of the movements and activities of people, animals, and objects within and across the region through time. The analysis of these data show how people built a subsistence and economic base over time, utilizing various forms and scales of mobility. This project produces the largest regional database of its kind offering a landmark comparative dataset that will allow others to explore how mobility and sedentism help people build economies. 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.