Hunter-Gatherer Complexity in Coastal Environments
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This grant permits Dr. Yesner, in collaboration with Argentenian                colleagues, to conduct archaeological research in the Beagle                    Channel area of southern Argentina.  The work will include both                 analysis of faunal remains from the previously excavated site of                Tunel and additional excavation at adjacent Playa Larga.  These                 two sites together provide information on over 7,000 years of                   prehistory in this region.  Both are extremely rich in artifacts                as well as faunal remains and can yield detailed information on                 human adaptation and social organization.  Preliminary work at                  Playa Larga indicates the presence of semi-buried house remains.                Dr. Yesner will place trenches across several of these to recover               both fauna and associated artifacts.  He will analyze these,                    together with materials from Tunel, to determine whether the                    sites were occupied seasonally or on a year-round basis.  He will               also determine the extent to which the inhabitants followed a                   specialized subsistence strategy and see how this might have                    changed over time.                                                                                                                                              Charles Darwin, when he visited this area described then extant                 hunters and gatherers and stated that they existed at an                        extremely simple level of organization.  Since then, they have                  always been described in the literature as such.  However, if                   true, this would be an anomoly since most marine based foragers                 exhibit greater social and technological complexity.  Dr. Yesner                has noted that by the time of Darwin's visit these people had a                 long exposure to European societies and what Darwin observed                    might not just be a simple level of adaptation, but rather the                  result of European disease and social disruption.  Dr. Yesner's                 archaeological research should throw light on this matter.                                                                                                      This research is important because it will increase our                         understanding of how humans adapt at a simple level of                          technology.  Since humans lived by hunting and gathering for over               99% of their existence, studies of foraging societies can shed                  light on how human societies and adaptations developed and                      provide the broader context within which we may better understand               ourselves.
{'FirstName': 'David', 'LastName': 'Yesner', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'R', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'David R Yesner', 'EmailAddress': 'afdry@uaa.alaska.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000113073', 'StartDate': '02/01/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
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{'Name': 'University of Alaska Anchorage Regional Center', 'CityName': 'Anchorage', 'StateCode': 'AK', 'ZipCode': '99503', 'StreetAddress': None, 'CountryCode': 'US', 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'Alaska', 'CountryFlag': '1', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '00', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_PERF': 'AK00'}
{'Code': '139100', 'Text': 'Archaeology'}
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