My Dissertation Research
My National Science Foundation funded dissertation research project, "Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Explaining Ancient Technological Innovation in Southern Argentina," aims to explain prehistoric technological innovation and the specifics of why humans adopt new technology. It will accomplish this by evaluating a recently published model of technological evolution – Ben Fitzhugh's (2001; 2003) risk sensitivity model of technological innovation – by systematically studying 17 archaeological sites and ethnographic accounts from coastal Southern Argentina. The model tests the idea that during times of hardship (colonization, circumscription, intensification, and the emergence of social inequality) a degree of risk and uncertainty is generated that is overcome by foragers through technological innovation. Using multiple lines of evidence, this project will identify these times of hardship in the archaeological record and determine if these cause instances of flaked stone technological innovation. The flaked stone assemblages from 17 archaeological sites will be examined using a series of flaked stone analyses to monitor technological innovation.
**Award Abstract on NSF Website
Maps
Map of the Province of Santa Cruz
Last Updated: October 18, 2009 11:35 PM Pacific Time
