Archaeology and Paleoenvironments of the Kapthurin Formation, Baringo, Kenya

卡普图林地层的考古学和古环境，巴林戈，肯尼亚

• 批准号: 9408926
• 负责人: Sally McBrearty
• 金额: $ 4.99万
• 依托单位: Brandeis University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1994
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1994-09-01 至 1997-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9408926&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Archaeology; Paleoenvironments; Kapthurin; Formation; Baringo

McBrearty With support from the National Science Foundation Dr. Sally McBrearty will continue archaeological research in the Baringo Basin region of Kenya. In particular she will focus on the Kapthurin Formation in the Tugen Hills. Previous archaeological research in the area has yielded a stratified sequence of archaeological sites as well as a small amount of hominid (human) skeletal material. Building on previous work she will conduct archaeological, geological and paleontological prospecting and mapping. Limited excavation will also be carried out. Sediment samples will be collected to determine age by means of argon dating. Geochemical fingerprinting will serve to check on field stratigraphic correlations and x-ray fluorescence analysis will provide a technique to provenience surface fossils whose stratigraphic position is unclear. Dr. McBrearty will use stone artifacts and archaeological fauna in an attempt to reconstruct human behavior. A number of techniques will be employed to understand the fluxuating environment to which these hominids adapted. While a number of lines of evidence - archaeological, paleontological and genetic - suggest that anatomically modern humans first appeared in sub Saharan Africa just when and where this occurred is unknown. What interests paleoanthropologists most however is the process which lead to this emergence and here also little evidence is available. Dr. McBrearty's research will address this issue. Information to date suggests that the transition took place during the Middle Pleistocene and the Kapthurin Formation encompasses this time period. Prior work indicates that it contains archaeological materials and fauna as well as human remains. Dr. McBrearty's work will increase this data base and bring a wide range of modern scientific techniques to bear in order to make interpretations. This research is important for several reasons. It will increase our understanding of Africa's past. It will provide data of inter est to a large number of paleoanthropologists and shed new light on the emergence of modern humans.

McBrearty 在国家科学基金会的支持下，Sally McBrearty 博士将继续在肯尼亚巴林戈盆地地区进行考古研究。她将特别关注图根山的卡普图林地层。先前对该地区的考古研究已经得出了一系列考古遗址的分层序列以及少量原始（人类）骨骼材料。在之前工作的基础上，她将进行考古、地质和古生物学勘探和测绘。还将进行有限的挖掘。将收集沉积物样本，通过氩年代测定法确定年龄。地球化学指纹识别将用于检查现场地层相关性，而 X 射线荧光分析将提供一种技术来确定地层位置不清楚的地表化石的来源。麦克布雷蒂博士将利用石器和考古动物群来尝试重建人类行为。将采用多种技术来了解这些原始人类所适应的不断变化的环境。 虽然考古、古生物学和遗传学等一系列证据表明，解剖学上的现代人类首次出现在撒哈拉以南非洲，但具体发生的时间和地点尚不清楚。然而，古人类学家最感兴趣的是导致这种出现的过程，而这里也几乎没有可用的证据。 McBrearty 博士的研究将解决这个问题。迄今为止的信息表明，转变发生在中更新世期间，卡普图林组涵盖了这一时期。先前的工作表明它包含考古材料和动物群以及人类遗骸。麦克布雷蒂博士的工作将扩大这个数据库，并引入广泛的现代科学技术来做出解释。 这项研究很重要，原因有几个。它将增加我们对非洲过去的了解。它将为大量古人类学家提供感兴趣的数据，并为现代人类的出现提供新的线索。