Collaborative Research: Tracing the Evolution of Late Quaternary Human Interaction and Mobility Patterns in Kenya

合作研究：追踪肯尼亚晚第四纪人类互动和流动模式的演变

• 批准号: 0814304
• 负责人: Jeffrey Ferguson
• 金额: $ 10.22万
• 依托单位: University of Missouri-Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-07-01 至 2011-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0814304&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Tracing; Evolution; Late

With the support of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Stanley Ambrose (University of Illinois) and Drs. Jeffrey Ferguson, Michael Glascock, and David Robertson (University of Missouri Research Reactor) will examine a critical transition that occurred during the final stages of the development of modern human behavior. Reciprocity, cooperation and sharing of information have been demonstrated to be an advantageous strategy for survival in a variety of experimental and natural settings. Regional information and materials exchange networks are fundamental for survival of hunter-gatherers in risky, unpredictable environments. What kinds of archaeological evidence can show that human societies adopt regional cooperative strategies, and when and where did this transition occur? The most durable and abundant class of evidence for long distance exchange systems is stone tools. Obsidian is a volcanic glass that was widely used for sharp-edged stone tools in East Africa. Each volcanic source has a distinct chemical composition. By determining the chemical fingerprint of obsidian artifacts from archaeological sites they can be linked to their sources, and thus can reveal information about exchange and regional social interaction patterns. Results from archaeological excavations show that a substantial increase in frequencies of obsidian artifacts occurred approximately 60,000 to 70,000 years ago in East Africa. This change coincides with a long period of severe environmental degradation during the early the last ice age. Similar changes may have occurred in other parts of Africa at this time, but cannot yet be validated by chemical analysis of artifacts. Contemporary sites in Eurasia made by neandertals do not show an analogous increase in stone tool raw materials from distant sources. This evidence suggests that cooperative strategies developed first in Africa, in response to dramatic climate change. Genetic evidence demonstrates that northeast Africans expanded out of Africa and replaced archaic human populations in Eurasia after this transition. Their cooperative strategy may have been the key to their successful expansion during the middle of the last ice age. The majority of the work by Dr. Ambrose and his students will involve sampling obsidian from known sources as well as survey for additional outcrops in Kenya. The remainder of the fieldwork will involve selecting artifacts for analysis from collections in the National Museums of Kenya. Analysis of the chemical composition of several thousand artifact and source samples will be carried out at the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR) using X-ray fluorescence and Neutron Activation analysis.This study will have broader impacts for social and behavioral sciences because it will provide valuable evidence for the role of climate change in the development of enhanced cooperation during the final stages of the transition to modern human behavior. It will promote understanding of the social strategies that facilitated our subsequent success in expanding from tropical Africa to the rest of the world, and the demise of neandertals. This project will also impact future research in the region because the obsidian source reference database will be useful for studying later periods. Finally, this research will provide scientific training and education opportunities for graduate students in field geology, archaeology and laboratory research methods on geochemistry and nuclear chemistry.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，斯坦利·安布罗斯（Stanley Ambrose）博士（伊利诺伊大学）和博士。杰弗里·弗格森（Jeffrey Ferguson），迈克尔·格拉斯科克（Michael Glascock）和戴维·罗伯逊（David Robertson）（密苏里大学研究反应堆）将研究在现代人类行为发展的最后阶段发生的关键过渡。互惠，合作和信息共享已被证明是在各种实验和自然环境中生存的有利策略。 区域信息和材料交换网络对于在风险，不可预测的环境中生存至关重要。 哪些考古证据可以表明人类社会采用了区域合作策略，这种过渡何时何地发生？长距离交换系统的最耐用，最丰富的证据是石工具。 黑曜石是一种火山玻璃，在东非广泛用于锋利的石材工具。 每个火山源具有独特的化学成分。 通过确定可以将黑曜石伪像的化学指纹从考古遗址链接到其来源，因此可以揭示有关交换和区域社会互动模式的信息。考古发掘的结果表明，在东非，黑曜石人工制品的频率大幅增加了。这种变化与最后一个冰河时代初期的长期严重的环境退化相吻合。 目前在非洲其他地区可能发生了类似的变化，但尚无法通过对伪影的化学分析来验证。尼安德特人制造的欧亚大陆的现代地点并没有显示出遥远来源的石工具原材料的同样增加。该证据表明，合作策略在非洲首先发展，以应对戏剧性的气候变化。 遗传证据表明，在过渡后，东北非洲人从非洲扩张，并取代了欧亚大陆的古老人口。 他们的合作策略可能是他们在上一个冰河时代中期成功扩张的关键。 Ambrose博士及其学生的大部分工作将涉及从已知来源抽样，并在肯尼亚进行其他露头调查。其余的野外工作将涉及从肯尼亚国家博物馆的收藏中选择文物进行分析。使用X射线荧光和中子激活分析分析，将在密苏里大学研究反应堆（MURR）对数千种伪像和来源样本的化学组成分析进行分析。这项研究将对社会和行为科学产生更广泛的影响，因为它将为在最终人类行为的最终阶段的发展中的作用提供重要的证据，以提供有价值的证据。 它将促进对社会战略的理解，这有助于我们随后从热带非洲扩展到世界其他地区以及尼安德特人的灭亡方面的成功。 该项目还将影响该地区未来的研究，因为黑曜石来源参考数据库将对以后的研究很有用。 最后，这项研究将为现场地质，考古学和实验室研究方法的研究生提供科学培训和教育机会。