Collaborative Research: Acheulean Hominin Behavior at Elandsfontein, South Africa

合作研究：南非埃兰兹方丹的阿舍利古人类行为

• 批准号: 1219494
• 负责人: Naomi Levin
• 金额: $ 6.29万
• 依托单位: Johns Hopkins University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-15 至 2016-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1219494&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Acheulean; Hominin; Behavior

With support from the National Science Foundation, Drs. David Braun and Naomi Levin, together with an international team of colleagues, will conduct two field seasons of archaeological research at Elandsfontein on the west coast of South Africa. The team brings together specialists from the U.S., South Africa, U.K., Australia, and Germany to study the environmental adaptations of Acheulean populations that were ancestral to modern humans. Understanding the distinctiveness of humans relative to other species is among the most important goals of the behavioral and cognitive sciences. Humans implement a set of behavioral strategies that allow for broad yet stable and flexible responses to novel situations. This flexibility directly relates to human traits that include complex communication, reliance on socially learned strategies, and extraordinary levels of cooperation. It has been suggested that these features reflect the dynamic environments in which humans have lived over the last million years. The current understanding of the interplay between human adaptability and environmental variation has developed almost entirely from late Pleistocene contexts (i.e., sites less than 130,000 years old). We know relatively little about the adaptive versatility and environmental context of preceding Middle Pleistocene (900 to 130 thousand years old) populations, however, because there are a limited number of archaeological sites of this age with adequate contextual information. Elandsfontein is a unique site where it is possible to explore the relationships between Acheulean behavior and environmental variability in the Middle Pleistocene.The goal of this research is to evaluate whether Acheulean hominins at Elandsfontein employed specific technological strategies in response to heterogeneous environments. This research will require intensive excavations to document the archaeological sites, the age of the artifacts and fossils recovered, and their environmental context. The field research will be integrated with laboratory studies on the recovered materials (e.g., fossils, artifacts, sediments) to build a detailed picture of how Acheulean hominins at Elandsfontein interacted with the environments in which they lived.Although the antiquity of distinctively human behaviors is well documented, explaining the origin of these behaviors is impossible without a comprehensive understanding of the behavioral variability in ancestral populations. The results of the research at Elandsfontein will directly assess this current inferential shortfall by generating data on how the behavior of some of these ancestral populations (Acheulean hominis at Elandsfontein) related to environmental diversity.This project will provide a series of measurable broader impacts to an international community in both student training and community outreach. The research will be integrated into a field course that trains American and South African undergraduates in archaeological field methods. The project also will generate research opportunities for students (graduate and undergraduate) at American and South African universities. Research efforts will be coordinated with the West Coast Fossil Park to expand the awareness of the importance of heritage in South Africa. This project will help preserve one of South Africa's most important paleontological and archaeological localities, which is currently owned by a mining enterprise and potentially subject to commercial excavations.

在国家科学基金会的支持下。戴维·布劳恩（David Braun）和纳奥米·莱文（Naomi Levin）以及国际同事团队将在南非西海岸的埃兰斯方丹（Elandsfontein）进行两个实地考古研究。该团队汇集了来自美国，南非，英国，澳大利亚和德国的专家，以研究现代人类祖先的Acheulean人口的环境适应。 了解人类相对于其他物种的独特性是行为和认知科学的最重要目标之一。 人类实施了一系列行为策略，可以对新情况产生广泛而稳定的反应。这种灵活性直接涉及人类特征，包括复杂的沟通，依赖社会学策略以及非凡的合作水平。有人建议这些功能反映了过去一百万年来人类生活的动态环境。当前对人类适应性和环境变化之间相互作用的理解几乎完全是从更新世的环境（即少于130，000年的地点）中得出的。 但是，我们对中期更新世之前的适应性多功能性和环境背景相对较少，但是，由于这个时代的考古遗址有限，并且有足够的上下文信息。 Elandsfontein是一个独特的地点，可以在中期更新世中探索Acheulean行为与环境变异性之间的关系。这项研究的目的是评估Elandsfontein的Acheulean hominins是否采用特定的技术策略来响应于异构环境。这项研究将需要大量的发掘来记录考古遗址，恢复的文物和化石的年龄以及它们的环境环境。现场研究将与实验室研究集成有关回收材料（例如，化石，伪像，沉积物）的详细图片，以详细描述Elandsfontein的Acheulean hominins如何与他们所生活的环境相互作用。这些环境在不完全理解这些行为的情况下，以独特的人类行为的方式进行了综合的宗旨，这些行为是对人类行为的综合性的综合性的，对这些行为的理解是不可能的。 Elandsfontein的研究结果将通过生成有关与环境多样性相关的这些祖先人口（Acheulean hominis）的行为的数据，直接评估当前的推理短缺。这项研究将纳入一个现场课程，该课程在考古田间方法中训练美国和南非大学生。该项目还将为美国和南非大学的学生（研究生和本科生）创造研究机会。研究工作将与西海岸化石公园协调，以扩大对南非遗产重要性的认识。该项目将有助于保留南非最重要的古生物学和考古学地之一，该地区目前由采矿企业拥有，并有可能受到商业发掘。