HRRBAA: Paleoanthropological Investigations of Early Pleistocene Hominin Dispersals

HRRBAA：早期更新世古人类扩散的古人类学调查

• 批准号: 1636686
• 负责人: Claire Terhune
• 金额: $ 2.99万
• 依托单位: University of Arkansas
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-08-15 至 2017-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1636686&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: HRRBAA; Paleoanthropological; Investigations; Early; Pleistocene

Fossil evidence for hominins in Western Europe currently dates to as early as ~1.4 million years ago (Ma). The same time period in Eastern Europe remains understudied, even though it is likely to have been a route of hominin dispersal into the rest of Europe. This high-risk research project will undertake a paleontological and geological survey of the Olteþ River Valley, Romania, which is the location of the richest fossil site of mammalian fauna in Eastern Europe from this time period. The investigators will look for evidence of hominin occupation at a few known sites, search for additional sites, and collect data to understand the paleoenvironment of the region and confirm dates for the sites. As an area that served as a likely migration route, new discoveries would shed valuable information on the peopling of Western Europe. This project will encourage gender and ethnic diversity in science by providing research opportunities for undergraduate students at three universities that primarily educate first-generation college and minority students. It will also support early career female scientists, international collaborations among US and Romanian scientists, and community science outreach. Evidence suggests that fossil hominins successfully dispersed from Africa to Georgia and Indonesia by 1.85 Ma, but the earliest evidence in Europe is not until ~1.4 Ma. There are two possible explanations for this apparent late dispersal: 1) some barrier prohibited hominin dispersal into Europe, or 2) hominins were present there earlier than 1.4 Ma but paleontological investigations have not yet uncovered their presence. While sites from this time period in Western Europe have been intensively investigated, paleontological localities in Eastern Europe have not been as thoroughly explored. The Olteþ River Valley of Romania has yielded a series of fossil sites that may shed light on dispersal patterns into Europe during the early Pleistocene, and preliminary work suggests that this region has the potential to yield additional sites. This high-risk research project will undertake a paleontological and geological survey of the Olteþ River Valley to look for evidence of hominin occupation during the early Pleistocene, and conduct preliminary investigations of the area's paleoenvironment. By locating and analyzing data from fossil sites from the early Pleistocene of Romania, we can determine whether the fauna from these sites were similar to those found at other early Pleistocene hominin sites across Eurasia, or whether there were differences among these sites that were important for preventing hominin dispersals into Europe at this time. Critically, examination of fossils from these localities and identification of any potential stone tools and/or cut marked bones has the potential to establish the presence of hominins in this region during the early Pleistocene. If so, this would represent the earliest evidence of hominins in Europe west of Georgia.

目前，西欧古人类的化石证据可以追溯到大约 140 万年前（Ma），而东欧的同一时期仍然没有得到充分研究，尽管它很可能是古人类扩散到欧洲其他地区的一条路线。这个高风险的研究项目将对罗马尼亚奥尔特河谷进行古生物学和地质调查，这里是这一时期东欧哺乳动物动物化石最丰富的地点。调查人员将在一些已知地点寻找古人类居住的证据，寻找其他地点，并收集数据以了解该地区的古环境并确认这些地点的日期作为一个可能的迁徙路线的地区，新的发现将会出现。该项目将通过为三所主要教育第一代大学生和少数族裔学生的大学的本科生提供研究机会来鼓励科学领域的性别和种族多样性。美国和罗马尼亚科学家之间的国际合作，证据表明，古人类化石在 1.85 Ma 之前成功从非洲扩散到格鲁吉亚和印度尼西亚，但欧洲最早的证据直到约 1.4 Ma 才出现。对于这种明显的晚期扩散有两种可能的解释：1）一些障碍。禁止古人类扩散到欧洲，或者 2) 古人类在 1.4 Ma 之前就已经存在，但古生物学调查尚未发现它们的存在，而这一时期的西欧遗址已被集中发现。据调查，东欧的古生物学地点尚未得到彻底的探索。罗马尼亚的奥尔特河谷已经发现了一系列化石遗址，这些化石遗址可能有助于了解更新世早期向欧洲的传播模式，初步工作表明该地区具有该高风险研究项目将对奥尔特河谷进行古生物学和地质调查，寻找更新世早期古人类居住的证据，并进行初步调查。通过定位和分析罗马尼亚早更新世化石遗址的数据，我们可以确定这些遗址的动物群是否与欧亚大陆其他早更新世人类遗址的动物群相似，或者这些遗址之间是否存在差异。至关重要的是，对这些地点的化石进行检查并识别任何潜在的石器和/或切割标记的骨头有可能确定这些地点。如果是这样，这将代表格鲁吉亚以西的欧洲最早的古人类证据。

项目成果

Multiproxy paleoenvironmental reconstruction of Early Pleistocene sites from the Olteţ River Valley of Romania

罗马尼亚奥尔特埃河谷早更新世遗址的多代理古环境重建

• DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2021.110445
• 发表时间: 2021-07-01
• 期刊: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
• 作者: Sabrina C. Curran;C. Terhune;R. Croitor;V. Drăgușin;D. Fox;Nicole D. Garrett;Lydia B. Ironside;A. Petculescu;Briana L. Pobiner;C. Robinson;Marius Robu;I. Tanțău;P. Ungar
• 通讯作者: P. Ungar

Early Pleistocene fauna of the Olteţ River Valley of Romania: Biochronological and biogeographic implications

罗马尼亚奥尔特埃河谷的早更新世动物群：生物年代学和生物地理学意义

• DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2020.06.020
• 发表时间: 2020-07-18
• 期刊: Quaternary International
• 影响因子: 2.2
• 作者: C. Terhune;Sabrina C. Curran;R. Croitor;V. Drăgușin;T. Gaudin;A. Petculescu;C. Robinson;Marius Robu;L. Werdelin
• 通讯作者: L. Werdelin