The Prehistory of Portugal

该项目建立在马克斯博士和葡萄牙考古学家若昂子豪博士的合作基础上。他们一起检查了在葡萄牙中部埃斯特雷马杜拉地区出土的博物馆藏品，并参观和测试了一些考古遗址。这些调查表明，存在着一系列年代不确定且鲜为人知的考古文化，它们可能跨越了上更新世时期。调查人员将共同进行一系列实地和实验室研究，主要有两个目标：根据精心挖掘的材料定义葡萄牙旧石器时代晚期的工业，其次，根据绝对年代和相对年代，通过与暴露的冲积层和风成层序列的联系，将这些工业置于当地衍生的年代地层框架中。为了完成这项工作，他们将在已知的地点进行挖掘，并试图找到新的地点。通过对烧过的燧石文物进行热释光测年，可以获得绝对的测年日期。材料将在每个野外季节结束时在葡萄牙进行分析。旧石器时代晚期标志着西欧解剖学上现代人类的出现。这一时期的另一个特点是出现了独特的人类特征，如艺术和复杂的仪式行为。目前所知的大部分来自法国西南部丰富的复杂遗址，因此，我们的理解可能是有偏见的。这项研究很重要，因为它将为人类史前的这一重要时期提供一个更广泛、更平衡的视角。

This project builds on collaborative work by Dr. Marks and Dr. Joao Zilhao, a Portuguese archaeologist. Together they have examined museum collections of artifacts excavated in the Estremadura region of Central Portugal and visited and tested a number of archaeological sites. These investigations show that a range of poorly dated and little understood archaeological cultures are present and that they probably span the period of the Upper Pleistocene. Together the investigators will conduct a series of field and laboratory studies with two major goals: the definition of Portuguese Upper Paleolithic industries based on a carefully excavated materials and secondly, the placement of these industries into a locally derived chronostratigraphic framework based upon both absolute dating and relative dating through associations with sequences of exposed alluvial and eolian formations. To accomplish this they will conduct excavations at already known sites and attempt to locate new ones. Absolute dates will be obtained through thermolumenescent dating of burned flint artifacts. Materials will be analyzed in Portugal at the close of each field season. The Upper Paleolithic marks the appearance of anatomically modern humans in Western Europe. This period is also characterized by the appearance of such uniquely human features as art and the elaboration of complex ceremonial behavior. Most of what is presently known derives from a rich complex of sites located in Southwestern France, and therefore, our understanding is likely biased. This research is important because it will provide a broader and more balanced perspective on this important time in human prehistory.