An Analysis of Upper Paleolithic Materials

怀特博士将研究欧洲和俄罗斯博物馆中旧石器时代晚期的藏品。他将特别关注作为身体装饰品的石头、骨头和象牙珠子和吊坠。将绘制和拍摄物品，并描述其形式和制造方法。许多这些材料都没有被描述，这是第一次将这些装饰品作为一个离散的数据集来处理和分析。有了这些资料，就有可能审查这一广阔地理区域内的种族差别问题，并确定在这个早期时期存在的具有所有现代群体特征的离散文化界限的程度。这些藏品之所以重要，是因为它们与欧洲最早出现的解剖学意义上的现代人有关，也是最早从事艺术实践的人。今天，艺术是一种普遍的特征，是现代人类社会的标志。我们对旧石器时代早期晚期的文化习俗和社会组织知之甚少，而这个项目将大大增加我们有限的信息储备。这项研究很重要，因为它将增加我们对人类文化起源的理解。它也很有价值，因为它将利用未充分利用的资源。这些网站上的许多材料从未经过适当的分析和发表。如今，这些往往花费巨大代价获得的宝贵数据却被忽视了。通过怀特博士的工作，这些材料的潜力将得到实现。

Dr. White will examine collections of Upper Paleolithic objects housed in museums in Europe and Russia. In particular, he will focus on stone, bone and ivory beads and pendants which served as body ornaments. Objects will be drawn and photographed, and their form and method of manufacture described. Many of these materials are undescribed, and this is the first time that such ornaments will be treated as a discrete set of data and analyzed as such. With this information, it will be possible to examine the question of ethnic differentiation across this wide geographical area and determine the extent to which discrete cultural boundaries, which characterize all modern groups, existed at this early date. What makes these collections important is that they are associated with the earliest anatomically modern humans to appear in Europe and the first to engage in artistic practices. Today, art is a universal trait, a hallmark of modern human societies. Extremely little is known about early Upper Paleolithic cultural practices and social organization, and this project will add significantly to our limited store of information. This research is important because it will increase our understanding of the origins of human culture. It is also valuable because it will make use of an underutilized resource. The materials from many of these sites have never been properly analyzed and published. Today these valuable data, often obtained at great cost, are ignored. Through Dr. White's work, the potential of these materials will be realized.