An Analysis of Upper Paleolithic Materials

旧石器时代晚期材料分析

• 批准号: 8807361
• 负责人: Randall White
• 金额: $ 2.85万
• 依托单位: New York University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1988
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1988-07-15 至 1990-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=8807361&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Analysis; Upper; Paleolithic; Materials

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.

怀特博士将考察欧洲和俄罗斯博物馆收藏的旧石器时代晚期文物。特别是，他将专注于用作身体装饰品的石头、骨头和象牙珠子和吊坠。将绘制和拍摄物体，并描述它们的形式和制造方法。这些材料中的许多都没有被描述，这是第一次将这些装饰品作为一组离散的数据来处理和分析。有了这些信息，就有可能审查这一广泛地理区域的种族分化问题，并确定所有现代群体的特征--离散的文化边界--在这个早期存在的程度。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上的现代人以及第一个从事艺术实践的人联系在一起。今天，艺术是一种普遍的特征，是现代人类社会的标志。人们对旧石器时代早期的文化习俗和社会组织知之甚少，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。它还很有价值，因为它将利用一种未得到充分利用的资源。其中许多网站的材料从未得到适当的分析和发布。如今，这些往往以高昂成本获得的宝贵数据被忽视了。通过怀特博士的工作，这些材料的潜力将被实现。