Magnetostratigraphy of African Early Hominid Cave Sites

该项目将对南非三个经典古人类洞穴遗址（Makapansgat、Sterkfontein和Taung）的沉积沉积物进行全面的磁地层学研究。拟议的研究将产生其中一些遗址的日期。了解考古沉积物的磁极是制定准确的时间尺度，从而准确地确定化石年代的重要因素。南非原始人洞穴沉积物具有非常复杂的地层，因此这些化石的时间位置一直难以解决。这种现代技术的应用将对我们了解这些洞穴遗址以前发生的事件的时间和持续时间做出重大贡献。

This project will provide a thorough magnetostratigraphic study of cores from sedimentary deposits at three classic hominid cave sites in South Africa (Makapansgat, Sterkfontein, and Taung). The proposed research should result in the production of dates for some of these sites. Knowledge of the magnetic polarity of archaeological deposits is an important factor in developing an accurate time scale and thus in dating the fossils accurately. The South African hominid-bearing cave deposits have a very complicated stratigraphy and thus the temporal placement of these fossils has been difficult to resolve. The application of this modern technique will be a major contribution to our understanding of the timing and duration of previous events at these cave sites.