The Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition: Upper Pleistocene Research at the "Cingles del Capello" (Spain)

位于西班牙巴塞罗那省东南部的悬崖Cingles del Capello底部排列着许多岩石掩体或悬垂，已被证明含有分层的考古沉积物。这些令人感兴趣的原因有几个。首先，它们包含记录欧洲尼安德特人时期的分层材料，这些材料可能会延续到更近的时代。其次，由于这一地区的沉积似乎很快，这些避难所的不同职业之间很可能完全分开。最后，这些避难所含有多层钙华，其年龄可以通过铀系列测年来确定。出于这些原因，劳伦斯·施特劳斯博士将在两个悬崖遗址进行一季的考古发掘：科瓦·安东和埃尔斯·松林。他将清理之前挖掘出的坑的表面，去除覆盖层，然后进行仔细的地层挖掘，以确定目前存在的文化材料的性质。他将收集和分析动植物材料和花卉材料以及石器遗迹。除了导线外，还将提交有机物质进行绝对年龄测定。解剖学上的现代人最早出现在大约35,000到40,000年前的欧洲。在那之前，人类居民在身体上是截然不同的，被称为“尼安德特人”。与之相关的文化被称为“穆斯特尔文化”。目前还不清楚尼安德特人发生了什么，也不知道他们是相对较快地发展成现代形式，还是被其他民族取代。也不清楚随后的“旧石器时代晚期”文化传统是直接从穆斯特尔人那里发展出来的，还是从其他地方侵入的。由于既可测定日期又覆盖这段时间的遗址非常罕见，因此很难在备选方案中进行选择，在这种情况下，El Pinyons和Cova Anton具有重要意义。这项研究很重要，因为它将揭示解剖学上的现代人和相关文化在欧洲的出现。

Numerous rock shelters or overhangs which line the base of Cingles del Capello, a cliff located in SE Barcelona Province, Spain, have been shown to contain stratified archaeological deposits. These are of interest for several reasons. First, they contain stratified materials which document the Neanderthal period in Europe and which probably continue into more recent times. Second, because sedimentation in this region appears to be rapid, clean separation between different occupations of these rockshelters is likely. Finally, the shelters contain layers of travertine the age of which can be determined by Uranium series dating. For these reasons Dr. Lawrence Straus will conduct a season of archaeological excavation at two cliff sites: Cova Anton and Els Pinyons. He will clean the face of previously excavated pits, remove overburden, and then conduct careful stratigraphic excavation to determine the nature of the cultural materials present. He will collect and analyze faunal and floral materials as well as lithic remains. In addition to travertines, organic materials will be submitted for absolute age determinations. Anatomically modern humans first appeared in Europe approximately 35,000 to 40,000 years ago. Before that time the human inhabitants were physically distinct and termed "Neanderthals." The associated culture is called "Mousterian." It is unclear what happened to the Neanderthals and not known whether they developed relatively rapidly into modern forms or whether they were replaced by other peoples. It is also unclear whether or not the succeeding "Upper Paleolithic" cultural tradition developed directly from the Mousterian or is intrusive from elsewhere. Because sites which are both datable and which cover this time period are so rare, it has been difficult to select between alternatives, and in this context El Pinyons and Cova Anton assume great significance. This research is important because it will shed light on the emergence of anatomically modern humans and associated culture in Europe.