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Cingles del Capello悬崖底部有许多岩石掩体或突出部分，已被证明含有分层考古沉积物。有几个原因引起了人们的兴趣。首先，它们含有分层的材料，这些材料记录了尼安德特人在欧洲的时期，并且可能持续到更近的时期。其次，由于这一地区的沉积似乎是迅速的，所以这些岩石掩体的不同位置之间很可能是完全分离的。最后，这些避难所含有石灰华层，其年龄可以通过铀系列测年来确定。由于这些原因，劳伦斯·斯特劳斯博士将在科瓦·安东和埃尔斯·皮扬斯这两个悬崖遗址进行一季的考古发掘。他将清理先前挖掘的坑的表面，去除覆盖层，然后进行仔细的地层挖掘，以确定存在的文化材料的性质。他将收集和分析动物和植物材料以及石器遗迹。除石灰华外，有机材料也将提交进行绝对年龄测定。解剖学意义上的现代人最早出现在大约35000到40000年前的欧洲。在此之前，人类居民在身体上是不同的，被称为“尼安德特人”。与之相关的文化被称为“莫斯特文化”。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迅速地发展成现代形态，还是被其他民族取代。同样不清楚的是，后来的“旧石器时代晚期”文化传统是直接从莫斯特时期发展而来，还是从其他地方侵入而来。由于既可记录数据又涵盖这一时期的遗址非常罕见，因此很难在备选方案中做出选择，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.