Middle Paleolithic Adaptations in Jordan

在国家科学基金会的支持下，杰弗里·克拉克博士将挖掘位于约旦中西部的一个深度分层的考古遗址Ain Difla。先前的工作表明，连续级别的动物遗骸和石器都很丰富，这与穆斯特尔文化有关。克拉克博士将继续在那里挖掘，收集大量的文化和动物遗骸样本。利用热释光技术，他希望获得烧过的打火石的绝对日期。有了这些数据，他将能够重建连续的环境，并展示穆斯特文化是如何随着时间的推移发展并适应这些变化的。这一地区和时间段具有重大的考古学意义，因为化石似乎表明早期现代人和更古老的尼安德特人形式同时存在。目前尚不清楚解剖学上的现代人最早出现在欧洲和近东的时间和地点，也不清楚后者是否直接从早期发展而来。一些人类学家主张原地开发，而另一些人则认为发生了更替。克拉克将收集的考古数据与这一问题相关。穆斯特尔文化传统上与尼安德特人联系在一起，克拉克的材料应该表明这一传统是否在某个时候发生了变化，以及这是否可能与一种不同的生活方式的出现有关。这项研究很重要，因为它将增加我们对解剖学上现代人的出现的理解。它还将提供一大批考古学家感兴趣的数据。

With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Geoffrey Clark will excavate a deeply stratified archaeological site, Ain Difla, located in West-Central Jordan. Prior work indicates that the successive levels are rich in both faunal remains and stone tools which are associated with the Mousterian culture. Dr. Clark will continue the excavation there to collect large samples of both cultural and faunal remains. Using the thermolumenencence technique he hopes to obtain absolute dates on burnt flint. With these data, he will then be able to reconstruct successive environments and to show how Mousterian culture developed over time and adapted to these changes. This area and time period are of great archaeological significance because fossils seem to indicate the concurrent presence of both early modern humans as well as a more archaic Neanderthal form. It is unclear when and where anatomically modern humans first appear in Europe and the Near East and whether the later form develops directly from the earlier. Some anthropologists argue for in situ development while others believe that replacement occurred. Archaeological data such as Clark will collect are relevant to this issue. Mousterian culture is traditionally associated with Neanderthals, and Clark's materials should show whether this tradition at some point changed and whether this may be associated with the appearance of a different way of life. This research is important because it will increase our understanding of the emergence of anatomically modern humans. It will also provide data of interest to a large group of archaeologists.