Dissertation Research: Stable Isotope Analysis of Paleosols

在伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳分校人类学教授斯坦利·安布罗斯博士的指导下，南希·赛克斯女士将开展实地和实验室分析相结合的项目，为她的博士论文收集数据。她的项目有两个目标，一是开发重建过去植被群落的技术，二是将这些技术应用于东非重要的考古遗址。她将重点分析土壤有机成分中的碳同位素。植物利用不同的代谢途径，因此含有不同比例的碳同位素。由于这些植被提供了土壤的主要有机成分，因此不同土壤的同位素比值可能会根据其所维持的植被而变化。初步分析表明，从土壤回溯到植物群落是可能的。赛克斯女士将研究东非的一些土壤。根据海拔梯度，她将记录现代植物覆盖，然后收集相关土壤。在同位素分析之后，她将尝试确定不同类型的特征。在此基础上，她将研究两个重要考古遗址的样本：坦桑尼亚的Olduvai峡谷和位于肯尼亚中部的Olorgessalie。在这两个地点的长期工作已经产生了大量的早期人类文化遗迹样本。为了解释发生的活动，从而深入了解原始人的适应性，有必要建立环境背景，而赛克斯女士的分析应该提供一个基础。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。这将有助于发展一种适用于各种考古情况的技术。它还将为了解早期人类的生活方式提供线索。最后，它将进一步培养一名极有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Stanley Ambrose, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Illinois, Urbana, Ms. Nancy Sikes will carry out a combined program of field and laboratory analysis to collect data for her doctoral dissertation. The twin goals of her project are to develop techniques for reconstructing past vegetation communities and then apply them to significant archaeological sites in East Africa. She will focus on the analysis of carbon isotopes in organic components of soil. Plants utilize different metabolic pathways and as a result, contain different ratios of carbon isotopes. Since such vegetation provides the main organic component in soil, different soils may vary in isotope ratio based on the vegetation they sustained. Preliminary analysis suggests it is possible to work backwards from soil to plant community. Ms. Sikes will study a number of soils in East Africa. Following an altitudinal gradient she will note modern plant cover and then collect associated soil. After isotope analysis she will try to determine different types of signatures. On this basis she will then study samples from two important archaeological sites: Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and Olorgessalie which is located in central Kenya. Long-term work at both sites has yielded extensive samples of early hominid cultural remains. To interpret the activities which took place and, therefore, gain insight into hominid adaptations, it is necessary to establish the environmental context, and Ms. Sikes analyses should provide a basis. This research is important for several reasons. It will help to develop a technique of use in a wide range of archaeological situations. It will also provide insight into how early humans lived. Finally, it will further the training of an extremely promising young scientist.