Excavations at the Middle Paleoithic Site of La Quina (Charente), France

在国家科学基金会的支持下，亚瑟·耶利内克博士将在位于法国夏朗德地区的拉奎纳遗址进行为期三个季节的考古研究。这个重要的莫斯特遗址几年来一直是这个小组关注的焦点，迄今为止的结果很好地证明了继续挖掘的合理性。该遗址本身包含一系列层状沉积物，其中动物和文化遗迹极其丰富。人类骨骼材料也被发现。到目前为止，大约有6000件石器物品和11000块骨头被分类。在接下来的三个季节里，该团队将扩大所有层次的挖掘。将尝试几种方法来提供每一层的绝对日期，并分析考古材料，以深入了解莫斯特文化和生存习惯。莫斯特文化可以追溯到更新世（冰河时代）的最新阶段，与现代人的直接祖先尼安德特人有关。近年来，这些尼安德特人一直是考古学家激烈争论的主题。一些人认为，这个群体的行为方式与后来的旧石器时代晚期群体明显不同，缺乏现代文化的能力。其他人则认为，莫斯特式产业及其所反映的行为相当复杂。不幸的是，几乎没有收集到足够的数据来审查这个问题，在这种情况下，拉奎纳遗址尤其重要，因为它包含了丰富的文化材料。庞大的动物群应该可以重建莫斯特狩猎技术，并展示这些技术是如何随着时间的推移而变化和发展的。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为一大群考古学家提供感兴趣的数据。它将提供深入了解现代人类出现的背景，并阐明导致这一发展的过程。因为Dr. Jelinek在这个项目中包括了很多学生，这应该有助于科学招募。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Arthur Jelinek will conduct three seasons of archaeological research at the site of La Quina which is located in the Charente region of France. This important Mousterian site has been the focus of this group for several years and the results to date well justify continued excavation. The site itself contains a series of stratified deposits which are extremely rich in both faunal and cultural remains. Human skeletal material has also been recovered. To date, approximately 6,000 lithic objects and 11,000 bones have been catalogued. Over the next three field seasons, the team will expand the excavations in all levels. Several approaches will be attempted to provide absolute dates for each level and archaeological materials will be analyzed to shed insight into Mousterian cultural and subsistence practices. Mousterian culture dates from the most recent part of the Pleistocene (Ice Age) and is associated with Neanderthal peoples who were the immediate predecessors to modern humans. In recent years, these Neanderthals have been the subject of intense archaeological debate. Some have argued that this group acted in ways significantly different from the succeeding Upper Paleolithic groups and lacked the capacity for modern culture. Others argue that Mousterian industries and the behaviors they reflect are quite complex. Unfortunately, little well collected data exists to permit examination of the issue and in this context the site of La Quina is particularly important because of the rich cultural materials it contains. The large faunal assemblage should permit reconstruction of Mousterian hunting techniques and demonstrate how these changed and developed over time. This research is important for several reasons. It will yield data of interest to a large group of archaeologists. It will provide insight into the background from which physically modern humans emerged and shed light on the process which led to this development. Because Dr. Jelinek includes many students in this project, it should aid in the scientific recruitment.