Neolithic Economy and Social Relations in the Eastern Sahara

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，弗雷德·温多夫博士和他的国际合作者团队将在埃及东撒哈拉沙漠的Gebel Nabta和Bir safsaff地区进行考古研究。他们将回到过去工作的地点，并采用一系列策略，包括调查，暴露材料的表面收集和仔细挖掘。所有的遗址都可以追溯到新石器时代，距今大约9000到6000年。纳布塔的一系列房屋尤为重要，因为它们有大量的小凹痕，可能是烹饪火的遗迹。每一个都有大量保存完好的花的残留物，可能是个别烹饪事件的副产品。有了这些数据，就有可能对生存实践获得前所未有的深入了解，因为植物材料保存得如此完好是极其罕见的。广泛的现场调查应提供关于定居模式和生存战略的信息。新石器时代标志着我们今天社会的许多特征的出现。第一个长期定居点建立，陶器首次出现在考古记录中，植物和动物被驯化。由于这一变化如此重要，考古学家将其称为“新石器革命”。然而，人们还不太清楚是什么原因导致世界上许多地方的群体从狩猎和采集的生活方式转变为更久坐的生活方式。温多夫博士的工作直接集中在这个问题上，埃及沙漠为这项研究提供了一个绝佳的地区，因为从地表遗骸中经常可以看到这些遗址，而且干燥的气候有利于植物的保存。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为大量考古学家提供感兴趣的数据。它将间接探讨黑非洲问题及其对文明发展的贡献。它还将阐明导致复杂社会出现的过程。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Fred Wendorf and his international team of collaborators will conduct archaeological research in the Gebel Nabta and Bir Safsaf regions of the Eastern Sahara Desert in Egypt. They will return to sites located in past work and employ a series of strategies which include survey, surface collection of exposed materials and careful excavation. All sites date from the Neolithic period, ca. 9,000 to 6,000 years before the present. A series of houses from Nabta are particularly important because they contain large numbers of small depressions, probably the remains of cooking fires. Each holds abundant and well preserved floral remains which possibly are the byproducts of individual cooking events. With such data it is possible to gain unprecedented insight into subsistence practices since it is extremely rare for plant materials be so well preserved. A broad scale site survey should provide information on settlement pattern and subsistence strategies. The Neolithic period marked the appearance of many of the hallmarks which characterize our society today. The first long term settlements were established, pottery first appears in the archaeological record, and plants and animals were domesticated. Because this change was so important, archaeologists refer to it as "The Neolithic Revolution." However, it is not well understood what caused groups in many parts of the world to change from a hunting and gathering way of life to a more sedentary existence. Dr. Wendorf's work focusses directly on this issue and the Egyptian desert provides an excellent region for this study because sites are often visible from surface remains and the dry climate favors floral preservation. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to a large number of archaeologists. It will explore indirectly the issue of black Africa and its contribution to the development of civilization. It will also shed light on the processes which led to the emergence of complex societies.