Dissertation Research: A Study of Middle Paleolithic Denticulated Tool Variability

论文研究：旧石器时代中期齿状工具变异性研究

• 批准号: 9024823
• 金额: $ 0.59万
• 依托单位: Southern Methodist University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1991
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1991-01-15 至 1992-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9024823&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Study; Middle; Paleolithic

Under the direction of Dr. Anthony Marks, Ms Amy Campbell will conduct research for her doctoral dissertation. She will analyze stone tool assemblages from a number of Middle Paleolithic sites from Nubia, the Negev, the Near East and Western Europe to understand the manufacturing process which produced "denticulate" types of tools. These collections are housed in museums both in Europe and the United States. Middle Paleolithic cultures were widespread in the Old World and date to periods greater than 40,000 years ago. While archaeologists have focussed their analytic efforts on some types of stone tools which are included in such lithic assemblages, denticulate pieces have received little attention. A denticulate is defined by closely spaced notches along the edge of a stone flake which create a saw tooth effect. The Middle Paleolithic period is of great interest to archaeologists because it is during this time that anatomically modern humans first appeared. Scientists want to understand what cultural adaptations are associated with this emergence and the main body of data available consists of stone tools. Through classification of these into different types and the study of variation within types they are able to make inferences about both the cognitive abilities and the social organization of their makers. It is surprising that so little attention has been focussed on denticulate because they are widely distributed and are common in most assemblages. Ms Campbell's work will increase our understanding of how they were manufactured and what functions they served. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide insight on the factors which led to the emergence of modern humans. It will provide data of interest to Old World archaeologists and will assist in the training of an extremely promising young scientist.

在安东尼·马克斯博士的指导下，艾米·坎贝尔女士将为她的博士论文进行研究。 她将分析来自努比亚、内盖夫、近东和西欧的许多旧石器时代中期遗址的石器组合，以了解生产“齿状”类型工具的制造过程。 这些藏品收藏在欧洲和美国的博物馆中。 旧石器时代中期文化在旧世界广泛传播，其历史可以追溯到四万多年前。 虽然考古学家将分析工作集中在此类石器组合中包含的某些类型的石器上，但有齿的碎片却很少受到关注。 小齿是由沿着石片边缘的紧密间隔的凹口定义的，产生锯齿效果。 考古学家对旧石器时代中期非常感兴趣，因为正是在这个时期，解剖学上的现代人类首次出现。 科学家们想要了解与这种出现相关的文化适应，并且可用数据的主体包括石器。 通过将它们分类为不同类型并研究类型内的变异，他们能够推断其制造者的认知能力和社会组织。 令人惊讶的是，人们对小齿的关注如此之少，因为它们分布广泛，并且在大多数组合中都很常见。 坎贝尔女士的工作将加深我们对它们的制造方式以及它们的功能的了解。 这项研究很重要，原因有几个。 它将提供有关导致现代人类出现的因素的见解。 它将提供旧世界考古学家感兴趣的数据，并将协助培训一位非常有前途的年轻科学家。