Fossiliferous Cave Breccias in South Africa

非洲似乎是我们的祖先 进化了 虽然这些最早的发现 人类是在南非制造的， 在东非有过发现。尽管如此， 南非的一些地点是化石的潜在来源 这可能会揭示许多非常重要的 与人类进化早期阶段有关的问题。 为 例如，我们不确定南非人的年龄 迄今为止已知的化石，它们与东非 材料，代表的物种数量，工具- 南非人的生产能力等等。 这些对于阐明人类进化具有明显的重要性。 然而，寻找化石地点确实是一个冒险的过程。 事业。 网站可能会被徒劳地搜索了好几年， 因此，项目不愿投资于那些 有限的可能性“还清。“目前的提议 要求资金调查南非的一个地区， 含有适当年龄的石灰石沉积物。 没有 尚未对这些矿床进行系统调查， PI打算确定哪些角砾岩具有 有化石，更精确的沉积物年代 主要研究者有 在北部和东部的一个地区做了一些前期工作。 有 有合理的地质学和古生物学理由认为 这里要调查的洞穴可能会被证明是洞穴。

Africa appears to be the place in which our earliest ancestors evolved. While the original discoveries of these earliest hominids were made in South Africa, most of the recent discoveries have been in East Africa. There are nonetheless many sites in South Africa which are potential sources of fossils which could shed light on a multitude of exceptionally important questions related to the early stages of our evolution. For instance, we are uncertain as to the ages of the South African fossils known to date, their relationship to the East African materials, the numbers of species represented, the tool- manufacturing capabilities of the South Africans etc. All of these are of clear importance in elucidating human evolution. Yet, looking for fossiliferous sites is a truly risky undertaking. Sites may be searched in vain for years on end and thus programs are hesitant to invest in projects which have a limited likelihood of "paying off." The current proposal requests funds to survey a region of South Africa which is known to contain limestone deposits of the appropriate age. No systematic survey of these deposits has yet been undertaken and the PI intends to determine which breccias have indications of bearing fossils, more precise ages of the deposits. The PI has done some prior work in an area to the north and east. There are reasonable geological and paleontological reasons to think that the caves here to be investigated may prove to be fossiliferous.