Neolithic Economy and Social Relations in the Eastern Sahara

在国家科学基金会的支持下，弗雷德·文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地区进行考古研究。他们将回到过去工作的地点，并采取一系列策略，包括测量、地表收集暴露的材料和仔细挖掘。该遗址可追溯至新石器时代，距今约9000年至60000年。一系列的房屋特别重要，因为它们包含大量的小凹陷，很可能是烹饪火灾的残余物。每一个都有丰富的和保存完好的花卉遗迹，可能是个别烹饪活动的副产品。有了这样的数据，就有可能获得对生存实践的前所未有的洞察，因为植物材料被保存得如此完好是极其罕见的。大范围的现场调查应提供有关定居模式和生存战略的信息。新石器时代标志着当今社会的许多特征的出现。第一个长期定居点建立了，陶器第一次出现在考古记录中，动植物被驯化。由于这一变化非常重要，考古学家将其称为“新石器时代革命”。然而，目前还不清楚是什么原因导致世界许多地区的群体从狩猎和聚集的生活方式转变为更久坐的生活方式。文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极好的地区，因为从地表遗迹中经常可以看到遗址，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。它将提供大量考古学家感兴趣的数据。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 region 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. This site dates from the Neolithic period, ca. 9,000 to 6,0000 years before the present. A series of houses 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 by products 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 to 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.