Dissertation Research: Mukogodo Ethnoarchaeology: Hunter- Gatherer Adaptations and Transition to Food Production

在Fiona Marshall博士的指导下，Kennedy Mutundu先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将采访居住在肯尼亚北部的穆科戈多人，并将挖掘历史上他们居住的两个岩石避难所。从人类学的角度来看，穆科戈多人非常重要，因为他们是非洲少数几个直到近代还以狩猎和采集方式生活的群体之一。在活着的部落成员的一生中，他们从放牧的邻居那里获得牲畜，成为牧民。在他们每年的活动过程中，这个群体也占据了一些已知的岩石庇护所或突出部分，初步信息表明，这些岩石庇护所或突出部分含有分层的物质遗迹，既记录了早期的生活方式，也记录了向游牧生活的过渡。穆通杜先生将挖掘其中的两个，并收集动物和其他文化遗迹。鉴于优秀的历史数据以及这些遗址最终居住者的详细信息，他将能够将生存模式与考古特征联系起来。这项研究很重要，因为它提供了对史前时期发生在几乎整个非洲和世界大部分地区的一个过程的洞察。在许多地区，以狩猎和采集为生的人们在与牧民接触后逐渐改变了他们的生存方式。这种转变对考古学家来说非常有趣，因为它为研究文化变迁提供了一个背景。当面对一种新的生存来源时，拒绝或接受和融入它的过程是什么？初步数据表明，这一过程在不同地区有所不同。考古学家面临的问题是，很难确定什么构成了考古记录中的牧民“签名”，因为家畜本身也可能通过贸易或盗窃获得。Mukogodo的情况，由于出色的历史和民族志控制，提供了一个受控的案例来研究这个问题。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将产生可能在世界许多地方有用的考古工具。它将获取否则很快就会不可挽回地丢失的数据，最后它将有助于培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。＊＊＊

9313577 Marshall Under the direction of Dr. Fiona Marshall, Mr. Kennedy Mutundu will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will interview Mukogodo peoples who live in northern Kenya and will also excavate two rock shelters which were inhabited by them in historic times. The Mukogodo are, from an anthropological perspective, extremely important because they are one of the few African groups which followed a hunting and gathering way of life until recent times. Within the lifetime of living tribal members, they obtained livestock from herding neighbors and became pastoralists. In the course of their yearly rounds this group also occupied a number of known rock shelters or overhangs and preliminary information indicates that these contain stratified material remains which both document the earlier way of life and the transition to pastoralism. Mr. Mutundu will excavate two of these and collect faunal as well as other cultural remains. Given excellent historical data as well as detailed information from the final occupants of these sites he will be able to relate subsistence pattern with archaeological signature. This research is important because it provides an insight into a process which took place over almost all of Africa and much of the rest of the world in prehistoric times. In many regions peoples who lived by hunting and gathering gradually changed their way of subsistence after contact with pastoral populations. This transition is extremely interesting to archaeologists because it provides a context to study culture change. When confronted by a new subsistence source, what are the processes involved in the rejection or the acceptance and incorporation of it? Preliminary data indicates that this process differed in varying regions. The problem that archaeologists face is that it is difficult to determine what constitutes a pastoral "signature" in the archaeological record since domestic animals per se may also be obtained through trade or theft. The Mukogodo situation, because of the excellent historical and ethnographic control, provides a controlled case in which to examine this question. This research is important for several reasons. It will yield archaeological tools which may be useful in many parts of the world. It will capture data which otherwise soon would be irretrievably lost and finally it will contribute to the training of a promising young scientist. ***