Exploratory Research: The Potential of Chemical Analysis of Organic Residues on Ground Stone Tools in Reconstructing Prehistoric Diet

9321601 BAR-Yosef博士Ofer Bar-Yosef和Katherine Wright将与伦敦大学大学学院的化学家合作，对史前撞击和研磨石上的残留物进行化学分析。研究对象来自约旦和以色列的一系列遗址。在此基础上，他们希望重建这些物品的用途，确定个别标本是否用于减少动物或植物产品，并有望识别个别植物物种。他们将使用薄层色谱和气相色谱-质谱仪。选择用于分析的材料来自安全、年代确定的考古背景，包括农业前和早期农业遗址。动植物的驯化大约发生在10,000年前的近东地区，标志着人类生活方式的重大转变。这场“新石器时代的革命”为人口的增加、定居村落生活的发展和文明的兴起提供了基础。考古学家希望了解导致驯化的过程，并认识到实现这一点是多么困难。植物很少会在考古记录中留下明显的印记，因为--与动物的骨头不同--它们往往很脆弱，不能很好地保存。通过人种学类比，众所周知，磨碎的石器经常被用来加工植物和动物食品，因此，巴尔-约瑟夫博士和赖特博士将重点放在这种材料上。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。这将有助于开发一种可以在许多考古情况下应用的技术。它将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的数据，并增加我们对像我们自己这样的复杂社会是如何发展的理解。***

9321601 Bar-Yosef Drs. Ofer Bar-Yosef and Katherine Wright, in collaboration with chemists from University College, University of London, will conduct chemical analysis of residues incorporated onto prehistoric pounding and grinding stones. The objects to be studied derive from a series of sites in Jordan and Israel. On this basis they hope to reconstruct the uses to which these objects were put, determine whether individual specimens served to reduce animal or plant products, and hopefully identify the individual plant species. They will employ thin-layer chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. Materials selected for analysis derive from secure well dated archaeological contexts and include both pre- agricultural and early agricultural sites. The domestication of plants and animals occurred in the Near East ca. 10,000 years ago and marks a major transition in human lifestyle. This "Neolithic revolution" provided the basis for population increase, the development of settled village life and the rise of civilization. Archaeologists wish to understand the process which lead to domestication and recognize how difficult it is to accomplish this. Plants only infrequently leave a visible mark in the archaeological record because - in contrast to animal bone - they are often fragile and do not preserve well. It is known by ethnographic analogy that ground stone objects are often used to process plant and animal foods and for this reason Drs. Bar-Yosef and Wright are focussing on such materials. This research is important for several reasons. It will help to develop a technique which may be applied in many archaeological situations. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and increase our understanding of how complex societies such as our own developed. ***