Research on Plio-Pleistocene Hominid Activities at Kanjera, Kenya

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Thomas Plummer博士和他的合作者将在位于肯尼亚西南部霍马半岛的Kanjera遗址进行为期一季的考古及相关古生物和地质野外工作。该遗址之前的工作表明，广泛存在的石器以及丰富的动物遗骸。生物地层学测年表明，该遗址的年龄为1.7至2.3年，因此该遗址记录了与坦桑尼亚的奥杜瓦伊峡谷以及一系列重要的肯尼亚图尔卡纳湖遗址相同的时期。研究小组将进行挖掘和地质挖沟。他们将研究考古材料分布的水平和垂直模式，并将其与横向古生境变异性联系起来。主要的遗址形成过程将通过对化石骨表面破坏的分析和详细的地层观察来诊断。动物群分析以及成壤碳酸盐和牙釉质的同位素研究将解决古人类和动物群的古生态问题。将对人工制品原材料进行分析，以区分本地和遥远的原材料来源，以阐明早期人类的测距行为。该遗址的沉积史将通过对单个挖掘和它们之间的地质沟中的微地层学的研究来解释。这些结果将为洞察早期人类祖先的行为和他们所处的环境提供洞察。这项研究很重要，因为它记录了原始人发育的一个非常早期的阶段。虽然在奥杜瓦伊峡谷和肯尼亚北部的图尔卡纳湖遗址进行了多年的广泛工作，但这两个地区都位于裂谷，由于相似的地质环境，有许多生态特征。坎杰拉不在裂谷和动物群分析表明，与其他两个地区相比，该地区的环境更加开放，更具草原环境的特征。行为适应性是人类物种的一个基本特征，对于古人类学家来说，了解这种适应性可以追溯到多远的时间是很重要的。由于坎杰拉草原带来的独特环境挑战，该遗址提供了一个审查这一问题的绝佳机会。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Thomas Plummer and his collaborators will conduct one season of archaeological and associated paleontological and geological fieldwork at the site of Kanjera which is located on the Homa Peninsula in southwestern Kenya. Previous work at the site has indicated the widespread presence of stone tools as well as abundant faunal remains. Biostratigraphic dating indicates an age of 1.7 to 2.3 years and the site thus documents the same time period as Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania as well as a series of important Kenyan Lake Turkana sites. The research team will carry out both excavation and geological trenching. They will examine horizontal and vertical patterns in the distribution of archaeological materials and relate this to lateral paleohabitat variability. Major site formation processes will be diagnosed through analysis of fossil bone surface damage and detailed stratigraphic observations. Faunal analysis as well as isotopic studies of pedogenic carbonates and tooth enamel will address questions of hominid and faunal paleoecology. Analyses of artifact raw material will be conducted to distinguish between local and distant raw material sources to elucidate early human ranging behavior. The depositional history of the site will be interpreted through examination of microstratigraphy within individual excavations and in geological trenches between them. The results will provide insight into the behavior of early human ancestors and the environment in which they functioned. This research is important because it documents an extremely early period in hominid development. While extensive work has been conducted for many years both at Olduvai Gorge and at Lake Turkana sites in northern Kenya, both of these areas are located in the Rift Valley and because of similar geological setting, share a number of ecological characteristics. Kanjera is not in the Rift and faunal analysis indicates an environment which was much more open and more characteristic of a grassland setting than either of the other two regions. Behavioral adaptability is a basic characteristic of the human species and it is important for paleoanthropologists to understand how far back this extends in time. Because of the unique environmental challenge posed by Kanjera's grassland setting the site provides an excellent opportunity to examine this issue.