Zooarchaeological and Taphonomic Analysis of the Die Kelders Cave 1 (South Africa) Middle Stone Age Fauna

Die Kelders Cave 1（南非）中石器时代动物群的动物考古学和埋藏学分析

• 批准号: 9727491
• 负责人: Curtis Marean
• 金额: $ 8.38万
• 依托单位: SUNY at Stony Brook
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1998
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1998-02-01 至 2002-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9727491&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Zooarchaeological; Taphonomic; Analysis; Die; Kelders

With National Science Foundation support Dr. Curtis Marean and his students will analyze faunal remains recovered from the archaeological site of Die Kelders. Located on the southern coast of South Africa, approximately 120 km SE of Cape town, it includes two adjoining caves and the stratified deposits contained therein document human activity for possibly as much as a quarter million years. The materials recovered by Dr. Marean and collaborators through NSF supported research include stone tools and hominid teeth as well as abundant faunal remains. This latter body of material constitutes the focus for the current study. The group will analyze mammal bones - most introduced to the caves through human hunting - from the earlier Middle Stone Age (MSA) levels of the site. The goal of the work is to examine not only diet but to reconstruct the techniques employed to obtain prey. It is possible through the examination of body part distributions to determine whether the animal carcasses consumed resulted from purposeful hunting or from scavenging of carnivore kills. A list of species which were hunted and eaten also provides insight into hunting capabilities. A study of this kind is time consuming because prior work by Dr. Marean has confirmed the necessity to focus not only on large and easily identifiable bone fragments but also on smaller splinters of longbone shaft which archaeologists normally categorize as `unidentifiable.` Thus extensive refitting is necessary. Archaeologists believe that the Middle Stone Age peoples of Africa were either the immediate ancestors or first representatives of behaviorally modern humans and through analysis of their behavior it will be possible to gain insight into modern human origins. There has been extensive disagreement about the level of cultural competence exhibited by such groups and much of this has centered on subsistence competence. Some archaeologists have argued that MSA groups lacked the ability to hunt large animals and that such remains recovered in sites resulted from scavenging. Others believe exactly the opposite is the case. With the carefully excavated materials from Die Kelders and the analytic techniques Dr. Marean and colleagues have developed, it should be possible to select among these, and several other alternatives. This research is important because it will shed new light on the emergence of modern human behavior. It will provide data of interest to many archaeologists and assist in training and furthering the academic careers of several graduate students.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Curtis Marian博士和他的学生将分析从Die Kelders考古遗址中发现的动物遗骸。它位于南非南部海岸，距离开普敦东南约120公里，包括两个相邻的洞穴，其中所含的分层沉积物记录了可能长达25万年的人类活动。 Marian博士和合作者通过NSF支持的研究发现的材料包括石器和原始人牙齿以及丰富的动物遗骸。后一部分材料是本研究报告的重点。该小组将分析哺乳动物的骨骼-大多数是通过人类狩猎引入洞穴的-从早期的中石器时代（MSA）水平的网站。这项工作的目标不仅是研究饮食，而且要重建捕获猎物的技术。 通过检查身体部位的分布，可以确定食用的动物尸体是有目的的狩猎造成的，还是食肉动物杀死后的食腐动物造成的。一份被猎杀和食用的物种清单也提供了对狩猎能力的深入了解。这类研究是耗时的，因为Marian博士先前的工作已经证实，不仅需要关注大而容易识别的骨头碎片，而且需要关注考古学家通常归类为“无法识别”的长骨骨干的较小碎片。因此，大量的改装是必要的。 考古学家认为，非洲中石器时代的人要么是行为现代人的直接祖先，要么是行为现代人的第一个代表，通过对他们行为的分析，将有可能深入了解现代人的起源。关于这些群体所表现出的文化能力水平存在着广泛的分歧，其中大部分集中在生存能力上。一些考古学家认为，MSA群体缺乏狩猎大型动物的能力，在遗址中发现的这些遗骸是由于拾荒造成的。另一些人则认为情况恰恰相反。有了从凯尔德斯山精心挖掘出来的材料，以及马瑞恩博士和同事们开发的分析技术，应该有可能在这些材料和其他几种替代品中进行选择。 这项研究很重要，因为它将为现代人类行为的出现提供新的线索。它将为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据，并协助培训和促进几名研究生的学术生涯。