Dissertation Research: Modern Analog Study of Landscape Vegetation Contexts across the Lowermost Bed II Olduvai Basin

在Robert Blumenschine博士的指导下，Sandi Copeland女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她的最终目标是重建坦桑尼亚奥杜瓦伊峡谷约170万年前的植被模式。布鲁门斯钦博士领导的一个大规模考古项目关注的是广泛暴露的沉积物，这些沉积物可以追溯到这个时间段。该小组收集了大量动物和文物遗骸样本，这些样本有可能为早期原始人如何利用这片土地提供洞察。然而，为了理解早期的人类行为，有必要将这些数据投射到详细的景观重建上，因为只有当一个人了解树木、开阔的草原和潜在的可食用食物物种的分布时，才有可能重建生存策略。虽然有一些数据，如土壤碳酸盐样本，但这些还不足以实现预期的目标。凭借创新的研究设计，科普兰女士将考察现代模拟景观。根据与Olduvai的地质相似性，她确定了坦桑尼亚的三个地区，这些地区与不同地区的古景观有着共同的基本特征。她将使用采样技术对这些当今环境进行仔细的植被分析。她将专注于潜在的植物食物和被认为对早期原始人重要的休眠树木等资源，以确定它们的密度、分布和联系。她还将收集地质数据，这将使她能够确定奥杜瓦景观上详细的现代图案。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将有助于开发一种可在世界许多地区的许多环境中应用的方法工具。它将为一个经典的非洲遗址的早期原始人行为提供新的线索。它还将帮助培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Robert Blumenschine, MS Sandi Copeland will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. Her ultimate goal is the reconstruct the vegetation patterns at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania during a time interval ca. 1.7 million years ago. A large scale archaeological project directed by Dr. Blumenschine has focused on broadly exposed sediments which date to this time horizon. The group has collected large samples of both faunal and artifact remains which have the potential to provide insight into how early hominids utilized the landscape. However to understand early human behavior it is necessary to project these data on a detailed landscape reconstruction because only when one understands the distributions of trees, open grassland and potentially edible food species is it possible to reconstruct subsistence strategy. Although some data such as soil carbonate samples are available, these are not sufficient to accomplish the desired goal. With an innovative research design MS Copeland will examine modern analog landscapes. Based on geological similarity with Olduvai, she has located three regions in Tanzania which share essential characteristics with different parts of the paleo-landscape. She shall conduct careful vegetation analyses of these present day environments using sampling techniques. She will focus on resources such as potential plant foods and sleeping trees of presumed importance to early hominids to determine their density, distribution and association. She will also collect geological data which will allow her to `pin` the detailed modern patterns on the Olduvai landscape. This research is important for several reasons. It will help to develop a methodological tool which may be applied in many environments in many parts of the world. It will shed new light on early hominid behavior at a classic African site. It will also assist in training a promising young scientist.