Dissertation Research: "Reconstructing" Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherer Mobility Patterns in Archaeology: A Perspective from the Near East

在Douglas Bamforth博士的指导下，Mark Becker先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他的目标有两个：将新的分析技术应用于考古材料，以证明它们的实用性，并深入了解导致近东动植物驯化的过程。大约12000年前，以色列-西奈地区生活方式转变的证据是显而易见的。被称为“纳图夫人”的民族建立了大型的永久性或半永久性村庄，采用了陶瓷，并展示了许多与田园和农业社会相关的属性。尽管他们实际上没有驯化，并依靠狩猎和采集食物，但很明显，他们正沿着这一方向发展。然而，考古学家对旧石器时代晚期（约3.5万年前至1.2万年前）它们的前身是如何组织的意见不一。一些人认为，在纳图夫人身上观察到的这种模式是逐渐发展起来的，而在旧石器时代晚期就存在着越来越多的定居证据。另一些人则认为，纳图夫图案是突然出现的，它的出现是量子性质的。这种区别很重要，因为替代方案表明涉及不同的底层过程。贝克尔先生将通过研究位于西奈沙漠的六个旧石器时代晚期遗址来研究这个问题。他将把重点放在石器及其制造的副产品上，因为这些是在这些遗址中发现的最常见的材料。通过使用磨损分析，他将确定在每个位置发生的活动范围。他将用制造的副产品改装工具，并在场地内绘制这些工具的空间图。这些数据提供了单一和多个职业的信息。通过使用这种程序，可以确定在个别住区进行的活动范围和每一住区被占用的时间的相对长度。考虑中的六个遗址跨越了旧石器时代晚期，因此可以确定方向是否随着时间的推移而发生变化。这项研究将测试相对较新的分析技术对近东考古材料的适用性。它将解决一个重要的人类学问题，并协助培训一位有前途的年轻科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Douglas Bamforth, Mr. Mark Becker will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. His goal is twofold: to apply new techniques of analysis to archaeological materials to demonstrate their utility and to gain insight into the processes which led to the domestication of plants and animals in the Near East. At approximately 12,000 years ago evidence for a shift in lifestyle in the Israel-Sinai area is evident. Peoples known as the `Natufians` established large permanent or semi-permanent villages, adopted ceramics and displayed many of the attributes associated with pastoral and agricultural societies. Although they did not in fact have domesticates and relied on hunted and gathered foods, clearly they were on a trajectory which led in this direction. Archaeologists however do not agree on how their predecessors were organized during the Upper Paleolithic Period, from ca. a35,000 to 12,000 years ago which preceded this. Some argue that the pattern observed in the Natufian developed gradually and that evidence for increasing sedentization is present in the Upper Paleolithic. Others believe that the Natufian pattern occurs abruptly and its appearance is quantum in nature. The distinction is important because the alternatives suggest different underlying processes are involved. Mr. Becker will examine this issue by studying a series of 6 Upper Paleolithic sites located in the Sinai Desert. He will focus on stone tools and the byproducts of their manufacture because these are the most common materials recovered in such sites. Through use wear analysis he will determine the range of activities which took place in each location. He will refit tools with the byproducts of their manufacture and spatially plot these within sites. These data provide information on single vs. multiple occupations. By using such procedures it is possible to determine the range of activities conducted in individual settlements and the relative length of time each was occupied. The six sites under consideration span the Upper Paleolithic period and thus it can be determined whether directional change occurred through time. This research will test the applicability of relatively new analytic techniques to Near Eastern archaeological material. It will address a significant anthropological question and assist in training a promising young scientist.