Doctoral Dissertation Improvement: Toward the Development of a Neolithic Sequence for Northern Ethiopia

博士论文改进：埃塞俄比亚北部新石器时代序列的发展

• 批准号: 9900674
• 负责人: Steven Brandt
• 金额: $ 0.69万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-02-01 至 2000-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9900674&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Improvement; Toward; Development

Under the direction of Dr. Steven Brandt, Mr. Agazi Negash will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. Mr.. Negash has conducted an archaeological survey in the Tigray Province of Ethiopia and located a series of rock shelters which, based on material exposed through erosion, contains archaeological remains which date to the Late Pleistocene and Holocene periods. He has conducted preliminary excavation at two of these sites and uncovered stratified sequences which, in addition to ceramics and stone tools, contain abundant animal remains. The presence of charcoal will allow dating of both sites and also suggests that floral materials will be preserved. At neither site has Mr. Negash reached bedrock and, based on ceramics recovered, it is likely that the excavated materials date to the last several thousand years. With NSF support the excavations as both sites will be continued downwards and a third open air occurrence will also be investigated. A central goal of the research is to recover dated sequences of domestic and non-domesticated plant remains to reconstruct the agricultural prehistory of Ethiopia.The "Neolithic Revolution" - the domestication of plants and animals - constituted a fundamental and significant chance in human behavior and the growth of villages and cities, of states and the attributes which constitute civilization all arose from this subsistence base. This process took place, apparently independently, in many regions of both the Old and New Worlds and thus are not the result of historic accident. Through the comparison of individual cases scientists wish to understand the underlying forces responsible. Although much is known about domestication in the Near East, China, Middle America and the Andes, few realize that the same process took place in Ethiopia and adjoining regions. In part this is because the domestic plants such as ensete and teff are not widely used in the West; in part the lack of archaeological research in this area is also responsible. While many scenarios for domestication in Ethiopia have been proposed, the data to support any are lacking. The sites which Mr. Nagesh has located will likely provide relevant information and serve to establish a cultural sequence for a little known area. The results should allow archaeologists to select between several equally likely scenarios and will, therefore, be of interest to many scientists. This project will also assist in training a promising young scientist.

在Steven Brandt博士的指导下，Agazi Negash先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。先生. .Negash在埃塞俄比亚提格雷省进行了一项考古调查，并根据侵蚀暴露的材料找到了一系列岩石避难所，其中包含可追溯到晚更新世和全新世时期的考古遗迹。他对其中两个遗址进行了初步挖掘，发现了除了陶瓷和石器之外，还有大量动物遗骸的分层序列。木炭的存在将有助于确定两个遗址的年代，也表明植物材料将被保存下来。在这两个地点，内加什都没有到达基岩，根据发现的陶瓷，挖掘出来的材料很可能可以追溯到几千年前。在国家科学基金会的支持下，这两个地点的挖掘工作将继续向下进行，第三个露天地点也将进行调查。该研究的一个中心目标是恢复驯化和非驯化植物遗骸的年代序列，以重建埃塞俄比亚的农业史前。“新石器革命”——植物和动物的驯化——在人类行为中构成了一个基本的和重要的机会，村庄和城市的发展，国家和构成文明的属性都是从这个生存基础中产生的。这一进程显然是独立地在旧世界和新世界的许多地区发生的，因此不是历史偶然的结果。通过对个别案例的比较，科学家们希望了解造成这种现象的根本原因。虽然人们对近东、中国、中美洲和安第斯山脉的驯化了解很多，但很少有人意识到埃塞俄比亚和邻近地区也发生了同样的过程。在某种程度上，这是因为国内的植物，如菊科植物和苔麸，在西方没有被广泛使用；在某种程度上，这一地区缺乏考古研究也是原因之一。虽然提出了许多埃塞俄比亚驯化的设想，但缺乏支持任何设想的数据。纳格什先生找到的遗址可能会提供相关信息，并有助于为一个鲜为人知的地区建立文化序列。这些结果将使考古学家能够在几个同样可能的场景中进行选择，因此将引起许多科学家的兴趣。这个项目还将有助于培养一位有前途的年轻科学家。