Late Pliocene Hominid Bahavior and Paleoecology at Kanjera South, Africa

在国家科学基金会的支持下，汤姆·普卢默博士和他的同事们将在肯尼亚西南部的坎杰拉南部进行两个实地挖掘季节。 该团队汇集了考古学，古生物学，古生态学和地质学方面的专家，对形成早期考古（Oldowan）遗址的原始人的行为和古生态学进行跨学科调查。 奥尔德沃考古遗址的出现在C。2.5 100万年前（Ma）的发现反映了人类进化过程中的一个深刻的适应性转变，即大型哺乳动物组织融入饮食。 该项目将是第一个使用广泛的传统和创新方法对2.0 Ma以上的Oldowan遗址的遗址形成过程进行详细研究的项目。2.2 Kanjera南部暴露带的Ma矿床。 在严格控制的埋藏挖掘中，收集了1,000多件石器和数千件化石。 在沿着一条70米长的样带的五个地点中的两个地点的三个层中，考古学密度相对较高的文献表明，原始人类活动在空间上集中了相当长的时间。 初步的实验室分析已经确定了原始人的骨髓处理和食肉动物对骨骼的损伤，以及几个人工制品的改装。 古土壤碳酸盐的稳定同位素化学和高马的频率表明Oldowan人科动物的活动在一个新的（开放的）paleohabitat。 高比例的小型、未成熟的哺乳动物暗示着小型哺乳动物的狩猎，而中型至超大型哺乳动物的遗骸（包括可能被屠宰的河马）可能已经被清除。 石器analysis.Expanding的出土材料的样本将允许在Kanjera的古生态环境中重建原始人的活动，并促进有意义的比较与其他大型Oldowan网站组合，特别是那些从Olduvai峡谷，坦桑尼亚和图尔卡纳湖盆地，肯尼亚和埃塞俄比亚。 动物区系分析将提供有关原始人的采购和加工的动物，以及在组合形成的食肉动物活动的作用的信息。 石器分析将记录当地的技术特征和原始人类的运输行为，以及任务燧石文物被用于。 将使用多种方法获得古环境信息。 碳酸盐岩的边缘元素生态形态分析和同位素分析将提供生境结构的信息。 通过对下颌骨的生态形态分析和牙釉质碳同位素分析，可以提供古食物信息。 牙釉质中的氧同位素将制约古温度和Kanjera Fm（S）沉积的季节性程度。 牙骨质分析将被用来评估羚羊季节death.Documentation的原始人利用开放的栖息地在Kanjera可能会影响早期原始人的能力，包括他们的能力，与大型食肉动物竞争的观点。 该项目还将通过提供小型哺乳动物是否被猎杀的测试，为正在进行的关于动物群获取策略的辩论做出贡献。 随着中型和大型哺乳动物样本的增加，有可能评估获得较大尸体的时间，从而评估原始人是被动还是主动清除它们。 我们试图通过序列来测量季节性的强度，以及季节性对原始人类觅食动物组织的影响，以前没有在这种规模上进行过，可能会提供有关Oldowan食肉动物的动机和频率的有价值的信息。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Tom Plummer and colleagues will conduct two field seasons of excavation at Kanjera South, southwestern Kenya. The team brings together specialists in archaeology, paleontology, paleoecology and geology to conduct an interdisciplinary investigation of the behavior and paleoecology of hominids forming early archeological (Oldowan) sites. The appearance of Oldowan archeological sites at c. 2.5 million years ago (Ma) reflects a profound adaptive shift in human evolution, the incorporation of large mammal tissue into the diet. The proposed project will be the first to carry out a detailed study of site formation processes at Oldowan sites older than 2.0 Ma, using a wide range of traditional and innovative methodologies.Excavations in 1996 and 1997 located rich concentrations of artifacts and fossils in c. 2.2 Ma deposits in the Southern Exposures at Kanjera. Over 1,000 stone tools and thousands of fossils were collected in carefully controlled taphonomic excavations. Documentation of relatively high archeological densities in three beds at two of five sites along a 70m transect suggests that hominid activity was spatially focused for a considerable length of time. Preliminary lab analysis has identified hominid marrow processing and carnivore damage to bone, as well as several artifact refits. Stable isotopic chemistry of paleosol carbonates and high equid frequencies indicate Oldowan hominid activities in a novel (open) paleohabitat. A high proportion of small, immature mammals is suggestive of small mammal hunting while medium to very large mammal remains (including a potentially butchered hippopotamus) may have been scavenged. Hominid transport of artifacts and raw material selectivity is suggested by lithic analysis.Expanding the samples of excavated material will allow reconstruction of hominid activities within their paleoecological context at Kanjera and facilitate meaningful comparisons with other large Oldowan site assemblages, particularly those from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania and the Lake Turkana basin, Kenya and Ethiopia. Faunal analysis will provide information on hominid procurement and processing of animals as well as the role of carnivore activity in assemblage formation. Lithic analysis will document local technological characteristics and hominid transport behavior as well as the tasks chert artifacts were used for. Paleoenvironmental information will be obtained using multiple methodologies. Limb element ecomorphic analyses and isotopic analysis of carbonates will provide information on habitat structure. Ecomorphic analysis of mandibles and analysis of carbon isotopes from enamel will provide paleodietary information. Oxygen isotopes in tooth enamel will constrain paleotemperatures and the degree of seasonality during Kanjera Fm (S) deposition. Cementum analysis will be used to assess antelope season of death.Documentation of hominid utilization of open habitats at Kanjera may influence views of early hominid capabilities, including their ability to compete with large carnivores. This project should also contribute to the on-going debate over faunal acquisition strategies, by providing a test of whether small mammals were hunted. As the sample of medium and larger sized mammals increases, it may be possible to assess the timing of access to larger carcasses and thus whether hominids were passively or actively scavenging them. Our attempts to measure the intensity of seasonality through the sequence, as well as the influence of seasonality on hominid foraging for animal tissue, have not been conducted on this scale before and may provide valuable information on the motivation and frequency of Oldowan carnivory.