Exploring the Initial Upper Paleolithic at Üçagizli Cave, Turkey

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，史蒂文·库恩博士和一组国际研究人员将继续对土耳其中南部的乌亚吉兹利（“三口”）洞穴进行考古发掘。该团队包括专业考古学家、体质人类学家、地质学家和分析古代植物遗骸的专家，以及来自美国、土耳其和西欧的研究生。该项目的中心目标是研究旧石器时代早期人类行为显著变化的证据，并将这些变化置于环境背景中。该遗址的考古沉积物时间跨度约为距今3万至4.3万年。尽管具有基本现代骨骼解剖结构的人类出现得更早，但许多研究人员认为，直到4.5万年前，才有证据表明，欧亚大陆出现了复杂的技术、符号交流和艺术，以及其他物质、社会和智力生活的特征，这些特征将现代人与他们的祖先完全区分开来。迄今为止，乌亚吉兹利洞穴的挖掘结果有助于扩大我们对人类历史上这一关键时期经济和技术变化的理解。该遗址还发现了欧亚大陆最早的装饰品制作传统遗迹。这些发现特别重要，因为它们记录了物质文化作为符号交流媒介的使用，长期以来被认为是人类认知进化的重要标志。指导这项研究的一个问题是，4.5万年前人类行为的发展是否代表了当地对不断变化的生态和人口状况的反应，还是反映了认知能力增强的新人类群体的出现。持续的挖掘将使我们能够详细检查主要行为转变的时间，以及它们是单独发生还是共同发生的。对动物骨骼、贝类遗骸以及古代花粉和植物岩（植物组织的持久结晶成分）的研究将使我们能够将这些发展置于其环境背景中，有助于区分人类物种整体的广泛进化趋势，从局部适应变化的条件。与此同时，该项目还有助于在土耳其和美国的学术机构之间建立新的联系。通过参与研究，安卡拉大学的学生获得了实地和实验室方法方面的培训。作为交换，美国研究生获得了宝贵的海外研究经验以及论文和学位论文的材料。

With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Steven Kuhn and agroup of international researchers will continue archaeological excavationsat UUagizli ("three mouths") cave in south-central Turkey. The team includesprofessional archaeologists, physical anthropologists, geologists, and specialistsin the analysis of ancient plant remains, as well as graduate students fromthe U.S., Turkey, and western Europe. The central goal of the project isto examine evidence for marked changes in human behavior within the earliestUpper Paleolithic period, and to place these developments in their environmentalcontext. Archaeological deposits at the site span the period between about30,000 and 43,000 years before present. Although humans with essentiallymodern skeletal anatomy had appeared much earlier, many researchers believethat it was only after 45,000 years ago that there is evidence in Eurasiafor complex technologies, symbolic communication and art, and other featuresof material, social and intellectual life that distinguish fully modernhumans from their ancestors. Results from excavations at UUagizli caveto date have helped expand our understanding of changes in economies andtechnology for this crucial interval in human history. The site has alsoyielded remains of what are among the earliest ornament-making traditionsin Eurasia. These findings are especially important because they documentthe use of material culture as a medium of symbolic communication, longconsidered an important rubicon in human cognitive evolution. One issueguiding the research is whether developments in human behavior after 45,000years ago represent local responses to changing ecological and demographicconditions, or whether they reflect the appearance of new human populationswith enhanced cognitive abilities. Continuing excavations will allow usto examine in detail the timing of major shifts in behavior, and whetherthey occurred independently or in concert. Studies of animal bones, remainsof shellfish, as well as ancient pollen and phytoliths (durable crystallinecomponents of plant tissues) will allow us to place these developments intheir environmental context, helping to distinguish broad evolutionary trendswithin the human species as a whole from local adaptations to changing conditions. At the same time, the project is helping to establish new links betweenacademic institutions in Turkey and the United States. Through their participationin the research, students from Ankara University obtain training in fieldand lab methods. In exchange, American graduate students get valuableoverseas research experience as well as material for theses and dissertations.