Collaborative Research: Archaeological and Paleoenvironmental Investigation of the Initial Appearance of Domesticated Livestock in the Lake Ngami Region of Botswana and the LSA

在国家科学基金会的资助下，劳伦斯·H·罗宾斯博士和乔治·A·布鲁克博士将与同事和学生一起调查驯养牲畜最初传播到南部非洲的情况。该项目将是在博茨瓦纳北部地区针对上述问题采取的第一个跨学科协作办法，据信该地区是牲畜传播的门户。该项目将结合考古和古气候研究，并将进一步加强国际合作和培训，因为将与博茨瓦纳国家博物馆的人员一起进行实地工作。在南部非洲，驯养的牛、绵羊和山羊在过去和现在的许多人的食物经济、社会背景和环境适应方面具有重要意义。然而，关于该区域牲畜来源的某些基本问题仍然没有得到回答，例如它们第一次进入南部非洲的地点和时间？此外，气候变化是否影响了它们的到达和传播，也引起了相当大的兴趣。较凉爽的气候将缩小研究区域北部采采蝇出没区域的范围，并使牲畜更容易被引入。今天，牛不能在这个地区生存。然而，南部非洲地区尚未记录气候变化在牲畜传播中的作用。这项研究将通过在喀拉哈里沙漠纳加米湖附近的遗址进行考古发掘来调查上述问题。历史语言学研究表明，纳加米湖地区是牲畜最初传播到南部非洲的重要入口点或门户。考古研究将验证语言学理论是否正确。初步考古工作表明，选定进行进一步挖掘的遗址跨越了从人们完全靠狩猎、捕鱼和寻找野生食物为生到第一批牲畜出现的关键时期。这项研究将以几种创新的方式记录这种转变。驯养家畜的骨骼将通过放射性碳测年的AMS(加速器质谱仪)方法进行测年，以开发它们第一次出现的精确年代学。此外，一种被称为班巴塔陶器的重要陶器也将首次用这种技术测定年代，这种陶器被认为是南部非洲最早的畜牧民的标志。一些陈年陶器将进行酪蛋白分析，以揭示早期牧民是否进行过挤奶。气候的作用将通过几种方式进行调查。通过我们的发掘发现的沉积物特征的变化，以及对纳伽米湖水位和范围变化的研究，将提供过去数千年考古遗址附近气候变化的信息。这些变化的年表将使用光学激发发光测年(OSL)获得，它可以测定沙子和其他碎屑沉积物的年龄。这一记录将与同一时期从位于纳伽米湖以西的德洛茨基洞穴中发现的石笋中获得的高分辨率气候数据进行比较和增强。由此产生的降雨和温度记录将被用来评估气候在将牲畜引入南部非洲方面的作用。

With funding from the National Science Foundation, Drs. Lawrence H. Robbins and George A. Brook, together with colleagues and students will investigate the initial spread of domesticated livestock into southern Africa. This project will be the first collaborative interdisciplinary approach to the above problem carried out in an area of northern Botswana that is believed to have served as a gateway for the spread of livestock. The project will combine archaeological and paleoclimatic research and will further international cooperation and training because fieldwork will be carried out with personnel from the National Museum of Botswana. In southern Africa, domesticated cattle, sheep and goats are of major importance in the food economies, social contexts and environmental adaptations of many people, both past and present. However, certain basic questions regarding the origins of livestock in the region remain unanswered such as where and when did they first enter southern Africa? In addition, there is considerable interest in whether variations in climate influenced their arrival and dissemination. A cooler climate would have reduced the extent of the Tsetse fly infested area just to the north of the research area and made it easier for livestock to be introduced. Cattle cannot survive in this area today. However, the role of climate change in the dissemination of livestock has not yet been documented in the southern African region. This research will investigate the above questions by conducting archaeological excavations at sites near Lake Ngami in the Kalahari Desert. Historical linguistic studies have revealed that the Lake Ngami area served as an important point of entry, or gateway for the initial spread of livestock into southern Africa. Archaeological research will verify whether the linguistic theory is correct. Preliminary archaeological work has demonstrated that the sites selected for further excavation span the critical period from when people subsisted entirely by hunting, fishing and foraging for wild foods through the period when the first livestock appeared. The research will document this transition in several innovative ways. The bones of domesticated livestock will be dated by the AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) method of radiocarbon dating to develop a precise chronology for their first appearance. In addition, an important type of pottery, known as Bambata Ware, that is believed to be a marker of the earliest livestock herders in southern Africa will also be dated by this technique for the first time. Some dated pottery will be subjected to casein analysis in order to reveal whether the early stock herders practiced milking. The role of climate will be investigated in several ways. The changing characteristics of sediments exposed by our excavations, along with studies of variations in the level and extent of Lake Ngami will provide information on climate changes near the archaeological sites over the last several thousand years. A chronology for these changes will be obtained using optically stimulated luminescence dating (OSL) which can date sands and other clastic sediments. This record will be compared and augmented with high-resolution climate data for the same time period from stalagmites recovered from Drotsky's Cave located to the west of Lake Ngami. Resulting rainfall and temperature records will be used to assess the role of climate in the introduction of livestock to southern Africa.