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

在美国国家科学基金会的资助下，劳伦斯·H.罗宾斯和乔治A.布鲁克，与同事和学生一起将调查驯养牲畜最初传播到南部非洲。该项目将是在博茨瓦纳北方一个被认为是牲畜扩散通道的地区开展的第一个跨学科合作办法。该项目将联合收割机结合考古和古气候研究，并将促进国际合作和培训，因为实地工作将由博茨瓦纳国家博物馆的人员进行。 在南部非洲，驯养的牛、绵羊和山羊对许多人过去和现在的粮食经济、社会背景和环境适应都具有重大意义。然而，关于该地区牲畜起源的某些基本问题仍然没有答案，例如它们最初是在哪里和什么时候进入南部非洲的？此外，人们对气候变化是否影响它们的到达和传播也很感兴趣。凉爽的气候会减少研究区北部采采蝇出没区的范围，使牲畜更容易引进。今天，牛在这个地区无法生存。然而，气候变化在南部非洲地区牲畜传播中的作用尚未得到记录。本研究将通过在喀拉哈里沙漠恩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，恩加米湖地区是牲畜最初传播到南部非洲的一个重要入口或门户。考古学研究将验证语言学理论是否正确。 初步的考古工作表明，选择进一步挖掘的地点跨越了从人类完全靠狩猎、捕鱼和觅食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一转变。 家畜的骨骼将通过AMS（加速器质谱法）放射性碳测年法进行测年，以确定其首次出现的精确年代。此外，一种重要的陶器，被称为班巴塔陶器，被认为是南部非洲最早的牲畜牧民的标志，也将首次通过这种技术确定年代。一些过时的陶器将进行酪蛋白分析，以揭示早期的牧民是否练习挤奶。 将从几个方面研究气候的作用。我们的挖掘所暴露的沉积物的变化特征，沿着对恩加米湖水位和范围变化的研究，将提供关于考古遗址附近过去几千年来气候变化的信息。这些变化的年表将使用光释光测年（OSL），可以定年砂和其他碎屑沉积物。这一记录将与同一时期的高分辨率气候数据进行比较和增强，这些数据来自位于Ngami湖以西的Drotsky洞穴。由此产生的降雨量和温度记录将用于评估气候在向南部非洲引进牲畜方面的作用。

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.