Doctoral Dissertation: Into Arabia: Exploring Early Upper Pleistocene Range Expansions Into Oman

阿曼中部更新世研究计划(COPR)将由Jeffrey I.Rose在Anthony E.Marks博士的监督下进行。该项目由NSF学位论文改进拨款资助，将调查上更新世时期(128,000-18,000 BP)南阿拉伯石器技术的来源和发展。正是在这段时间里，第一批解剖学上的现代人出现在非洲，并在全球迅速传播。COPR的野外工作将集中在洞穴和避难所内挖掘考古材料，以从未受干扰的埋藏沉积物中获取样本。关注这些保存完好的背景将有助于建立该地区石器技术的发展顺序。对阿拉伯南部石器制造的研究将有助于揭示中石器时代/旧石器时代研究中的一个未被发现的地区。直到最近，由于受限的社会政治条件，学者们一直被阻止研究这条早期人类迁徙的走廊。南非尤其重要，因为它可能是第一批解剖学上的现代人在上更新世从非洲扩张的主要路线，以及在间歇性湿润阶段狩猎-采集范围扩大的边缘地带。如果狩猎-采集人在上更新世确实离开了非洲，那么沿迁徙走廊可能会有可识别的技术亲缘关系。了解阿曼石材工业的性质将使我们能够评估与东非之间可能存在的联系，从而检验“走出非洲”的人类起源模式的一个重要方面。遗传学领域的最新研究增加了这一假说的可信度。我们的研究有可能为这一扩张到非洲以外的地区提供第一个直接的考古证据，从而有可能增加进一步的佐证。通过资助阿拉伯半岛的考古研究，这篇论文改进拨款具有次要的、尽管是重要的政治后果。该项目将是与阿曼遗产部的合资企业，计划作为长期项目的第一季。阿曼在支持和鼓励科学研究方面是阿拉伯世界中独一无二的国家；因此，通过培训阿曼旧石器时代研究领域的考古学家，阿曼将致力于培养这些价值观。在这个政治敏感的时代，重要的是保持合作，继续在伊斯兰教和西方分裂的世界之间架起桥梁。

The Central Oman Pleistocene Research program (COPR) will be conducted by Jeffrey I. Rose under the supervision of Dr. Anthony E. Marks. This project, funded by an NSF dissertation improvement grant, will investigate the source and development of stone tool technologies in South Arabia during the Upper Pleistocene period (128,000-18,000 BP). It is during this time the first anatomically modern humans appear in Africa and rapidly disseminate throughout the globe. The COPR fieldwork will focus on excavating archaeological material within caves and rockshelters to obtain samples from undisturbed, buried deposits. Focusing on these well-preserved contexts will help establish a developmental sequence of lithic technology in this region.The study of stone tool manufacture in southern Arabia will help shed light on a region that is terra incognita in Middle Stone Age/Middle Palaeolithic research. Until recently, scholars have been prevented from studying this corridor of early human migration because of restrictive socio-political conditions. South Arabia is particularly important in that it may have served as the primary route of dispersal for the first anatomically modern humans expanding from Africa sometime during the Upper Pleistocene, as well as a marginal zone for hunter-gatherer range expansions during episodic wet phases.If hunter-gatherers did disperse from Africa during the Upper Pleistocene, it is likely there will be recognizable technological affinities along the corridor of migration. Understanding the nature of lithic industries in Oman will allow us to evaluate possible connections with East Africa, thus, testing an important facet of the 'Out-of-Africa' model of human origins. Recent work in the field of genetics has added credence to this hypothesis. Our research has the potential to add further corroboration by providing the first direct archaeological evidence for this expansion outside of Africa.By funding archaeological research in the Arabian Peninsula, this dissertation improvement grant has secondary, albeit important political consequences. The project will be a joint venture with the Omani Ministry of Heritage, and is planned as the first season of a long term project. Oman is unique among much of the Arab world in its support and encouragement of scientific research; therefore, COPR will serve to cultivate these values by providing training for Omani archaeologists in the field of Palaeolithic studies. In this politically sensitive time, it is vital to maintain cooperation and continue building bridges between the rifting worlds of Islam and the West.